State to plant 100 million trees as Kenya marks first Mazingira day
The tree-planting initiative will largely focus on schools, with 71.1 million fruit trees expected to be planted in 35,570 public and private primary schools.
Kenya is gearing up for a nationwide tree-planting exercise targeting 100 million trees on October 10, during the first Mazingira Day celebrations.
The government says the new holiday will rally citizens across the country to take part in environmental restoration, waste management and sustainable development activities.
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As announced on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, the tree-planting initiative will largely focus on schools, with 71.1 million fruit trees expected to be planted in 35,570 public and private primary schools.
Each school has been allocated a target of 2,000 trees. Forestry PS Gitonga Mugambi, Environment PS Festus Ng’eno and other top officials unveiled the plan during a media briefing, describing it as both an environmental and economic opportunity.
Mugambi said the decision to prioritise fruit trees was deliberate to combine nutrition benefits with long-term income generation.
“Fruit trees are good for nutrition. In the next two to three years, they will create jobs, wealth and protect the environment,” he said. He added that one tree is valued at about Sh10,000, meaning that if the 100 million trees are well maintained, they could generate up to Sh1 trillion annually.
He encouraged Kenyans to participate by revisiting their former primary schools to donate seedlings and take part in clean-up exercises under the rallying call, ‘Turudi Primo: Tu-kadonate Fruit Trees na Ku-clean Environment’.
PS Ng’eno explained that Mazingira Day will not only focus on tree planting but also shine a spotlight on waste management, recycling and the circular economy.
These, he said, will create green jobs for young people and strengthen Kenya’s position as a regional hub for sustainable industries.
The activities will build on the Chief Climate Action Day held on October 3 and will integrate other initiatives, such as environmental sports championships.
The main national event will be held at Kabuyefwe Primary School in Trans Nzoia County, while similar exercises will take place in all counties led by local administrators, Nema, the Kenya Forest Service and the Ministry of Education.
Government officials called on Kenyans to seize the moment to support the broader national campaign of growing 15 billion trees, noting that more than one billion have already been planted so far.
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