World Environment Day 2012: Back to Basics

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second best time is now” or so goes the famous Chinese proverb. Echoing this call, several youth leaders from a number of youth organizations met at YMCA Central Branch, Nairobi, to establish a tree nursery to mark the World Environment Day 2012. AYICC-K, KYCN, YMCA and many other youth organizations were among the youth organizations at YMCA; the mood was exuberant and contagious, as this was a critical step in the march to realizing our objective of planting 20,000 trees or more this year. The theme of this year's World Environment Day was: "Green Economy: Does it include you?". Of course it does!

Planting trees is one of the noblest ways of conserving the environment, and after  spending the last couple of months working on environmental advocacy projects, it was only right to go back to the basics and sow the seeds of sustainability; literally. We planted the Moringa oleifera tree, which is also known as the ‘Miracle Tree’. For example, it is usually considered ‘nutrition dynamite’ simply because it has been successfully used to combat malnutrition; it is also used for medicinal purposes especially in treating tumours, which usually lead to cancer. It can also be used in water purification - this list of benefits is almost endless! Therefore, planting this tree was symbolic, just as is the cause of youth-led environmental conservation and governance advocacy in Kenya and beyond.

Someone very wise once said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so please find below some pictures of the event:

Clearing the area for preparation of the seed beds

Creating the seedbeds for the tree nursery

Making sure that the seed beds are ok

You have to level out the seedbeds before planting the tree seeds

Moringa oleifera tree seeds which we planted

We planted 300 seeds on three seedbeds

The three seedbeds we prepared

A little fun doesn't  hurt

Putting final touches on the seedbeds

Time to plant the tree seeds

You have to plant the tree seeds in an organized manner

Many hands make work light

You also have to water the tree seeds after planting them

Finally, we finished planting the tree seeds

Initial preparation of the seedbeds

Prepared by: Kennedy Liti Mbeva