World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally organising committee yesterday launched an ambitious three-year plan dubbed ‘Safari Legacy’ anchored on environmental conservation and road safety where they have set out to plant 18 million trees as part of the project.

In addition to the tree planting exercise that was officially launched yesterday at the WRC Safari Rally offices at Kasarani with a ceremonial tree planting exercise led by the FIA president Jean Todt accompanied by Cabinet Secretaries Amina Mohamed of Sports and James Macharia of Transport, the project will also involve sensitization programs on road safety.

“Planting 18 million trees is a commemoration of the18-year hiatus from the global event.

The trees will be planted in Nairobi, Machakos, Makueni, Narok, Kajiado among other counties.

We will target parts of our wetlands affected by deforestation, traditional Safari Rally routes and the spectator stage at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani,” said Sports CS Mohamed.

She added: “This project is being driven by a multi-agency operation team in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and Save Our Rivers Initiative.”

The Greening Legacy project joins the FIA/WRC family’s model of giving back to nature.

The target is to create a Safari Forest at Kasarani and plant trees along the traditional safari routes in Kilifi, Mombasa, Kwale, Taita Taveta, Machakos, Makueni, Murang’a, Meru, Nyeri, Embu, Kirinyaga, Kiambu, Kajiado, Laikipia, Isiolo, Narok, Nakuru and Nairobi Counties.

One million trees will be planted this year, with 100,000 already planted in partnership with the Save Our Rivers Initiative.

The project will also will join the Ministry of Environment and Forestry’s tree planting Initiative to support the massive re-greening efforts.

Meanwhile, FIA president Todt who is also the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety underscored the need to prioritise action for road safety.