NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 28 — The State Department for Forestry has partnered with the World Wide Fund for Nature Kenya (WWF-Kenya) to support Kenya’s plan to grow 15 billion trees and restore 10.6 million hectares of degraded land by 2032.

The five-year partnership will provide technical, advocacy, communication and resource mobilisation support for the 15 Billion Trees Initiative, with a focus on linking environmental restoration to community livelihoods.

Principal Secretary for Forestry Gitonga Mugambi said the scale of the target requires the involvement of communities, government agencies, the private sector and other organisations.

“Government cannot achieve this national target alone. It requires a whole-of-society approach,” Mugambi said.

Kenya’s 15 billion trees target is part of the National Landscape and Ecosystem Restoration Strategy 2023–2032, which covers forests, water towers, rangelands, wetlands, marine areas, agro-ecosystems, settlements and infrastructure.

The State Department for Forestry coordinates the programme through the 15 Billion Trees Secretariat and tracks tree-growing activities across all 47 counties using the JazaMiti platform.

Mugambi said the Government is also focusing on the survival of planted trees rather than only counting the number of seedlings planted.

The programme is expected to create economic opportunities through seedling production, commercial nurseries and restoration enterprises.

The Government estimates that growing 15 billion trees will require 15 billion high-quality seedlings and could channel more than Sh450 billion to local communities through related activities.

Under the partnership, WWF-Kenya will provide technical support to the 15 Billion Trees Secretariat on landscape restoration and livelihood programmes. It will also work with public and private sector partners to replicate successful restoration models and mobilise funding and technical support.

One of the models is the Kaptagat Integrated Conservation Programme, which WWF-Kenya has supported since 2020 across 26,902 hectares covering six forest blocks in the Northern Mau ecosystem.

The programme has restored more than 2,700 hectares and planted over 1.8 million seedlings.

It combines environmental restoration with household income, clean energy, access to water and healthy landscapes.

The programme has supported the construction of Etio and Yogot dams, providing clean water to 15,000 farmers and creating 2,000 direct jobs. Farmers have also received 95 cross-breed heifers, beehives and high-value cash crops.

WWF-Kenya CEO Jackson Kiplagat said involving communities was key to sustaining restoration efforts.

“Restoration only lasts when local communities actively lead it and see their livelihoods improve alongside nature,” Kiplagat said.

The State Department said it will continue working with public and private institutions and communities to increase participation in tree growing and landscape restoration.