Gratitude to PS Kimotho for Championing Oloolua Forest, Nairobi’s Green Treasure

Dear PS CPA Ephantus Kimotho,

When you first stepped into the arena of environmental leadership, few outside government circles could have predicted the depth of your commitment to the land, the trees, the people, and the future that hangs beautifully on Kenya’s green horizons. Today, I want to thank you; not for a single event or a moment, but for a pattern of dedication that has brought hope back to Oloolua Forest, our city’s lungs, our natural classroom, and a refuge of both life and memory.

There is something deeply human about a forest; a place where soil and sun and water knit themselves into canopy and shade and air we find ourselves breathing a little more easily. For so many of us in Nairobi, Oloolua isn’t just trees and trails; it is heritage. It is history. It is connection to a time before concrete swallowed horizon lines and to a future where nature and city can exist not as rivals but as companions. You know this place well: its ancient paths that echo the footsteps of freedom fighters, its streams that mirror the sky, its hidden tangles where life persists even when threatened, and its quiet promise that each sapling planted is another beat in the heart of this city’s environment. 

And yet for too long, that promise has hung by a thread. Oloolua has faced pressure ; encroachment, illegal activities, threats to its watercourses and its boundaries; the constant tug of urban expansion and development that erodes forests not with storms but with silent decay. 

On the International Day of Forests this year, you did more than plant saplings. You stood in that forest and made a declaration; a reaffirmation of the responsibility that comes with leadership. You reminded us that forests are not passive backdrops to urban life but active partners in our health, our water security, our climate resilience, and our cultural identity. Today’s planting of over 5,000 trees under the Oloolua Forest CARE initiative is a testament to that vision; a vision that recognizes Oloolua for what it truly is: vital.

This is not symbolic tree‑planting for photos. This is purposeful restoration. This is deep conservation. This is healing where the soil has been wounded and renewal where the canopy has been thinned. You understand that the health of this forest reflects the health of Nairobi itself and that every seedling placed today is an echo of future forests; stronger, denser, alive.

But you went even further. In line with the theme of the Day of Forests, Forests and Economies, you ensured that conservation would walk hand in hand with community livelihood. You oversaw the distribution of over 2,000 fruit tree seedlings for planting in schools across the region, empowering young learners with both ecological purpose and economic value. These fruit orchards represent something far greater than agriculture. They are classrooms without walls, teachers without voices, and legacies that will bear fruit long after this generation has grown. They are living proof that when conservation embraces community , especially youth, it becomes a part of identity, not obligation.

What you have done for Oloolua, PS Kimotho, is to align environmental stewardship with human aspiration. So many of us see forests in terms of trees alone, but forests are ecosystems, teachers, protectors of groundwater, guardians of biodiversity, and sources of sustainable income. They are places where children learn to care, where communities rediscover their roots, and where the invisible work of climate mitigation happens quietly day after day. Oloolua’s watershed functions are critical: it feeds our rivers, recharges our aquifers, and gives life to the land in ways that extend far beyond its physical boundaries. 

I want to acknowledge something important: that this path you walk, conservation with community engagement, was not born yesterday. Long before you led the Oloolua initiative, you were shaping Kenya’s forestry landscape at national scale. In your role previously in the State Department for Forestry and now as Principal Secretary in the State Department of Irrigation, you have championed forest policy, landscape restoration, tree‑growing campaigns, and strategies that place people and nature in mutual support rather than opposition. Your work on forest policy and restoration reflects a deep understanding that healthy landscapes are the backbone of healthy societies. 

But today, in the shade of Oloolua’s trees and in the laughter of students receiving their seedlings, that policy found a heartbeat.

Thank you for cementing Oloolua Forest CARE as not just a slogan but a programme with strategy, with milestones, and with genuine impact. Fencing 25 kilometres around 663 hectares of forest isn’t a line on a map, it is a bold assertion that we will not surrender our green treasures to neglect or exploitation. That action protects habitats for birds and small mammals, secures water catchments, and sends a clear signal that Oloolua belongs to every Kenyan who breathes its air, drinks its water, or finds solace under its shade.

Conservation is not a simple pursuit. It strains against competing interests, requires patience with slow growth, demands resilience against setbacks, and thrives only when people see themselves as part of the story rather than mere spectators. What you have done in bringing schools, government, civil society, and citizens into the fold is to grow not just trees but stewards. Young people will plant these fruit trees and, in the process, they will learn to plant values of care for ecosystems that sustain life.

I want to thank you especially for your message of shared responsibility, a call to citizens, stakeholders, community members, and every person who loves this city. Conservation is not a trophy to be won by one man or one ministry. It is a collective achievement, and your leadership has shown us how to bring that collective will together without ego and with purpose.

In a time when forests around the world shrink under pressure, your example in Nairobi gives us hope. In a time when short‑term economic interests can overshadow ecological necessity, your stewardship reminds us that prosperity and sustainability are not opposing goals but complementary ones. When future generations walk under the canopy of Oloolua, perhaps bigger, even more vibrant than it is now,  they will walk in the legacy of choices you made, actions you took, and values you lived.

This letter is not the end of gratitude. It is the beginning of acknowledgement, publicly, loudly, and with full hearts,  that PS Ephantus Kimotho has stood up for Oloolua Forest when it mattered most. It is to say ‘thank you’ on behalf of citizens who love the earth, on behalf of children who deserve forests, and on behalf of Nairobi that breathes in the shade you are helping preserve.

May the roots you nurture today grow deep into the future. May the fruit trees planted in schools continue to nourish young minds and bodies. May Oloolua Forest not only survive, but thrive, carrying your name as a symbol of what committed leadership can achieve for nature and people alike.

With gratitude, 

Victor Patience Oyuko 

— A Kenyan who believes in forests, in communities, and in the power of shared stewardship. 

To support the blog; Mpesa 0708883777