Nairobi — A grand plan to plant over 200 million trees in the country was unveiled yesterday.

The project to plant trees in the Tana and Athi river basins, a mainly semi-arid region, will cost Sh16 billion and will be carried out over 10 years.

It is a joint venture of Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority (Tarda) and GreenPlanet, an international organisation dedicated to environmental care.

The chairman of GreenPlanet, Mr Rino Solberg, said another project to plant 1 billion trees would soon be discussed.

Tarda chairman Alex Mureithi said the project would start with the planting of 5 million trees on 5,000 hectares of land in Kiambere area over the next three years. When completed, the plan, which is the biggest reafforestation project in the country, will have covered 200,000 hectares with trees.

Mureithi said traditional trees with medicinal value, such as the neem, would be planted in Garissa, Bura and Hola.

Trees planted near the river banks will prevent silting of the Tana and Athi rivers.

The two spoke when they paid a call on Nobel laureate, Prof Wangari Maathai, at the Ministry of Environment headquarters.

Maathai said silting of rivers led to a waste of soil, which she said was an important resource.

Ignorant farmers cultivated near riverbanks, leading to soil erosion, she said.

"Every time I cross a river, I want to stop and weep because most of the rivers are naked," she said.

The Belgium Technical Cooperation will implement the project.

Meanwhile, a Japanese newspaper has offered Sh8 million to assist the Wangari Maathai Foundation.

The MD of Mainichi Newspapers, Mr Tatsuo Nanai, congratulated Maathai for her work in preserving the environment.

National Security minister Chris Murungaru together with 30 MPs and diplomats are meanwhile, expected to attend Wangari's grand homecoming party tomorrow.

According to the committee organising Prof Maathai's heroic return to her home town in Nyeri, all Members of Parliament from Central Province will attend.

Committee chairman Jackson Wanjage said the ceremony will climax with the planting of three truckloads of seedlings.