After cel­e­brat­ing my birth­day a few days ago, it hit me — I’ve crossed into the realm of ‘old age,’ where under nor­mal cir­cum­stances, retire­ment in five years would seem inevitable. But as I pass the torch to guide young blood into shap­ing our green future, I real­ize there are secrets too valu­able to be allowed to van­ish with me. It’s time to reveal what must not be lost.

There has been delib­er­ate mis­re­port­ing of Kenya’s nation­al for­est cov­er. When I first pre­sent­ed a report in 2018 as chairp erson of the Kenya Water Tow­ers and in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Direc­torate of Resource Sur­veys and Remote Sens­ing (DRSSRS), the for­est cov­er was accu­rate­ly assessed at 7.1%. How­ev­er, a sub­se­quent report inex­plic­a­bly adjust­ed the fig­ure to 7.2%. Under pres­sure to meet the Pres­i­den­t’s 10% pledge, new stud­ies by the Defence Forces and Kenya For­est Ser­vice (KFS) report­ed an increase to 8.83%, with a tree cov­er of 12.13%. A report report by DRSSRS and the Japan gov­ern­ment showed it was only 6.1%. DRSSRS was quick­ly trans­ferred to the Office of the President.

At first glance, the news of Kenya’s for­est recov­ery seems promis­ing. But the real­i­ty is dif­fer­ent. How can our for­est cov­er grow while defor­esta­tion con­tin­ues? The answer lies in flawed prac­tices and mon­i­tor­ing chal­lenges. I high­light this not out of con­flict with KFS — which I great­ly respect — but to ensure we address these issues and face the truth before it harms our future.

First­ly, for­est cov­er is a polit­i­cal­ly sen­si­tive issue, espe­cial­ly as Kenya posi­tions itself as a glob­al envi­ron­men­tal leader. For this rea­son, KFS and DRSSRS have con­stant­ly faced intense polit­i­cal pres­sure to inflate fig­ures. Despite ongo­ing defor­esta­tion across the Water Tow­ers, report after report con­tin­ues to show increas­ing for­est cov­er. This appar­ent mas­sag­ing of fig­ures is extreme­ly dan­ger­ous. Polit­i­cal lead­ers tend to pri­or­i­tize short-term elec­tion vic­to­ries or glob­al talk­ing points, but this often comes at the expense of our very future, the envi­ron­ment. If we can’t trust the data, how can we make informed con­ser­va­tion decisions?

Sec­ond­ly, KFS and DRSSRS rely on out­dat­ed data col­lec­tion meth­ods, depend­ing on man­u­al sur­veys rather than mod­ern satel­lite-based sys­tems. This makes it eas­i­er to manip­u­late data or selec­tive­ly report, often over­look­ing defor­esta­tion hotspots. For exam­ple, while areas like Nyeri and Elgeyo Marak­wet are report­ed to have increased for­est cov­er, ille­gal log­ging con­tin­ues unabat­ed in regions like the Aber­dares. Satel­lite data from plat­forms like Glob­al For­est Watch paint a much grim­mer picture.

Third­ly, cor­rup­tion has long sti­fled mean­ing­ful con­ser­va­tion efforts. Funds intend­ed for refor­esta­tion are often embez­zled, leav­ing basic for­est man­age­ment under­fund­ed. A prime exam­ple is the PELIS (Plan­ta­tion Estab­lish­ment and Liveli­hood Improve­ment Scheme), where com­mu­ni­ty involve­ment in tree plant­i­ng has been under­mined by poor super­vi­sion and mis­man­age­ment, result­ing in neglect­ed tree growth and the spread of inva­sive species.

Fourth­ly, ille­gal log­ging and char­coal pro­duc­tion, par­tic­u­lar­ly in coun­ties like Kitui, Narok, and Garis­sa, are often down­played by KFS. In some cas­es, local offi­cials and for­est offi­cers have allowed these destruc­tive activ­i­ties to con­tin­ue. While reports sug­gest high for­est cov­er in regions like Lamu and Turkana, the real­i­ty on the ground shows ongo­ing ecosys­tem degradation.

Fifth, the government’s 15-Bil­lion Trees Cam­paign is ambi­tious yet poor­ly fund­ed. Ini­tial­ly, the plan envi­sioned about Kshs 50 bil­lion annu­al­ly, but this year, the min­istry has received only Kshs 500 mil­lion — a far cry from the nec­es­sary invest­ment. Fur­ther, tree plant­i­ng is often cel­e­brat­ed, but lit­tle atten­tion is giv­en to tree sur­vival rates. In semi-arid areas, with scarce water and no fol­low-up care, sur­vival rates can be as low as 40%. Plant­i­ng trees is only the begin­ning — they must be nur­tured for true success.

Final­ly, account­abil­i­ty is cru­cial, but this is not just the gov­ern­men­t’s respon­si­bil­i­ty. As cit­i­zens, we too, must act. The Plant Your Age ini­tia­tive reminds us that each of us holds the pow­er to secure a green­er, health­i­er Kenya. Let’s plant, grow, and care for our trees. Think green, act green.