Governor Andrew Mwadime has promised to back a Forest and Landscape Restoration Implementation Plan (FOLAREP) that will inform an ambitious forest regeneration roadmap by Taita Taveta.
Mwadime made the commitment on Monday during a validation session in Voi, where he likened the plan to a healing process for land degraded by the effects of climate change.
He vowed to promptly assent on the framework one it undergoes necessary preparatory stages.
"Restoring is a remedy towards rehabilitating degraded land. Indeed this aligns with my manifesto which talks of promoting environmental conservation within a sustainable framework. Restoration through tree-growing is to be instrumental in carbon offset and purifying air," Governor Mwadime, who also chairs the Council of Governors-Kenya (CoG) Committee for Water, Forestry, and Natural Resources Management, stated.
Grantone Mwandawiro, the County Executive Committee Member for Water, Sanitation, Environment, Climate Change, and Natural Resources, echoed the governor's sentiments.
He stated that once domesticated, the FOLAREP document would serve as a guide in implementing restoration efforts of 226,420ha of degraded landscapes and also help in attracting climate financing.
Robin Chacha, Research Associate CIFOR-ICRAF, hailed this as a significant milestone towards landscape restoration and reduced emissions.
Meshack Muga, the National Project Coordinator for the Kenya ASAL TRI project, noted that the plan would advance the president's agenda to grow 15 billion trees countrywide.
The FOLAREP domestication is supported by the UK PACT project themed "Delivering Nature-based Solutions Outcomes by Addressing Policy, Institutional and Monitoring Gaps in Forest and Landscape Restoration".
The project is being implemented by World Agroforestry ICRAF, Africa Wildlife Foundation AWF, the Food Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations FAO-Kenya, and the County Government.
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