A new environment and climate change campaign will, today, see children take part in mass tree planting exercise in Kigali.

Dubbed "Rwanda’s Little Hands Go Green,” the initiative, an offshoot of ‘Uganda’s Little Hands Go Green’ campaign, will be held at the Vision City Housing Estate in Kigali.

The initiative, that seeks to put children at the forefront of tree planting and climate change efforts, is set to launch its operations in the country.

In Uganda, Joseph Masembe, the chief executive of Little Hands Go Green and the brains behind the initiative, has been working with World Vision and Africa Climate Change Resilience Alliance (ACCRA) to promote tree planting, targeting mainly school children both at school and during holidays.

Masembe said the campaign aims at inspiring more Rwandan children to own their environment and ecosystem, according to a statement from organisers.

"Our mission is to inspire a children’s nationwide culture of ‘our environment is our future, our future is our responsibility’ by creating a mass hysteria of tree planting by children at home and at school,” he said.

The campaign is organised under the ambit of ‘My Kid Is A Superstar,’ a campaign that promotes environmentally conscious children by engaging them in fun, entertainment, talent challenge and other childhood development aspects.

The initiative is a private citizenship initiative that enables children to look after their environment and ecosystem in a childlike and fun way.

"The dangers of destroying the environment through irresponsible cutting of trees without replacing them have far reaching consequences. However, it’s the children who bear most the consequences as they ought to live longer than those destroying the environment who are already adults,” the organisers of the event said in a statement.

With climate change effects continuing to manifest in ways previously thought to be mere bad dreams, tree planting remains one of the best ways to protect and ensure sustainable environment for future generations, experts say.

To start Rwanda’s Little Hands Go Green, Masembe has partnered with Rwanda Environment Management Authority for today’s launch.

"The event serves as a reminder for every one of the utmost responsibility of every one alive to leave the planet better than we found it. Children have a big stake in the management of the planet as they’re here for longer time and this event will be used to remind their parents to also do their part. The whole world ought to listen to the children,” Masembe said.

The Little Hands Go Green campaign will work with children under 13 years, teaching them the benefits of a healthy planet within and outside Rwanda.

Children will also get to learn how and why to plant trees as well as to identify and destroy those things that destroy the planet.

After the symbolic planting of trees at Vision City Housing Estate, the organisers plan to engage more children and parents in the initiative whereby every child in Rwanda will be encouraged to own a tree.

With about five million children in Rwanda, the Little Hands Go Green campaign hopes that, if each child started planting a tree every year today, 20 years from now they will have planted more than 100 million trees, which would play a great role in protecting and sustaining the environment.

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