President William Ruto led Kenya in marking Mazingira Day on October 10, 2026, launching conservation initiatives in Trans Nzoia County. The national push includes a target of planting 17.24 million trees during Mazingira Week to advance the country’s ambition of growing 15 billion trees by 2032.
Kenya marked Mazingira Day with nationwide environmental restoration campaigns, bringing together government officials, the military, public institutions, and local communities. The national celebrations took place at Elgon Downs in Endebess, Trans Nzoia County, where President William Ruto led the public holiday observances amid broader efforts to restore degraded forests and combat climate change. Environment Cabinet Secretary Dr Deborah M. Barasa emphasized that government action alone cannot secure the environment.
The events formed part of Mazingira Week, running from October 5 to October 10, which set an ambitious target of planting 17.24 million trees across the country through community and institutional participation. More than 51,000 community planters participated at 79 sites across 31 counties. Village elders were enlisted to plant 100 trees in each of 77,252 villages, while the Kenya Prisons Service planned to plant one million trees in 68 facilities, and the National Youth Service aimed to plant 1.5 million trees. The government’s wider strategy aims to grow 15 billion trees by 2032, increasing national tree cover to 30 per cent while restoring damaged ecosystems and rehabilitating 10.6 million hectares of degraded landscapes.
Trans Nzoia Celebrations and Aerial Seeding
To accelerate forest restoration, the President unveiled aerial seeding technology to complement manual tree planting and launched the Mt Elgon Integrated Conservation and Livelihood Improvement Programme Strategic Plan 2026–2036. That ten-year plan focuses on restoring degraded forests, protecting water resources, and improving community livelihoods around Mt Elgon. President Ruto was joined by Environment Cabinet Secretary Deborah Mulongo and other leaders during the exercise.
Military and Institutional Planting Drives Across Counties
Defence Principal Secretary Patrick Mariru noted that the military’s work at Lariak forms part of a three-year forest restoration programme under the Environmental Soldier Program.
“As part of this year’s Mazingira Day celebrations, I took part in a tree-growing exercise at Lariak Forest in Laikipia County, where the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) is implementing a three-year forest restoration and conservation programme under the Environmental Soldier Program (ESP).”
Defence PS Patrick Mariru
In Mombasa County, the State Department for Transport led an exercise at Dongo Kundu involving the Kenya Railways Corporation, Kenya Ports Authority, and the LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority to plant 5,000 mangrove trees. Principal Secretary Mohamed Daghar emphasized the ecological value of mangroves in calming strong tides, retaining water, and stabilizing weather patterns across the region, while calling on schools and communities to instill environmental values at an early age. The initiative was held under the theme Connecting Mobility with Environmental Responsibility.
Meanwhile, the Lake Basin Development Authority arranged to distribute more than 20,000 fruit tree seedlings to provide households with direct nutritional and economic benefits. In Migori County, mining officials such as Tracy Kinge from the State Department for Mining and forest officers such as County Forest Officer John Mbori targeted planting 4,000 trees across the 4-acre Ombo forest to rehabilitate artisanal mining sites and help raise the county’s forest cover from its current 2 per cent toward the internationally recommended minimum of 10 per cent. Mbori added that teams also planned to plant trees on at least 10 hectares of the 116-hectare gazetted Otacho Forest in Awendo Sub County. Additionally, KeNHA Regional Director Eng Annette Ingaiza led a clean-up exercise and tree seedling donation at Shamakhokho Market Centre in collaboration with the Vihiga County Government and other partners.
Tracking Seedling Survival and Accountability
Reflecting a shift from mere planting numbers to long-term survival, the Environment Ministry outlined tracking measures ensuring that every tree planted will be counted, geo-tagged, and certified through platforms like JazaMiti for real-time tracking.
“This is accountability in action.”
Environment Cabinet Secretary Dr Deborah M. Barasa
The Cabinet also reviewed plans to restore 462,299 hectares of degraded landscapes under Phase III of the Green Zones Development Support Project while mobilizing 200,000 Kenyans to plant six million trees within one hour during the Green Challenge. At the same time, public debates emerged among environmentalists regarding the harvesting of mature trees in public plantation forests and the impact of infrastructure projects on existing ecosystems and water catchments.
