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Environmentalist and Nobel Laureate the Late Wangari Maathai is to be honoured by female Members of Parliament and women rights organisations through a tree planting exercise.

Led by Martha Karua and Rachael Shebesh the MPs through their parliamentary group- Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (Kewopa) announced their plans to mobilise Kenyans to plant 400 million trees each year to restore Kenya’s forest cover.

The MPs said they planned to launch the initiative just days ahead to take advantage of the World Environmental Day celebrations on June 5 and the rainy season.

Women civil society representatives, among them League of Women voters representative Flora Shitsama and Women Political Alliance member Juliet Makokha joined the women legislators in their quest.

“We are now suffering years of destroying and neglecting environmental conservation and we must act now or perish,” said Ms Shebesh.

Senior assistant director at the Kenya Forestry Service Charity Munyasia challenged every family to plant at least 10 trees each.

“Nobody can give an excuse of not having a 10 per cent cover on their land, however small it is,” she stated.

“Everybody has an opportunity to achieve this cover."

Kenya’s forest cover is estimated to be around 2 percent way off the recommended minimum of 10 percent. Kenya Forestry Service Directorate requires Sh7.6 billion annually to for reforestation money that can only be raised if government agencies to join the effort and well-wishers to support the initiative according to Ms Karua

“Let us mobilise our constituencies to support the initiative,” she urged fellow MPs.

“Let us take responsibility and let’s move forward together, if every Kenyan planted ten trees we shall make the change we need. Let us do what we can now."

Shebesh urged Kenyans to carry on Prof. Maathai legacy; Maathai is a former MP and assistant minister herself in Kibaki’s first term as President.

“We are leading this drive to remember Maathai, this is a national issue beyond Nairobi,” she stated.

See this article in its original context on the Daily Post website.