Ministry of Environment, Climate Change & Forestry

Deep within the ancient canopy of the Kakamega Rainforest,Kenya’s sole remaining extension of the vast Congo tropical ecosystem,lies an essential truth: our forests are the literal lungs of our planet.

As the world commemorates World Rainforest Day under the profound theme, "The Forest Within You," the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, Dr. Deborah Mlongo Barasa ,EGH reinforces the reality that human survival is intertwined with the health of these natural sanctuaries.

This unique ecosystem, rich with rare primates, vibrant butterflies, and invaluable medicinal plants, stands as a living museum of nature's genius and a heritage that must be protected at all costs.

In confronting the global triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, the costs of environmental degradation are felt locally through vanishing species, declining water sources, and rising human-wildlife conflict.

To choose hope over despair, the Ministry has put in place a robust policy framework, anchored by the National Forestry Policy 2023 and the National Landscape and Ecosystem Restoration Strategy.

In this mission, the collaboration between the Ministry,led by Cabinet Secretary Dr. Deborah Mlongo Barasa, EGH and the Principal Secretary for the State Department for Forestry, Mr. Gitonga Mugambi,and key stakeholders, including the Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Dr. Idah Betty Odinga, and the Governor of Kakamega County, H.E. FCPA Fernandes Barasa, remains pivotal.