KENYA: Catholic Movement Carries Out Reforestation in Kakamega Forest as a Response to Season of Creation
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
As Christians and non-Christians across the globe continue to celebrate the month-long season of creation which commenced on September 1 and runs till October 4, on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi the patron saint of ecology, Global Catholic Creation Movement in Africa (GCCM Africa) has replanted trees in Kakamega forest that has been experiencing depletion due to human activities, natural calamities and climate change.
“We realized that there has been illegal logging from the forest, bee hunting which destroys the echo system, hunting of animals and various other activities that sustain the community living around the forest and this has been destroying the forest at a very high rate,” GCCM Programs Manager for Africa Fr. Benedict Ayodi told AMECEA Online in an interview Thursday, September 24.
“Kakamega is the only remaining tropical rainforest in Kenya and it attracts a lot of rain, but with the loss of trees in a large part of the forest that has been destroyed, it is becoming a threat,” Fr. Ayodi explained further why the Movement prioritized planting of trees in Kakamega forest during this period.
The event whose main focus was to create awareness to the people about Season of Creation as a time to restore the land, to let the land rest and to renew relationship with our Creator and all creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment, brought together over 500 participants from the surrounding community to be part of tree planting in the forest.
According to Fr. Ayodi OFMCap, the event was conducted in the context of ecumenical prayer service with representatives from various Christian denominations including Catholics and Anglicans.
The Anglican representative appreciated the efforts of GCCM stating that conservation of environment and praising God is one and the same thing.
He highlighted some of the activities the Anglican Church is doing in relation to care for environment through its development agency saying, “We have been building community resilience and that means we have been going to the community, we identify their problem as far as environment is concerned, we teach them and we come up with climate resilience development.”
“We have also made proper climate change law in the County called the County Climate Change Act that will be in place in the next few weeks,” the Church representative said and continued, “We have also come up with policies that will ensure that the County is addressing issues of climate change and environment conservation and allocating funds for the same.”
The GCCM group who involved the community on the ground, government officials and other Kakamega forest stakeholders planted over 700 seedlings some of which they purchased while some they received as a donation from the Mother Earth Network, a group whose aim is to “strengthen environmental conservation issues in Kenya by creating awareness, capacity building, and conservation through tree planting.”
One of the Kakamega environmental conservation groups that was presented during the event disclosed that they have planted over 43,000 seedlings within the forest during their three years of existence.
