Tree for 50 – A plan to plant 50,000 trees in Kenya as part of UAE’s Golden Jubilee celebrations

DUBAI: Kenya has planted 50,000 mangrove trees in partnership with the UAE, as part of a push to replant forest that has been lost due to logging and pollution – and now plans to plants 10 million more.

The two countries drew up ‘Tree for 50’, a plan to plant 50,000 trees in Kenya, to celebrate UAE’s Year of the 50th, its Golden Jubilee, and as part of Kenya’s Vision 2030.

Phase one of the partnership between Aqdar’s Khalifa Empowerment Program, Blue Forest and Kenya’s forestry authorities has proved so successful, they are now planning to expand on the aims.

At the Kenya Pavilion, it was revealed the project now hopes to plant 10 million more mangrove trees as part of phase two, which would remove 100 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Vahid Fotuhi, Founder and Chief Executive, Blue Forest, said the aim was to get 10 per cent forest canopy cover in the country by 2030, “There has been grassroots involvement in the UAE, but also on the ground in Kenya … thanks to the young people of Kenya, who have really taken this by the horns.”

The trees in Kenya have been planted in Tudor Creek, near Mombasa, by 144 volunteers from local NGOs, including the Brain Youth Group.

Mbaarak Abdalla, the Coordinator, Brain Youth Group, said that tree planting was needed to tackle issues such as climate change, land degradation, deforestation and environmental pollution, and added, “By planting trees, we are educating the local community, creating jobs and better homes for the wildlife.”

Brain Youth Group, which does other work such as beach clean-ups and beekeeping, wants to see the tree-planting effort spread across the country – and, ultimately, the world.

Hon Kariuki Mugwe, Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya to the UAE, said, “The Kenyan people are extremely grateful to the Tree for 50 stakeholders for their contribution in the restoration of our Mother Nature, which we all depend on for our survival.”

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