AAR Insurance Kenya has taken upon itself to implement a major re-forestation drive as part of its contribution to help the country achieve the United Nations recommended 10 per cent forest cover.
In partnership with the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), AAR Insurance has embarked on a campaign that will see over 500,000 trees planted by end of this year. The company has plans of further scaling up the campaign in 2019.
Kenya is among countries, globally, with a forest cover of less than 2% of total land mass.
“Tree cover in Kenya has been reducing at an alarming rate in the past two decades, this has informed our decision to roll-out this campaign. In line with our company’s vision of protecting Africa’s future, we believe that we have a role to play in protecting the environment.” said Mr. Nixon Shigoli, AAR Insurance Kenya Managing Director shortly after leading the company’s initial tree planting exercise at Karura Forest.
There has been a raging debate around the state of our forests and the adverse weather effects we have been facing as a nation. Recently, we have seen the headlines of floods across the country, with river banks bursting, part of the problem is the reduced tree cover to hold the water. If not floods, we have seen the headlines of drought and increased temperatures, this is connected with the reduced tree cover.
The decline in tree cover has been occasioned by several factors including population growth leading to increased demand for land, large-scale logging, globalisation and reduced reforestation programmes over the years among others.
“We appreciate the opportunity to partner with the KFS in this valuable preservation of the habitat.” Concluded Shigoli.
As part of this campaign, indigenous trees will be planted in the identified sites including Karura and Ngong Forest.
