Forestry PS Gitonga Mugambi says Kenya is better than all countries in the world in tree planting
By Arnold Ngure, May 12, 2025Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Environment Gitonga Mugambi has said Kenya is better than all the countries in the world in terms of tree planting.
Speaking to the press in the company of Environment Cabinet Secretary Debora Barasa during an update on the tree planting initiative on Friday, May 9, 2025, Mugambi also noted that there are more seeds for planting.
“As of today, we are beyond 800 million trees which have been planted, and we are going on. We are targeting a billion trees by the end of this year, so we are doing well. We are doing better than any other country in this world,” Mugambi said.
“Today, there are more seeds than we are able to plant. The target for seeds in KEFRI is 100 tonnes per year, but today they have 163 tonnes. What is now remaining is to have everybody in the society plant trees,” he added
“If every Kenyan could plant just 30 trees per year, we would be there.”
Tree survival
On her part, Barasa said that her ministry was partnering with various stakeholders to ensure the survival of the trees planted.
“We have been able to map out stakeholders, including the private sectors, NGOs and partners who help us in tree planting. That way, we are able to monitor how many trees we are planting and monitor their viability in terms of survival in the first three years,” Barasa observed.
“We are not only planting but also looking at the site, species, impact on the community, economic value and the carbon sequestration (ability of trees to capture carbon dioxide from the environment and store it to mitigate climate change),” CS Barasa said.
The tree planting was initiated in December 2022, when Ruto set the target at an ambitious 15 billion trees by the year 2032.
The initiative set out to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, stop and reverse deforestation and restore 5.1 million hectares of deforested and degraded landscapes.
Run into headwinds
However, the programme has run into major financial headwinds, ensuring that the yearly targets are unmet. With the 15 billion trees goal by 2032, the government has to plant at least 1.5 billion trees every year.
Similarly, former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi, in an explosive interview, claimed that the tree-planting initiative was out to benefit individuals high up in the government.
Muturi, on April 4, 2025, claimed that Ruto attempted to strong-arm him into signing a Ksh129 billion deal with Russian oligarchs for the tree-planting initiative.
“I landed in Dubai and received a phone call from Ruto, who told me that the Russians were waiting at the airport and I needed to sign the documents. I declined, saying I needed to review the documents in the office,” Muturi revealed.
“Whenever Ruto comes up with a project, it’s for moneymaking. They bring me a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), and I tell them that the Ksh129 billion can only be a grant, but can’t come directly to the ministry. It only goes through the Treasury,” he revealed.