By Anna Lexxy Mbucho
Forests are a great benefit for the planet after the recent rainy season that saw flooding in several areas of the country. Trees help in climate mitigation as they prevent soil erosion that has also been witnessed during the recent floods. Landslides and mud slides in some areas caused a lot of loss for the families.
Due to their numerous methods for lowering greenhouse gas emissions and reducing the effects of global warming, trees are essential for mitigating climate change. A tree’s biomass, which consists of its roots, stems, branches, and leaves, stores carbon dioxide (CO2) that is taken up from the atmosphere during photosynthesis. By decreasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, this technique helps to mitigate global warming by removing CO2, a significant greenhouse gas.
Trees provide shade and transpire water through their leaves, which helps to cool the surrounding environment. Urban areas with ample tree cover experience lower temperatures compared to areas with fewer trees, a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect. By reducing temperatures, trees help alleviate heat-related health issues and reduce energy consumption for cooling buildings.
Due to their ability to transpire and draw water from the soil, trees are essential for controlling the water cycle. This mechanism promotes the availability of water for ecosystems, agriculture, and human use while preventing floods and controlling local and regional rainfall patterns. Due to a lack of trees to support the soil and stop water from spreading far and wide, the areas most affected by the flood were those in arid and semi-arid regions.
The “Tree Planting Day,” which Kenyan President William Ruto gazetted on May 10, 2024, is one reforestation initiative that is headed in the correct direction toward reducing climate change. The president urged everyone to plant trees as a preventive measure against future natural disasters, given the destruction wrought by the nation’s floods. This was his second time spearheading an effort to encourage people, organizations, and private businesses to plant trees around the nation.
Because tree roots stabilize soil and inhibit erosion, planting trees can help mitigate the consequences of climate change by preventing sedimentation in water bodies and preserving soil fertility. By retaining organic matter, healthy soils function as a carbon sink, which helps to further sequester carbon and control climate.
The Kenyan administration started a 50 million tree planting campaign back in 2019. On October 15, 2019, Matuini in the Dagoretti South Constituency of Nairobi County hosted the commencement of the National Tree Planting Campaign in anticipation of the brief rains. Over 3,000 tree seedlings were planted during the launch. These kinds of programs are essential because a wide variety of plant and animal species depend on forests and tree-rich landscapes for their home and nourishment. The resilience of ecosystems to shifting climatic circumstances, including the effects of climate change like extreme weather events and habitat loss, depends on biodiversity.
Trees are critical allies in the fight against climate change because they can trap carbon, provide oxygen, cool the atmosphere, stabilize soil, promote biodiversity, control the water cycle, and provide renewable resources. Protecting existing forests, reforesting degraded regions, and applying sustainable land management techniques are critical measures for maximizing the value of trees in climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives.