NAIROBI, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Monday announced plans to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) through sustainable utilization of the resource.
Keriako Tobiko, cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, said that the government has put in place measures to ensure citizens will reap from sustainable use of land.
"We are taking the initiative because land has the ability for sustainability, stability and security for vulnerable communities," Tobiko said during the World Day to Combat Desertification celebrations.
He said that the government has completed a process of setting of LDN as required by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
He said that Kenya is in the process of restoring land and soil that has been degraded through desertification, drought and floods.
"We plan to achieve zero net land degradation by 2030 with the help of the policies and strategies that are already in place," said Tobiko.
Geoffrey Wahungu, director general of National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), said that the organization is investing in interventions that can sustainably tame the spread of desertification and land degradation in the country.
Wahungu said that like other countries, Kenya is equally threatened by desertification, land degradation and drought.
"We have increased community resilience to drought through activities that involved technology transfer, capacity building and intervention projects to ease management of desertification and land degradation," he added.
Since signing and ratifying the UNCCD in 1994 and 1996 respectively, Kenya has recovered and restored degraded landscapes through sustainable land management practices.
Many communities have been trained on sustainable land management practices that have contributed to the planting of some 50 percent of trees in Kenya's arid and semi-arid areas (ASALS) successfully.
The Kenya Forestry Research Institute has promoted the growing of tree species that are adaptable to ASALs and also help survive in harsh areas and contributes to changing climatic conditions.
The government has in recent past intensified water harvesting through construction of dams, water pans, boreholes in ASALs to support local livelihoods.
Kenya has also prepared the first ever Environmental Performance Index, an innovation that presents metrics that flag environmental concerns and thereby offers the opportunity for guiding investment to address environmental concerns.
