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Kenya: Greening drylands to combat land degradation
By Justus Wanzala
Faced with growing land degradation problems that have destroyed large tracts of land in arid and semi-arid regions, Kenya is investing heavily in restoration efforts to stave off the threat of desertification.
Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Charles Sunkuli said a plan to restore 5.1 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2030 was launched in September 2016. He added that Kenya is on track to increase its forest cover from the current 7 percent to at least 10 percent.
High levels of poverty, water scarcity, deforestation and land degradation fuel conflict between communities in East Africa.
“We introduced the equalization fund to help communities living on drought and degraded lands to sustain their livelihoods and participate in restoration programmes,” said Sankuli.
He spoke in Nairobi at the 15th session of the Committee for Review of the Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) (CRIC 15), which concluded last week.
He noted that afforestation will be mainly carried out in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid regions, which make up 80 percent of Kenya’s land area, but other parts of the country are also being targeted.
To successfully achieve this ambitious goal, Kenya is implementing a program to promote drought-tolerant tree species such as Melia volkensii (locally known as Mukau) in the country’s vast drylands to increase forest cover, Sankuli said.
Read the full article: All Africa
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