Obstacles in Kenya’s path to achieve 100 per cent tree cover
Little attention is being spared on how to keep the trees alive in the long term.
What you need to know:
- Dr Kiria advises that tree planting activities be preceded by ecological assessments and studies to ensure that the right trees are planted in the right place.
- He says Kenya should avoid a scenario where there is an increase in tree cover but a decline in ecosystem productivity.
As the world races to reduce carbon emissions, awareness of tree planting is spreading from corporates, learning institutions, state organisations and individuals; with their attention being more focused and inclined to planting trees that will rich maturity.
Unfortunately, in their bid to meet the national tree cover target of 15 billion trees by 2023 and attain a 30 per cent tree cover, the entities and individuals have quite often given too much focus on the number of trees being planted; with little attention being spared on how to keep the trees alive in the long term.
Dr Edwin Muchomba Kiria, a lecturer at the Department of Environmental Studies and Resource Development at Chuka University, says companies and individuals should not only invest in tree planting and the number of trees planted, but more efforts need to shift towards selecting suitable tree species and nurturing them to grow.
“We must ensure that trees grow and are well managed,” says the lecturer. “The efforts put on large tree planting campaigns projects can be a big win, but when done wrongly, the same projects can worsen the very problems they are meant to solve.
“The rule of thumb in tree planting is: plant the right tree in the right place, planting wrong trees in the wrong places can reduce biodiversity, speeding extinction while making nature less resilient,” he explains.
He says Kenya should avoid a scenario where there is an increase in tree cover but a decline in ecosystem productivity.
Dr Kiria advises that tree planting activities be preceded by ecological assessments and studies to ensure that the right trees are planted in the right place.
“If there is a good planning framework; especially one that allows lead agencies such as Kenya Forest Service (KFS) to take the lead in assessing the sites and making recommendations of the site-specific species, it will also make it easier for monitoring,” points out Dr Kiria.
He says there is a need to have an emphasis on fruit trees in farms as an agroforestry practice to promote livelihoods.
He notes that learning institutions, especially those that offer forestry and other environmental-related courses, can also take up the initiative through outreach and extension programmes to sensitise communities on nursery preparation, tree planting and maintenance.
He says it is important to address the underlying social and economic conditions that fuel forest and tree destruction.
“Ecological assessments and studies need to precede tree planting activities to establish the suitability of each ecosystem for restoration while addressing the social drivers that caused deforestation.”
He observes that human activities such as poverty, landlessness, insecurity of land tenure, population increase and market demands contribute to the greatest cause of forest decline and stimulate anthropogenic actions to the forests.
“The choice of tree should also address both the ecological roles as well as human needs through both wood and non-wood benefits.”
He avers that individuals and entities planting trees also need to acknowledge the social and ecological complexities of the landscapes they aim to transform as natural climate solutions can only be effective if they respond to the needs of the rural and indigenous people.
According to the researcher, establishing tree plantations where forests did not historically occur destroys the habitat of plants and animals adapted to open ecosystems and threatens the livelihoods of people dependent on those ecosystems.
"Planting large trees where they did not naturally occur alters the ecosystem structure. It destroys the habitats of animals adapted to such open ecosystems. This is because habitat requirements vary from one species to another,” explains Dr Kiria.
Dr Kiria notes that species' choice for a particular habitat is a result of long-term coexistence with an animal in that area to a level of adaptation to the habitat’s requirements such as cover, forage and space.
“So when trees are introduced to such areas like open grassland, then it affects the usual behaviour of animals that prefer such habitats by denying them appropriate space to escape predation and foraging,” notes Dr Kiria.
He says human beings too are affected if their livelihoods are dependent on such ecosystems as livestock keeping and domination of trees prohibits the growth of grass for grazing.
