Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has today flagged off fire engines and vehicles for Kenya Forest Service(KFS) in Nairobi, where he urged the public to support Kenya’s 15bn Tree Growing flagship project by protecting the existing forests.

At the same time, CS Duale asked the public to participate fully in the 8 regulations developed under the Forest Management Act regulations(FCMA), in which at its consideration and implementation will regulate charcoal burning,benefit sharing ,enhanced governance on the forestry sector, among others.

The project which is part of the ongoing Ksh 2.8B project, funded by the Kenyan and French Governments seeks to strengthen KFS’s capacity to respond to forest fires in three ecosystems including Mau, Aberdares and Mt Kenya covering 14 counties.

The CS, who was accompanied at the event by French Deputy Ambassador to Kenya Mr. Alexandre Peaudeau reiterated on a whole of government and whole of society approach in Kenya’s climate-resilient programmes while acknowledging the private sector that has so far grown 215 million trees across the nation.

On forest fire threats,the CS emphasized the need to strengthen the institutional capacity of KFS in forest management.

Presided over the launch of a Ksh. 2.8B state-of-the-art forest firefighting and surveillance project for the Kenya Forest Service (@KeForestService), funded by the French and Kenyan governments.

This initiative strengthens KFS's capacity to combat fires in the Mau, Aberdares… pic.twitter.com/4lnsGYm7gk

— Hon. Aden Duale, EGH (@HonAdenDuale) March 5, 2025

“This strategy priority therefore proposes technological interventions that focus more on forest fire management and response to complement traditional suppression initiatives.”CS added

CS Duale underscored the Capacity Development Project for Modern Technologies on the Forest Fire Management project funded by the Government of France ,acknowledging that it has  enhanced fire detection, surveillance systems, radio communication and fire suppression.

“The project has been equipping KFS firefighting crews with modern firefighting equipment and tools at and training at various levels.”

The Ministry appreciates the equipment, the training and execution of the project which has recently enabled KFS to suppress wildfires in community grazing areas within Isiolo, Garissa, and Mandera counties, whereby approximately 3,200 hectares of grass and shrubs were burnt.

“Although the project is already recording positive output at this initial stage, there is a small gap in the scope of coverage during phase one of the project whereby only Mau, Aberdare and Mount Kenya are being covered.

I would request the French partners to consider a small variation in the existing contract to include Mount Elgon and parts of Baringo County, which have been prone to frequent forest fires. This will go a long way in ensuring optimum project effectiveness.”Hon. Duale concluded

The event was  hosted by Chief Conservator of Forests Alex Lemarkoko and KFS Board Chairman Mr. Titus  Korir.