Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), Kenya's largest power producer, is completing Phase I of a forest restoration project in Ngong Forest in southwest Kenya. At least 10 hectares of trees have been planted as part of the project.
Kenya’s Ngong Forest will be in better shape in the years to come. This will be thanks to a restoration project implemented by Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), Kenya’s largest power producer, with an installed capacity of 1,817 MW. The first phase of this initiative was recently completed after nearly 3 years of work. And the result is positive: 10 hectares of forest have been restored through the planting of 7,000 indigenous trees.
According to the end report of phase I of the project, the company led by Rebecca Miano has achieved a 100% survival rate of the trees. This is good news for the conservation of Ngong, one of the few natural forests near the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
A second phase underway
“The final project stage verification for stage 3 of the last quarter was conducted on June 21st, 2021, followed by a final project implementation team meeting in Ngong, where 7,134 seedlings were verified as surviving against a target of 7,000 seedlings, representing 100% success in rehabilitating an area covering 10.7 acres (4.33 hectares) in the east,” KenGen’s Phase I project completion report states.
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The 70% Kenyan state-owned company is planning a second phase with a more ambitious goal of planting 10,000 trees on 10 hectares in fiscal year 2021/2022. “We are not just planting trees, but going further to ensure that all the plants are well cared for and nurtured to maturity,” says Joshua Were, KenGen’s environment and sustainability manager.
Commitment to KWS
The power producer is making the Ngong Forest restoration project part of its environmental conservation program and sustainability policy. The company, which employs more than 2,500 people, operates a 25.5 MW wind farm built in two phases on the Ngong hilltop. The third phase of the facility is planned.
To this end, KenGen has committed to Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) to conduct conservation and management activities in the Ngong forest while implementing mitigation measures identified in the environmental and social impact assessment study of the expansion project. The capacity of the Ngong wind farm will increase by 10 MW.
Jean Marie Takouleu
