GBM Blog

In celebration of World Environment Day, the Green Belt Movement (GBM) and friends headed to the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies (WMI) for a tree planting event. Honoring this year’s theme of ‘green economy’, GBM’s Deputy Executive Director, Edward Wageni, highlighted the contributions GBM is making to the green economy through our tree planting efforts, environmental conservation and livelihood improvements. 

It was now two weeks since the Mount Kenya fire started and it had almost spread to the peak and the upper part of the forest. Every evening I went out of my house, about 10 km from the foot of the mountain, and just stared at the orange patches on the dark mountain. I wondered how the country seemed so at ease when I could see the mountain burning. I had heard form an Army officer how remains of hyenas, buffaloes and elephants were seen in the burnt areas. Early in the morning, I saw how fast the fire had spread throughout the night. The air smelt smoky and hot. During the day, smoke was so intense that it obscured the whole mountain. We had waited for so long for rain to come. We knew that if the rain did not come soon, the whole forest would go up in flames. In villages, vehicles and towns people were talking about the fire. The radio and TV stations also broadcasted messages about the raging fire.

On Wednesday, the Green Belt Movement (GBM) with the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) celebrated Wangari Maathai Day. Last month the African Union, in recognition of the work of the late Professor Wangari Maathai, designated the 3rd of March as Wangari Maathai Day to be observed each year with Africa Environmental Day.

This January, the Green Belt Movement (GBM), with support from Agence Française de Développement (AFD), began filming our upcoming documentary to show the lessons learned from the AFD Aberdares Rehabilitation Project that started in 2006. The objective of the project was to plant 2,000 hectares of degraded forestland with indigenous trees. To date 3.8 million trees have been planted on 3,800 hectares of public and forestlands. Nearly double the project objective! GBM tree nursery groups grew indigenous trees and planted them in strategic areas that will in time increase tree cover, having a positive impact on ecosystem services like water volume and biodiversity.