Homa Bay is among 31 counties that will take part in a national competition seeking to set a Guinness World Record by planting as many trees as possible within one hour.
The exercise, to be held during Mazingira Day on October 10, will take place at Lambwe Forest in Suba North.
County Forest Conservator Sharon Cheluget says this year's Mazingira Day is not just another tree-planting ritual. Previously, residents would join environmentalists and leaders in planting trees at different sites. Some of the trees survived while others died. Cheluget notes that more trees will be planted this year than in previous years.
"This year's Mazingira Day is very unique. It's not like the previous years. The national government has taken up a challenge for the Guinness Book of Records," she says.
The Kenya Forest Service officials led by Homa Bay County Forest Conservator Sharon Cheluget (in glasses) plant a tree at Orero Boys High school in Rangwe, Homa Bay County during the launch of a programme by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (Kthat encourages students to plant trees.
Photo credit: George Odiwuor I Nation Media Group
Homa Bay targets 92,000 seedlings
Homa Bay is one of the counties handpicked to lead the challenge. Others in Nyanza include Migori. Cheluget says the stakes are national, but the battle will be local. The one-hour sprint is only the climax.
Kenya Forest Service (KFS) plans to plant 92,000 cypress seedlings on a 57.5-hectare piece of land in Lambwe Forest. Cheluget explains that the species was chosen because Lambwe is a plantation area.
Homa Bay currently holds about 43,000 plantable cypress seedlings in its KFS nurseries. The deficit will be sourced from sister counties in the Nyanza Conservancy, a logistical chain already in motion.
To meet Guinness standards, every seedling must be planted to specification and counted by independent adjudicators.
"The number of people that are going to participate, particularly on the challenge, are going to be a trained group," Cheluget explains.
KFS has engaged the National Youth Service (NYS) to lead the exercise. They will form the core planting team. However, the public is not left out.
More than 30 stakeholders, from Community Forest Associations (CFAs), Beach Management Units (BMUs), the Ngao administration, Agriculture and Livestock departments to the county government, have already met to mobilise communities to dig holes, clear the site and sensitise villages ahead of D-Day.
Supervision will come from Guinness World Records officials themselves, alongside KFS and the Office of the President. For Cheluget, the record is a means, not an end. Kenya has committed to growing 15 billion trees by 2032 under its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to fight climate change.
Low forest cover drives restoration push
Homa Bay's forest cover, despite improvements in tree cover, remains stubbornly low, below the recommended minimum of 10 per cent. Data shows that Homa Bay has one of the lowest forest covers in the country at 3.1 per cent, while tree cover stands at 10.4 per cent.
This makes the region sit on a climate knife-edge, with floods in the rainy season and punishing dry spells months later. Cheluget says Mazingira Day should encourage people to plant more trees.
Environmentalists in Homa Bay have lined up build-up activities ahead of Mazingira Day. The exercise, which will start on October 5, targets to restore 200 hectares across the county before the main day.
The county is not planting randomly. Maps have been drawn and hotspots identified. Bamboo and vetiver grass will line the fragile wetlands and dykes along River Sondu Miriu and River Tende.
These are natural barriers against the floods that perennially displace families in Karachuonyo and on the Nyakach borderlands.
Communities urged to keep trees alive
Schools, farmlands and degraded forest blocks are also on the list, with KFS working alongside the Ministry of Education to turn schools into nurseries.
Environmentalists say they back the record bid, but survival rate is the real trophy. Environmentalist Willis Omullo warns that the real win will be in keeping the seedlings alive.
"The challenge goes beyond numbers and must focus on long-term restoration. As much as we are doing the Guinness World Records challenge by planting many tree seedlings in one hour, we also have to ensure they survive," he says.
Kenya is racing to meet its ambitious target of growing 15 billion trees by 2032 under its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to combat climate change. Omullo says the effort cannot be left to the government alone.
"This is a clarion call to each and every one that we are not only leaving this to both levels of government but we would like it to be community-led. I think that is the theme of this year, that it is community-centric and communities are at the heart of this," he says.
He is appealing to communities to come out and embrace the process and emphasises that tree survival needs a multi-sectoral approach.
Call for countywide climate action
He says environmental groups in the region are ready to work with the national government administration, CFAs, and BMUs to restore tree cover.
He lauded the Homa Bay County Government for mainstreaming climate change in its County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP), noting that all departments must now be involved.
"We understand that Homa Bay is prone to disaster and it's one of the hot spots being faced with flooding during the rainy season and also the dry spell during the dry season. So we are requesting that all come out strongly and make sure that the trees that we planted with the onset of the rains, we nurture them to survive," Omullo says.
