Minet Kenya has planted an additional 18,000 trees at the Matathia Block of Uplands Forest in Lari Constituency, Kiambu County, bringing the company’s total in the area over the past three years to 64,000 as it advances toward its target of growing 500,000 trees in Kenya.
Among the tree varieties planted are croton, acacia, macadamia, Mexican green ash, African wild olive and grevillea, with indigenous species forming an important part of the restoration effort.
In the latest exercise, Minet brought together the Greens of Africa Foundation, Kenya Defence Forces, Kenya Forest Service (KFS), Matathia Community, CKL Africa, Adenia Partners and Funguo Investments.
Kenya has made forest and landscape restoration a central component of its climate response.
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The KFS says the national restoration programme is targeting 15 billion trees by 2032, alongside efforts to increase national tree cover to more than 30 per cent and restore 10.6 million hectares of degraded land.
Kenya’s 2021 National Forest Resources Assessment established national tree cover at 12.13 per cent and forest cover at 8.83 per cent.
For Minet, tree growing forms part of a broader approach to climate-risk mitigation. As a risk advisory business, the company says the physical effects of climate change and environmental degradation are increasingly relevant to businesses, communities and economies through their impact on water, agriculture, infrastructure, livelihoods and business continuity.
Sammy Muthui, RegionalCEO, Minet, said the company’s environmental commitment is grounded in the need to take a longer-term view of risk.
“Sustainability and environmental stewardship are an important part of how we think about risk. Climate change is changing the risk landscape for businesses and communities, and we have a responsibility to contribute to building resilience. Tree growing gives us a practical way of doing that.”
Muthui said returning to Matathia was also an opportunity for Minet to deepen its relationship with the community.
“We want to build a long-term partnership with the community and support the growth of these trees to maturity. The real value of what we are doing will be seen over time, as these trees become part of a stronger forest ecosystem.”
The emphasis on growing trees to maturity is consistent with KFS guidance. During its own tree-growing activities, the Service has repeatedly stressed that planting is only the beginning and that communities and partners must help ensure seedlings survive and develop into established trees.
Minet’s latest planting takes its cumulative number of trees grown over the past three years to 64,000, equivalent to more than 12 per cent of its 500,000-tree target.
The company says the progress demonstrates that the 2030 ambition remains firmly in sight and that it will continue working with communities, government agencies and private-sector partners to accelerate tree growing and environmental restoration.
“Our target of half a million trees remains firmly in sight. But the number is only one measure of what we want to achieve because we want these trees to survive, grow and become part of ecosystems that will continue to serve communities long after we are gone,” Muthui concluded.
