Tree Planting Holiday: Kenya Issues Public Holiday to Allow Residents Plant 100 Million Trees Nationwide

A tree planting holiday has been recognized in Kenya as the country targets to plant billions of trees in the next decade. Recently, the Kenyan government announced Monday, November 13, to be a public holiday in relation to this initiative. The non-working holiday encourages Kenyans to plant 100 million trees nationwide. The said program comes to address the East African nation's issue of illegal logging and forest lands affected by a decades-long drought.

In recent months, Kenyan authorities implemented several measures to protect its forests, including a ban that restricted the extraction of timber woods from community and public forests. Aside from excessive logging and drought, forest restoration initiatives in Kenya are also hindered by long heat waves, severe wildfires, and herder migration conflict. Regardless, local authorities are optimistic in the long term as Kenya's forests are also expected to boost the country's economy.

National Tree Planting Day

The Kenyan government's call for a tree planting holiday on Monday across the country saw the participation of hundreds of people in its capital city of Nairobi, where multiple families, civil servants, and students gathered in different parts of the capital. Reports indicate that there seems to be no limit of planted trees for each person. However, the government encourages every citizen to plant two tree saplings as part of the countrywide initiative.

Officially known as the National Tree Planting Day, the November 13 public holiday is one of the ways that Kenya plans to tackle climate change. Kenyan President William Ruto pledged that his administration is aiming to plant 15 billion trees by the year 2032, which is estimated to increase the country's tree and forest cover by 30%.

Tree Planting App

To ensure that the Kenyan National Tree Planting Day is successful, the government has launched a digital application called Jaza Miti (Fill the Trees) that monitors the tree planting program, specifically to record where and when a tree sapling has been planted and the type of tree species.

Although the tree planting holiday was announced almost last minute, the app recorded 2 million registrations, according to reports on Wednesday, November 15. Local officials reportedly acknowledge that not all citizens will participate in the initiative, but the majority of Kenyans welcomed the idea.

Kenya Forest Threat

Forest grounds and habitats were once abundant in Kenya, long before human activities like illegal logging and climate change-driven deforestation decreased the nation's overall tree cover. Reports estimate that the annual rate of forest loss in Kenya is 12,000 hectares, a disaster that endangers both flora and fauna.

According to Kenya's National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Kenya currently has a total of 7.4% forest cover, which is 3.6% below the "constitutionally accepted" average 10% forest cover. NEMA highlighted that one of the aggravating causes of forest loss is the destruction of trees for charcoal burning.