Mark It with Trees: Where Conservation Meets Fun

Colour, fun and trees.

Sometimes, all it takes to bring out your inner child is a splash of colour. On 10 October 2026, friends, colleagues and environmental enthusiasts gathered at Oloolua Forest to celebrate Mazingira Day with GGI. The day was a lively Saturday morning dedicated to nature, community and a little colourful chaos.

And what better way to start the day than to arrive in style? Thanks to the generosity of partners, participants travelled in classic city nganyas, whose booming speakers set the tone for the day that was to come.

Conservation Is Fun, is an experience by GGI that brings people together to find joy in restoring and protecting nature while having fun. At Oloolua Forest, that energy continued through dance, games, colour and tree growing. At the heart of the celebration was #MarkItWithTrees, a GGI campaign encouraging everyone to mark life's moments, the best, the worst and everything in between, by planting and nurturing trees to maturity. Mark it with a tree.

In her remarks, GGI Founder and CEO Elizabeth Wathuti encouraged participants to make planting and nurturing trees a habit when celebrating life's milestones. Long after we are gone, the trees we plant can, with continued care, remain as living reminders of the moments we chose to commemorate and the future we helped nurture.

The spirit of Conservation Is Fun shaped the day's activities.

The day unfolded with dancing, a lively bingo game and plenty of opportunities for participants to loosen up. MCs Hashtag and Tabz kept the energy going, alongside Simo and Nick from Fiti Dance and Yoyo Salsa respectively, building anticipation for whatever came next.

Then came the surprise.

A kaleidoscope of colour burst into view as the colour fest began at Turaco Camp. Screams, excited squeals, and laughter echoed through the forest as brightly dressed participants tried, with varying degrees of success, to dodge the vibrant colours flying from one person to another.

In a moment, the forest was a playground as strangers laughed together, let their guards down, and embraced the simplicity of being outdoors together.

The laughter and shared activities helped participants connect with one another as they took part in restoring the forest.

After the excitement, it was time to turn our attention to planting the trees. The Kenya Forest Service demonstrated the proper technique for planting a tree, giving participants a practical lesson before they headed to the planting site.

Here's a thought: planting a tree can almost feel like proposing to the earth. You get down on one knee, offer a seedling, and hope that, with the right care and conditions, it will grow into something magnificent.

With the demonstration complete, participants set off on a nature walk towards the planting site, seedlings in hand. Children and adults alike made their way through the forest, carrying both their young trees and the day's enthusiasm with them.

Planting a tree is a meaningful beginning, but its future depends on what happens next: choosing the right species, planting it properly and ensuring it receives the care it needs to survive and grow.

A seedling may seem small beside the forest around it. But given time, attention and suitable conditions, it can become part of a much larger story.

Conservation Is Fun invites us to make restoring and protecting nature part of our lives through experiences. It is something we can participate in, learn from, and enjoy together.

A birthday. A graduation. A new beginning. A personal milestone. There are countless moments worth celebrating, and many ways to commemorate them. Planting a tree offers us a chance to make those moments mean something beyond ourselves.

When we come together around a shared appreciation for the world we inhabit, a tree becomes more than a seedling placed in the ground. It points to a commitment to the future we want to see and the legacy we hope to leave behind for those who will come after us.

So, what moment in your life will you #MarkItWithTrees?