NAIROBI — Kenya has launched a nationwide drive to plant 17.24 million trees during this year’s National Mazingira Week, which runs from 5 to 10 October and culminates in National Mazingira Day on Saturday, 10 October. The campaign is one of the largest tree-planting mobilisations in Kenyan history and a major milestone in the country’s ambition to grow 15 billion trees by 2032.
Government Spokesperson Charles Owino announced the campaign in Nairobi on Monday, saying the week would turn the annual environmental observance into a nationwide movement reaching forests, schools, institutions, communities and degraded landscapes.
“This year’s Mazingira Day is not simply a day on the calendar. It is a national call to action for environmental conservation,” Owino said. “Kenyans, don’t just talk about the environment; do something for it.”
How the 17.24 million trees add up
The National Mazingira Day programme on Saturday will run through three major nationwide streams:
- The Presidential Green Challenge — 5.1 million trees at 79 sites across 31 counties, with more than 51,000 community members expected to take part. The national event will be held in Trans Nzoia County.
- Village elders — 77,252 elders across 30 counties will lead community activities, each overseeing the planting of 100 trees, projected to deliver about 7.7 million trees.
- Government institutions — the Kenya Prisons Service will plant one million trees across 68 correctional facilities, the National Youth Service will target 1.5 million trees, and the Ministry of Defence will mobilise military units around its installations. Educational institutions add one million trees from TVET institutions, 640,000 from basic education and 400,000 from universities.
A week of themed action days
Each day of the week carries its own focus. Tuesday is Mazingira Education Institution Day, when schools, technical colleges and universities combine tree planting with environmental cleanups. Wednesday shifts to the restoration of mine sites, with planting planned in Kakamega, Siaya, Migori, Busia and Kisii. Thursday is devoted to greening highways and clearing drainage systems, while Friday brings coordinated environmental cleanups across all 47 counties.
The campaign runs under the theme “Our Environment, Our Responsibility: Collective Action for Tree Growing and Environmental Stewardship.”
FAKTA: Mazingira Week 2026 in numbers
- 17.24 million — trees targeted during the week
- 10 October 2026 — National Mazingira Day (Saturday), national event in Trans Nzoia County
- 15 billion — Kenya’s national tree-growing target by 2032
- Sh172.24 billion — projected value of the trees within 10 years, at Sh10,000 per tree
- 7.7 million — trees expected from the village-elders programme alone
From planting to survival
Environment Cabinet Secretary Dr Deborah Barasa said the government is treating environmental restoration as a cornerstone of national development. Seedlings have been prepositioned, planting sites prepared, and the JazaMiti digital platform made ready for geo-tagging and real-time counting of the trees planted.
Owino urged Kenyans to measure the campaign’s success not only by the number of seedlings planted but by their survival and long-term care, under the slogans #PandaMitiBoreshaMazingira and #ITUNZEIKULIPE.
“We must therefore ensure that our forests are restored, our rivers and water towers are protected, our landscapes are productive, and our children inherit a healthy, productive environment,” Owino said.
A global reforestation push
Kenya’s drive lands amid a wider global reforestation moment. In Canada’s Northwest Territories, one of the largest tree-planting projects in the territory’s history has just been completed near Sambaa Deh Falls under the 2 Billion Trees Program: 3.37 million native trees and shrubs across 403 hectares, in a project valued at about $3.9 million and delivered in partnership with Jean Marie River First Nation. Combined with a 2025 project at Kakisa, the territory has now planted 3.77 million trees — about 47 per cent of its commitment to plant eight million trees by 2031.
Large-scale restoration is also gathering pace elsewhere: Ireland is funding a €1.5 million drive to restore 50 hectares of mangroves in south-east Liberia, as Watan News reported earlier.
Conclusion
With Mazingira Day landing on Saturday, the Kenyan government says this year’s campaign is meant to move environmental conservation “from government policy into everyday action at community and household level.” If the 17.24-million target is met — and the seedlings survive — the week will rank among Africa’s largest single-week tree-growing efforts.
