Scouts Break World Record with Mangrove Planting Drive
Thousands of young people from the Scouts Association joined forces to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest simultaneous mangrove tree planting exercise.
On World Mangrove Day, 4,124 participants carefully planted young native trees at the Jomvu Kuu Mangrove Site in Mombasa County, comfortably surpassing the minimum requirement of 3,000 people. The event formed part of a wider partnership with the Forest Service aimed at accelerating coastal forest recovery.
Guinness World Records officials reviewed the documentation, witnessed the activity remotely and confirmed that every guideline had been followed. An adjudicator explained the strict conditions that applied. “To qualify for the record, participants had to correctly plant young native mangrove trees, leave enough space between each tree for healthy growth and refrain from using machinery. Only those who met all the requirements were included in the final count,” the official stated. Forest Service officers and appointed stewards supervised the entire process to ensure full compliance.
The record attempt goes beyond a simple achievement and supports the long-term restoration of mangrove forests that shield shorelines from erosion, nurture marine life, boost local fisheries and capture significant amounts of carbon dioxide. These ecosystems play a vital role in protecting coastal communities while helping the wider fight against climate change through natural carbon storage.
Forestry Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa congratulated everyone involved and described the success as an important step in the country’s environmental efforts. She noted that under the current national leadership, 91.6 million mangroves have already been restored over the past three years. That figure represents more than 65 per cent of the ten-year goal of 140 million trees under the broader 15 Billion Tree Growing Programme.
The exercise also highlighted the strong collaboration between the Scouts, the Forest Service, research institutes, community groups and development partners. By bringing so many hands together in one coordinated action, the organisers have shown how collective effort can deliver measurable gains for both biodiversity and climate resilience along the coastline.
