On November 6, the Kenyan government announced a surprise public holiday: a nationwide tree planting day on November 13, 2023. Posted on X by Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki, the announcement frames the holiday as a “patriotic duty” and that citizens are “expected” to participate. This is the countries latest move toward their goal of planting 15 billion trees across the nation by 2032. This goal has a long way to come as currently, their forest cover is about 7%. But this past year, the government set aside $80 million to increase cover to 10%.
Following the decision of the Cabinet sitting in Mombasa on Friday November 3, 2023, the Government has declared a special holiday on Monday, November 13, 2023, during which the public across the Country shall be expected to plant trees as a patriotic contribution to the national… pic.twitter.com/0gFelFnjKM
— Kithure Kindiki (@KindikiKithure) November 6, 2023
The seedlings for the holiday are going to be provided by the Kenyan environment, climate change and forestry ministry which is hailing the event as a great commitment by the government to furthering their climate action obligations. Environment Minister Soipan Tuya even called it “a moment for Kenyans to stand in solidarity in the defense of our environment,” signifying further the importance of days like this.
Environmental Crisis in Kenya
There announcement also highlighted the importance of tree planting for fighting climate change and its effects that are devastating the country. The Horn of Africa, where Kenya is located, has seen extreme and prolonged periods of drought and five consecutive failed rain seasons. This has resulted in crop failure, loss of livestock, wildlife and biodiversity, and malnutrition as well as damage to the economy as domestic agriculture plays a large role in their economy.
There are also major threats to the existing trees in Kenya as many of their forests are experiencing extreme environmental degradation. Activities such as logging, charcoal burning, and land clearing have led to higher rates of deforestation, which alters water movement through these lands.
Logging is a hot topic in Kenya because even though President Ruto, who presents himself as a climate leader and made the aforementioned pledge to plant 15 billion trees, recently lifted a 6-year ban on logging in the country. The ban was lifted with the main goal of providing jobs but potentially at the sake of the environment. This highlights one of the major conflicts of mitigating climate change issues: what happens when the solution for the planet harms the people’s livelihood?
Possible Hurdles
While a national holiday for planting trees sounds like a great idea, there could be some issues with its implementation. There could be an issue with getting citizens to actually participate and buy in to the program. In the US, many people use national holidays as an extension of their weekend, which if reflected in this scenario, would limit the scope of the project. Additionally, the quick nature of the event has me a little wary because of the less than 2 week turn around to a nationwide event. Will the correct resources and plans be executed for a successful event?
I also searched through the replies to the tweet announcing the holiday and there seem to be mixed reactions. There is a small group replying that are excited about the holiday and already committing their time to the cause. They see it as a good move toward fighting climate change and proper action to its mitigation. On the other hand, a larger group seems to be skeptical about the plan. Many replies seem to be confused about the actionable side of the plan and how they are supposed to access these trees to plant. Some users are even calling out the government for declaring this holiday when they are allowing the continued destruction of the existing forests.
What’s Next?
Although the holiday has not happened yet, I am curious to see how it turns out. Using a policy tool like a federally mandated national holiday could be a great tool to getting people out and participating in environmental stewardship work. It seems akin to the ongoing discussion of making Election Day a national holiday in the US, will it bring out more people or will people not participate and use the day for other things?
I will definitely be keeping an eye on the results of this holiday. If it turns out to be a great success, I could see the implementation of similar projects all across the globe as it would be a great way to get large scale community action. I am hopeful for a great turnout and an expansion of ideas like this to fight the growing impacts of climate change.
