EVERY year, Rwanda celebrates the World Environment Day (WED) and dedicates a whole week to activities of raising awareness on environmental sustainability. This year it will also host of the global event.

In preparation for the day, over 3000 trees were planted yesterday in Gatsata Sector in Gasabo District during the monthly communal work, Umuganda.

"Today marks the beginning of a historical event that Rwanda will host come June 5, the World Environmental Day. Environmental protection is one of the pillars of our economy and developmental growth, this is why Rwanda was nominated to host the global event,” the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Stanislas Kamanzi, said at the event.

He admitted that Gatsata needs serious attention since it’s one of the few Kigali City suburbs that are lagging behind in sanitation.

"Cleanliness does not stop at having clean and beautiful streets, you need to take it further than that to your homes,” Kamanzi told residents of Gatsata.

At the same event, the Director General of Rwanda Environmental Management Authority, Rose Mukankomeje, expressed concerns for the lack of proper garbage disposal in Gatsata.

"There is need to have a collective method of garbage collection in Gatsata and we are going to look for ways of dealing with that,” she said.

The theme for the World Environment Day (WED) ‘Many Species. One Planet. One Future’, focuses on the globe’s wealth of species and ecosystems in line with this year’s UN International Year of Biodiversity.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, "Rwanda’s combination of environmental richness, including rare and economically-important species such as the mountain gorilla, allied with newly evolving and pioneering green policies, is among the reasons why UNEP welcomed its offer to be the global 2010 host.”

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