Kenya's Gold Feature | FOREST CONSERVATION

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:12][music] >> My name is Grace Maina. I am the treasurer of Nyandarua County TTI students association, where we are here.

[00:00:41]This is Nyandarua National Polytechnic, where we have brought together youth or we do bring together the youth and for the purpose of conserving and maintaining our environment and trying to bridge the gap and having an impact on climate change. Yes, it's a journey we've started. We started before and we have seen the progress and we are really motivated because we have our leaders who support us in such cases.

[00:01:11]Our teachers, like now the principal of Nyandarua Nyandarua National Polytechnic and including other student leaders from the surrounding TTI institutions. Yes.

[00:01:39]Uh Terrell, we are in Nyandarua and we are very proud of the Aberdare Ranges and if I would get a sometime to take you there, you would really admire the nature there.

[00:01:53]And of course, we have received education of what the climate can really do and the impact it has on our agriculture in terms of you know bridging the ecosystem diversity biodiversity and having different rainfall periods. It all depends with how best we conserve and maintain our environment. And so we feel as the youth it is an opportunity for us because we are energetic and of course we want to bring in continuity of the culture of conserving our environment for climate to for own life because when we conserve the environment we live well with our animals, we have rainfall, we have water systems, water points. Yeah.

[00:02:38]Um well as a student because I think I I started student leadership earlier on in primary school and it's something that we could see with our leaders who came. Then they were the young people then and after we do a small event we could plant trees.

[00:02:55]And then actually for me personally is how you plant a tree and it's written there planted by I think it was always something good how we transform an area where there was desertification then we plant trees slowly slowly the area changes you know the weather changes the shade there you know hair when I go surfing. I think all those are what motivated me.

[00:03:27]We had very different climate with now and of course trying to get what changed it's all about the conservation of our environment. How well do we plant trees?

[00:03:41]When do we plant them? Which ones do we plant? And who are the stakeholders of planting? And we have taken an initiative as the county as students of Nyandarua to make sure that we are on the forefront in conservation and maintenance of our environment.

[00:04:07]I think the indigenous trees are the best and that's what we've been doing here.

[00:04:13]And if you look around and what you've been doing over there, we are really capitalizing on the indigenous trees.

[00:04:21]So many reasons behind it because we might be doing it here, someone else is not doing it somewhere else, which might affect us because we share the same, you know.

[00:04:31]But when we do it, these trees first, the reason number one is they are very good resistance to diseases and pests.

[00:04:39]They are also trees that adapt well with the change of climate because of course it's not human activities only that cause climate change, other factors would do. So when they do, we are affected. These indigenous trees are very good in adapting to climate change, of course triggered by different factors.

[00:05:01]And also for prestige, you know, these are we don't want to them to get extinct. We want to see them and move them to the generations and we can only do that by planting more of them so that we preserve our heritage.

[00:05:31]And especially when we cut trees and we don't plant more because we cannot say that we won't completely cut down trees.

[00:05:38]Of course at times we do it for commercial purposes, we do it for different reasons and I didn't mention that most of those indigenous trees are sources of medicines, which we cannot throw away.

[00:05:50]Took you cut the meat tea. Now, that culture of planting more and actually turning those places that have been dis-certified or other they didn't have trees and we go there, you know, take initiative of planting trees there.

[00:06:05]Within no time and especially when there is rain so that we can have the soil is has some growth. I mean moisture to hold the roots.

[00:06:16]Within no time, that area changes. So many places have changed by the way. If we move around where we have done that even in schools because we have been doing mentorships in schools.

[00:06:26]I've done several here in the county and every school we go to, we plant trees.

[00:06:31]Not to form a ceremonial thing. We plant a lot of trees and if we go to those schools now, they are very beautiful places. Very beautiful places and you actually fast track to see what has changed between when you were there and there were no trees and when now there are there are trees, there's rainfall.

[00:06:51]You know, we have no soil erosion.

[00:06:53]These people are able to to plant because before the tree grows up and becomes big, you can do agroforestry because moisture is retained when there is trees, there's shade. All these factors, I think it's just a good process to follow up.

[00:07:20]Yes, there is because Let me start with here because it's a gap we saw and we started filling the gap.

[00:07:28]There are so many rivers that come from the Aberdare ranges and these rivers, of course, if we do have no trees, we cut down the trees, we don't conserve them, you know, we destroy them anyhow. And we we will drain the water points.

[00:07:45]So, if to those places that we have actually took took the activity of planting more trees where they were cut down, the water points have come back.

[00:07:54]Because now the water can be retained.

[00:07:57]And we are continuously doing it so that we return all our water sources and we can use that water for agriculture. We can use that water for our animals. We don't have to take our animals to a certain dam that is 4 km away. We have enough for our animals and also to irrigate.

[00:08:22]Number one, do civic education to the people around because if they do not own the place, own the water points, we cannot be coming from away and far, you know, coming to tell them what to do or coming to do what they can do best.

[00:08:37]But when we come train them, tell them now this is how we have brought back, you have seen yourself what we did, now your role, your responsibility is to conserve it, maintain it. You don't drop litter, those factories or what uh like now we have milk cooling plants around Nyandarua which could be dropping the waste in the rivers. So, we make sure that we educate, we do civic education Because it's the generation that will come to find what we're doing.

[00:09:28]Because we also found people doing it.

[00:09:30]Now, how do we do it? Do we We have the mantle now. And we have really advocated as the young people to We go to those secondary schools and junior junior schools. We show them the culture. So the main reason is to enhance the culture continuity of that culture so that they know this is what we are supposed to do. Our seniors up there are doing the same. It's helping through this and that. Before that there was no such activities.

[00:10:17]More than 10,000 trees.

[00:10:31]You start small. A long journey starts with one step.

[00:10:40]Then see how the tree is growing and of course friends, you know, you are you with friends, plant something, go to a school, go to a hospital, dispensary, whatever social thing, just do something.

[00:11:06]And the future I see with what we're doing is that we will have agriculture as the backbone of our economy. That will be one of the best we will be the best stakeholders who will have supported that area of making sure that we don't have to import everything every food. We can actually do that for ourselves because we have a very good climate to grow. We have a very good climate to bring in rainfall.

[00:11:53]>> [music] >> I would really request our leaders and those especially who are leading youth people young young people to really make it as a priority for the future purpose. That we should conserve it it should be our business to conserve and maintain our environment.

[00:12:39]And so that it is for our own good. When we have good shade, we have beautiful places to go and you know relax. We have rainfall. We don't have to because when we have a good environment with trees and whatever you we can do a lot. We can do a lot with our land. And we have very bare lands that are just there. We have youth that are just idle.

[00:13:08]We can make it a hobby. Yeah, make it a hobby for the future.

[00:13:13]Yes. Yeah, we will.

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