News

On Wednesday 26 June 2013, our campaign for a greener and sustainable environment led us to Sukuta Lol Marmar, a town in Rift Valley’s Samburu County. Before us lay a landscape of great diversity and beauty: ranging from forests at high altitudes to open plains and semi-arid lands.

Green Belt Movement (GBM) and the Ministry of Agriculture organized a meeting to educate and empower the community on their role in conservation and the vital role of trees as a seed of hope to the Samburu community.

In the beginning, people asked: why trees?  The GBM team led by Wycliffe Matika, Assistant Project Officer Tree planting and Livelihoods Improvement, educated them on the crucial role that trees play in our environment. Planting trees on public lands and mountain catchments helps to reduce environmental destruction - halting erosion through the retention of topsoil, harvesting of rainwater which will impact these lands from the mountains to the plains below, and helps communities build their resilience to climate change.

When the meeting was finally through, the women and children were given the seedlings GBM had brought for the field demo.

One woman placed a seedling on her back to carry home, this photo says it all: seedlings of hope being taken out across Samburu.

Green Belt Movement would like to thank our donors:  Prince of Albert II of Monaco foundation, Yves Rocher foundation and The Schooner Foundation for supporting us in this region.