Mombasa,KENYA:A few weeks after the World marked the international day of forests, activists in Mombasa County are worried about rampant trend of deforestation and the laxity of locals to plant new trees.
Mr. Joseph Ndirangu an officer from Uzalendo Youth Development Cultural Center based in Mombasa, says that key climate change indicators such as soil erosion, water shortage and prolonged droughts are caused by inadequate forest cover.
“The environment in Mombasa and in the country is not very good because the trees have been cut down and there air is no longer fresh, we citizens need to work together to plant back trees where they have been cut down so as to improve our forest cover.” He says.
According to Ndirangu, the fear is that by the year 2025, the country will experience inadequate water supply if the relevant ministries and stake holders in the government do not take shift measures to encourage tree planting activities in the country.
“By 2025, the country will be hit with a water shortage because there will be no trees and drought might be persistent”. warns Ndirangu.
Yolanda Firth from Elewa Mazingira organization in Kilifi County, urges teachers, guardians and parents and society as a whole to educate children at a tender age on the need to conserve the environment.
“People should encourage their children to conserve forests. I do hope that anyone listening to me ,please value forests, trees not only when am alive but also when am gone please value them so that we can make our country a better place.” She says.
A study conducted by the Green Africa foundation in 2015 revealed that the country loses over 5.6 million trees to deforestation annually. Experts say that despite the country having some of the best laws governing protection of forests in Africa, corruption and weak enforcement hinders the laws from acting to limit deforestation.
