KENYA: Eco-Friendly Group Set for Clean-up in Nairobi City Ahead of World Environment Day

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA

Prior to World Environment Day (WED) marked annually on June 5, an eco-friendly non-profit Organization in Kenya dubbed Nairobi Recyclers (NAREC) are set to clean part of the country’s capital to help in restoration of the ecosystem that has been destroyed.

Sharing with AMECEA Online under the 2021 theme “ecosystem restoration,” the Coordinator of a community based environmental conservation Mr. Stanley Didi disclosed that the NAREC group in collaborations with youth groups, organizations, friends and members of the community have organized to collect garbage and transport them for disposal to designated sites.

“We have identified eight mini dumping sites in western part of the city, where we are going to do some cleaning by collecting garbage and dispose them properly,” Mr. Didi narrated during the Thursday, June 3, interview.

“Through this activity, we will protect our environment from pollution, stench and keep it clean,” explains Mr. Didi who is also an animator with the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM).

Besides collecting garbage Mr. Didi said, NAREC team has identified 17 schools and five faith-based children’s homes where they intend to plant more than 1,000 fruit trees and other tree species along the tributaries of Nairobi River.

Held annually since 1974, the Environmental Day is a platform for promoting progress on the environmental dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals where over 150 countries participate each year. Major corporations, non-governmental organizations, communities, governments and celebrities from cross the world adopt the WED brand to champion environmental causes.

The commemoration of 2021 WED which will be hosted by Pakistan this year, also marks the beginning of the United Nations (UN) Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations together with the support of partners, it is designed to prevent, halt, and reverse the loss and degradation of ecosystems worldwide.