The government plans to grow 17.24 million trees to commemorate Mazingira Day on Saturday.
Environment CS Deborah Barasa said Kenya Forest Service and Community Forest Associations will lead over 51,000 community planters at 79 sites in 31 counties to plant more than five million trees, with the national focal event hosted in Trans Nzoia county.
“On the same day, village elders will plant 100 trees in each of the 77,252 villages across the country; the Kenya Prisons Service will plant one million trees in 68 facilities; and the National Youth Service will plant 1.5 million trees,” Barasa said.
The drive is whole-of-government and whole-of-society effort.
Barasa said all the Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions and basic education institutions will also contribute to the campaign.
“Every tree will be counted, geo-tagged and certified. This is accountability in action. We are building systems that ensure every seedling planted is tracked for survival and impact.”
She said seedlings have been prepositioned while sites have been prepared.
Digital tools such as the JazaMiti platform are ready for geo-tagging and real-time counting.
The marking of the day will be under the theme “Our Environment, Our Responsibility: Collective Action for Tree Growing and Environmental Stewardship.”
The Mazingira Week started on Monday October 5 and ends on to Saturday, October 10, 2026.
The 17.24 million trees set to be grown forms a critical building block towards the national vision of 15 billion trees by the year 2032.
The Presidential Challenge and national tree-growing ceremony, which will be graced by President William Ruto will start at Konoin Primary School in Shikhendu and thereafter proceed to the Kenya Seed Company Elgon Downs Farm in Endebess, Trans Nzoia county.
Barasa said Trans Nzoia has earned its place as host through consistent leadership in environmental stewardship.
She said the county stands as a demonstration of what is possible when local leadership, communities and national institutions work together.
The CS said the government remains firmly committed to environmental restoration as a cornerstone of national development.
“Under the National 15-Billion Tree Growing Programme, we are mobilising resources, institutions and partnerships at every level. Ministries, departments and agencies from Environment and Forestry to Education, Agriculture, Defence, Prisons, NYS, Roads and Mining are fully engaged.”
Barasa said the Mazingira Day is not a one-day event but is part of a sustained national effort that includes 90-day survival checks, quarterly tracking of pledges, and long-term support for Community Forest Associations and farmer groups.
“We are investing in the future of our water towers, our soils, our biodiversity and our climate resilience.”
Barasa said the government action alone is not enough as the environment is a shared inheritance and a shared responsibility.
“Every Kenyan has a moral duty to protect it not only for ourselves, but for our children and the generations that will come after us. I therefore call upon every citizen, women, men, youth, learners, elders, faith communities, the private sector, civil society and development partners to volunteer their time, their energy and their resources," she said.
"Plant a tree. Adopt a seedling. Join a community clean-up. Support a school or a Community Forest Association. Encourage your neighbour. Teach your children. The act of planting and nurturing a tree is an act of hope, of patriotism and of intergenerational justice.”
