Editor,

It’s with great pleasure that I applaud the efforts of Rwanda’s environment sector, who will be hosting this year’s World Environment Day. It has achieved great progress in terms of making the general public into responsible caretakers of the environment. 

The commitment shown every last Saturday of the month has finally paid off; Umuganda, the  tree planting exercises and the ban on plastic bags are some of the reasons that have helped Rwanda  become the global 2010 host of the World Environment Day . 

Despite the shattering fact that about 17,291 animal and plant species are under the threat of extinction; (worse still many species disappear before they are even discovered,) collective efforts on an individual basis will protect the world we live in.

It’s time to cut back on certain human activities that revolve around clearing much of the original forests, draining wetlands, as well as cutting back on the greenhouse gases that have made the planet warmer
We all know the results of a depleted environment will weigh down on the very foundation of our own survival and existence.

It’s better to address a problem before it becomes catastrophic. Imagine if every country in the world had foreseen the future and chosen to pursue environmental conservation a century ago, before the industrial revolution; we would all be living happily in a green world without fears of possible annihilation, our survival would not be a matter of curbing carbon emissions. 

Conserving biodiversity is not just a matter of just talking, it needs hard work and understanding the that as humans we have the power to stem the tide of extinction that we ignorantly fuel on a daily basis.

Let 2010 be a year of environmental restoration. Before nature swallows us up, let’s give back to the environment what we heartlessly ripped away from it; let’s find a balance as we coexist with nature.

Jacqueline Umutoni
Kigali City