Equity Bank Group has announced plans to plant 35 million trees across the country within a year.
Speaking Tuesday at Ngong Forest where the company planted 3,500 indigenous tree seedlings, chief executive James Mwangi said the institution had partnered with the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) to promote farm forestry initiatives. “As a bank, we have seen the need to conserve our natural heritage and that’s why we are working closely with the government through KFS and farm producers to adopt sustainable solutions for preserving the environment,” he said.
Added Dr Mwangi: “The 35 million trees we intend to plant will represent 1 million trees for each year since we began operations in Kenya.”
In the deal, KFS will provide technical support including the identification of hot spots that require urgent tree cover or rehabilitation of degraded forests.
Mwangi said the initiative will create jobs for youths in tree nurseries business. “Partnership with Equity is a significant boost as it will increase our forest cover by 10 per cent,” said KFS chief conservator Julius Kamau.
The government has declared its intention to plant two billion trees in the next three years as the country’s contribution towards addressing climate change.
“There is an opportunity for us as a Group to scale-up the footprint of our contribution in greening the environment, supporting transitions to clean energy and increasing fruit productivity,” said Mwangi.
