Digitalized tree planting in Kiambu

Kiambu

Monday, July 24, 2023

KNA by Grace Naishoo

The Muthaiga North Rotary Club has adopted a digital tree planting program that uses digital mapping to track, monitor and manage the tree's progress.

The Rotarians who planted over 1000 trees in Kereita Forest last week during their annual initiative towards environmental conservation, promised to plant another 15,000 trees, which will be mapped via the digital forest tracking Application before the year ends.

The application enables the naming of the trees and their monitoring for over 3 years to ensure they are growing into maturity.

According to the governor of Rotary District 9212 Leonard Ithau, who launched the digital forest initiative said more Rotary clubs in the region including Thika Road, Samawati, and Embakasi have also joined them in restoring more forest cover

“As Rotary clubs around the country, we have all agreed to plant 1 trillion trees without encroaching on agricultural land. This means Muthaiga Rotary Club alone is to plant about 15,000 trees per year in the next 3 years,” he said.

Ithau added that the Muthaiga Rotary Club has over 4,000 members who have agreed to increase their contributions towards the tree planting initiative by giving even three times what they have been donating previously.  

“We understand that this is not a one-day event or a function for one acre or two acres of land, it's an initiative that will take years, but we are determined to attain our mission,” Ithau said.

On his part, the President of Muthaiga North Rotary Club Manasses Mwangi said plans were underway to adopt a section of Thogoto Forest, Kibiku Forest, Kereita Forest and Wundanyi and Taveta Forest and plant targeted trees, which will popularize the initiative in Rotary Clubs around Nairobi to open up opportunities for partnerships.

“The climax of this project shall be a mega tree planting exercise in Taita Taveta County. We aim to bring together 20 Rotary clubs and plant over 5,000 trees using the digital tree planting app on this year’s Mashujaa Day weekend,” he said.

Mwangi said that they are planning to adopt a section of forests like Kereita, which are major water towers in the country and the adopted portion will be clearly marked by GPRS coordinates, then a physical distinctive live tree will be planted to mark the physical beacon on the ground. 

“The objective is to reforest the water towers to improve water quantity. We have adopted 7.5Ha of Kereita forest, which is a vital ecosystem as it is the source of Gatamaiyu River, a major tributary of Ruiru River that feeds Ruiru Dam, a major source of water for Nairobi County that benefits over 1,000,000 people,” Mwangi said.

He noted that through the help of the digital app, the Rotarians will adopt trees and tend them for at least 3 years to ensure they survive. 

“We have also encouraged members to plant trees even at their farms and map the trees on the digital app as we are here to encourage trees' care throughout to maturity,” he said.

Arthur Kinyanjui, a Rotarian said that digitizing the tree planting exercise will revolutionize how they are going to plant trees going forward.

“Our club has been involved in several tree planting activities, but we have not been able to track or know what happens to those trees after we planted them. The digital tree planting app will therefore help us keep track of the trees even in years to come,” Kinyanjui said.

The digital tree application can also capture the height of the tree, the diameter, the location, and the person who planted the tree.

Courtesy ; K. N. A