The KenGen Foundation in partnership with KenGen PLC and Tullow Oil launched the Schools Green Initiative Challenge tree growing competition at Turwel Gorge Primary School, West Pokot County on 11 March 2020.
During the ceremony, the guest of honour, KenGen’s Chairman Mr. Joshua Choge lauded the efforts of the partnership saying, “As we celebrate the expansion of the tree growing project, I would like to commend the KenGen Foundation for scaling up this unique partnership with Tullow Oil to extend to Turkana and West Pokot Counties to positively impact the schools and neighboring communities”.
ALSO READ: Schools Green Initiative Challenge Takes Root i Turkwel
The event, attended by KenGen Western Region Manager Eng. Alred Abiero, KenGen Foundation’s Managing Trustee Anthony Igecha included their counter part from Tullow Oil’s Local Content Manager Ms. Susan Munyiri. Other distinguished guests present were Mr. Charles Ewoi, Turkana County CEC Tourism representing the county’s governor, Ms. Roselin Lokorkilim from W. Pokot representing the area governor and the recently trained “green” teachers who will lead the afforestation project in the two counties.
14 registered schools from the two counties will compete in growing and nurturing selected tree species in the two-year pilot project that aims at increasing the areas forest cover while encouraging sustainable natural resource management through the planting of trees within school compounds.
READ MORE: Top GIC IV Schools Feted in Tree Growing Competition.
The Schools Green Initiative Challenge (GIC) is a programme that targets schools in arid and semi-arid areas to raise environmental awareness and create an involvement of schools and students in improving their environment through a participatory and rewarding initiative.
The project is designed as a challenge to participating schools, mainly due to the dry weather conditions in the areas, with prizes awarded based on the highest survival rate of seedlings and use of innovation with the best performing schools standing to benefit from education scholarships, infrastructural development, water tanks and rainwater-harvesting, and cash awards, among others. This encourages school children and communities to sustainably manage the woodlots, which provides the schools with renewable sources of wood fuel, reducing pressure on surrounding vegetation and forest resources.
Mr. Choge reiterated KenGen’s commitment to sustainable environmental management at its areas of operation, focusing its corporate social responsibility to the communities living around its power plants and beyond as the partnership.
The ceremony also saw Mr. Choge hand over a donation of 47 double decker beds to Turkwel Gorge Secondary School and Lorogon Primary School along with mattresses and blankets to provide a conducive learning environment for Turkana and West Pokot students.
Implemented by Kengen Foundation, KenGen PLC and Tullow, the GIC Turkwel project is a 2-year pilot that will involve over 500 students and ‘green’ teachers and school principals in planting selected tree species within their school compounds. The project partners provide seedlings and technical advice. The programme also includes 2 capacity building sessions per year for all participating schools and continuous Monitoring and Evaluation sessions.
In her speech, Tullow Oil’s Local Content Manager Ms. Susan Munyiri urged the schools to give their best in the competition and make it hard for the judges to select the winner at the end of the two-year cycle.
“See the challenge as an exercise in improving the counties’ forest cover that can be replicated outside the schools’ compounds”, she added.
Her sentiments were echoed by the Foundation’s Managing Trustee who encouraged the schools to replicate the success of the 10-year GIC project currently running at the semi-arid counties of Machakos, Embu and Kitui with over 600 schools participating.
The ultimate goal of the GIC is to raise the awareness and participation of school children in environmental conservation and ultimately increase the country’s forest cover from the current 7% to 10% that is recommended by United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).
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–Ernest Nyamasyo, Communication Officer