Konza Technopolis recently led a tree-planting exercise with over 1,000 participants, including hundreds of primary and high school students. About 30,000 seedlings were planted during the exercise held at Konza Technopolis in Machakos County as part of the Greening Konza initiative.
The initiative is part of the broader effort to create a sustainable ecological future at the technology city that is still under construction. The tree-planting exercise symbolized a commitment to an African renaissance through environmental stewardship for peace and sustainable development.
The Greening Konza initiative is steered by the Chandaria Foundation in partnership with Mama Doing Good, who committed to plant 45 million trees at Konza in support of the government’s target of planting 15 billion trees by 2030.
Other stakeholders include Dr. Manish Shah of the Earth-keepers Foundation that has donated 50,000 bamboo tree seedlings. Bamboo, known for its rapid growth, is particularly suited for arid lands with the potential of generating up to two or three seedlings from each tree annually. The Earth-keepers Foundation has set an ambitious goal of planting 2 million trees at Konza as part of its campaign to plant 1 billion trees across Kenya by the year 2030.
Additionally, Rotary International, which has been allocated 17 acres at Konza, has committed 500 million trees by 2030 working in partnership with the Global Peace Foundation and the Chandaria Foundation. iChooseLife also pledged to plant 1 million trees.
According to Gitonga Mugambi, Principal Secretary, State Department of Forestry, the greening Konza initiative represents an ambitious plan for improving the paltry 2.5% tree cover in Machakos County. “Each tree that we grow at Konza Technopolis symbolises hope, growth and the promise of a better tomorrow. Our objective is to help grow the national tree cover to 30 percent by the year 2032. This For Machakos County, this means we need to grow an average of 290 million trees in the next ten years or 29 million trees annually,” said Mugambi.