Several stakeholders have come together to ensure the degraded Mt Elgon Forest is conserved to its former glory.
Speaking in Bungoma town during a consultative stakeholders meeting, the County Conservator Eric Abung’u affirmed their concerted Efforts in conserving one of the five water towers in the country.
He mentioned areas of intervention which includes soil restoration, agroforestry, siltation and taking care of riparian areas along the rivers and wet lands.
Herbert Kibunguchy CEC for Agriculture in the County called on stakeholders to plant fruit trees like coffee and also herbal medicine trees to conserve the environment.
“This is the only way we will be conserving our environment and the same time making money, I advocate for the conservation of our forests through growing money making trees,” he said.
Ecosystem steward director Apollo Edewa stated that they are advocates of the environment and campaigning for the growth of 50 million trees in Mt Elgon water tower by the year 2032.
“Cutting down trees for charcoal and timber has caused a lot of havoc to Mt Elgon Forest, as an organization we are campaigning for the growing of many trees to bridge the gap so that we don’t completely lose our ecosystem,” he said.
Mt Elgon is one of the Kenya’s most critical water towers, supporting biodiversity, livelihoods and climate resilience for millions of people in Western Kenya.
However, the region is facing rapid deforestation, land degradation, and loss of Ecosystem services due to unsustainable land use practices.
In response to this, KFS in collaboration with the department of environment Bungoma County and Ecosystem steward is spearheading the 50 million trees for Mt Elgon campaign.
This initiative aligns with the government of Kenya’s national tree growing and restoration campaign which seeks to plant 15 billion trees by 2032.
The campaign aims to mobilize multi stakeholder support, including government, corporate entities, NGOs, academic institutions and Community groups to contribute towards ecosystem restoration in Mt Elgon.
