Kenya has so far planted 1.78 billion trees under the government's ambitious plan to grow 15 billion trees by 2032, the Forestry Ministry has said.
Forestry Principal Secretary Gitonga Mugambi told the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that achieving the target could generate at least Sh75 trillion in wealth once the trees mature and are harvested.
Mr Mugambi said the campaign had initially been slowed by a shortage of seedlings propagated by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), but production has since increased significantly.
He said it costs Sh8.90 to propagate a single seedling, adding that KFS has accelerated production to support the national tree-growing programme.
“As we speak, we have planted 1.78 billion trees. This is a big number by all standards. We are now at the point of take-off because we have enough seedlings to meet the target of planting 15 billion trees,” Mr Mugambi told MPs.
He contrasted the programme with the previous administration, saying only 5.4 million trees were planted during the Jubilee government's 10-year tenure.
Forestry Principal Secretary Gitonga Mugambi.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group
“If the 15 billion trees are planted by 2032, we will have created a minimum of Sh75 trillion in wealth within the economy,” he said.
President William Ruto launched the 15billion tree campaign in 2023 as part of efforts to restore forest cover and combat climate change.
The PS also dismissed claims that the government is excising public forests, including Ngong, Karura and Imenti, describing the reports as false.
“There is no land being excised in public forests. That is a media creation. It does not exist,” he said in response to concerns raised by MPs over reports of plans to excise 100 acres of Imenti Forest for the construction of a State lodge and an airstrip.
Funyula MP Ojiambo Oundo questioned the government's commitment to forest conservation, saying it was contradictory to urge Kenyans to plant trees while allegedly planning to excise sections of Ngong Forest for a recreational facility and Imenti Forest for what he described as "a useless State lodge and an airstrip."
Mr Mugambi was appearing before the committee, chaired by Butere MP Tindi Mwale, to respond to Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu's findings on anomalies in the tree-planting programme.
According to the audit, a physical verification conducted in June 2025 found that 30,000 indigenous tree seedlings planted in Samburu Kirisia Forest in April 2025 had a survival rate of only about 60 percent, with many dying because of harsh weather conditions.
The Auditor-General also reported that 10,000 seedlings planted across 100 hectares in Chapalungu Forest in Bomet County recorded a survival rate of 98 percent, although their growth was being hindered by the invasive Mauritius thorn shrub.
President William Ruto during a tree-planning exercise in Mau Forest on October 27, 2025.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
In Maragoli Hills, the audit found that while the State Department had planned to plant 5,000 seedlings in April 2025, it failed to provide delivery notes, inspection records or acceptance reports for audit verification.
Ms Gathungu further noted that none of the inspected tree-planting sites had project identification signage and that the ministry's 2024/25 work plan did not specify the regions targeted for planting.
“In the circumstances, value for money on the expenditure incurred on tree planting could not be confirmed,” she said.
Responding to the audit, Mr Mugambi said many of the seedlings in Samburu Kirisia Forest died after a water bowser used for irrigation broke down during a drought.
He told MPs that the area had since been replanted following the onset of rains and that the trees were now growing well. He added that similar progress had been recorded in Chapalungu Forest and Maragoli Hills.
In 2024, President Ruto ordered the lifting of the six-year ban on logging in public and community forests, arguing that mature trees should be harvested to support the timber industry and create jobs.
“It is foolish to have mature trees rotting in forests while local industries lack timber. That is why we have decided to open up the forests and harvest timber so that we can create jobs for our youth,” the President said at the time.
The government imposed the logging ban in 2018 to protect forests and critical water catchment areas from degradation while pursuing the national target of achieving 10 percent forest cover.
