Kenya and other African countries were the most vulnerable regions to the effects of climate change due to its low forest cover, Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai said yesterday.

Changes in rainfall patterns and extreme weather events are likely to diminish crop yields in most countries.

Prof Maathai urged the leaders to raise awareness on climate change and avoid deforestation in their respective countries. President Kibaki and other African leaders should spearhead a campaign geared towards planting a billion trees globally.

Fulfil pledge
She said: “In Kenya for example, if the Government directs every farmer to plant 25 trees in every acre of land, our forest cover would increase from the current 1.7 per cent to 10 per cent which is the globally accepted minimum.”

Speaking during a news conference at the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) headquarters in Nairobi, Prof Maathai said the initiative to plant a billion trees was likely to be met if all the pledges were fulfilled.

The campaign, launched five months ago by the Green Belt Movement and the World Agroforestry Centre (Icraf), surpassed its initial goal seven months ahead of its original target after Senegal pledged to plant 20 million trees.

Prof Maathai said Kenya had pledged to plant 17.5 million trees through collaboration efforts by local communities, corporate organisations, the city council, schools and scouts groups, among others.

Unep executive director Achim Steiner and Icraf director-general Dennis Garrity attended the Press conference.

Billion people
Mr Steiner said he was impressed by the international enthusiasm for the campaign.

“This campaign should empower governments globally to address climate change in a bid to mobilise individuals, communities and nations en masse to counter the rise and harmful effects of greenhouse gases,” he said.

Mr Garrity noted: “It will take nearly 15 years to add another one billion to the human population . . . however, it is instructive to note that the Billion Tree Campaign has established an extra one billion trees to benefit that billion people in a little over 15 weeks.”

The campaign was announced on November 8 at the United Nations Convention on Climate Change conference and initiated in January this year.