At 12 age, Shema is already an environment activist who is dedicated to forest conservation. Recently, on 2nd October, he planted a 12th tree to mark his birthday, this a common practice in Rwanda of planting a tree on a birthday.

For Shema, to plant a tree means a lot to him. He told me that he is very proud to provide habitats to wild fauna and flora. The importance of forests are limitless, he said. In additional of purifying environment, forests limit the greenhouse effects contributing to the global warming by absorbing greenhouse gases. He continued to emphasize on the role of forests of serving as windbreaks protecting buildings and crops from strong winds. He added that trees are vital in modifying climate, preventing soil erosion and protecting watersheds.

On 21st September 2011, Rwanda won " OUR FUTURE POLICY GOLD AWARD 2011"- a United Nations backed gold award for its forest promotion policies. Forest Cover has increased by 37% since 1990, massive reforestation and planting that promote indigenous species and involve local population especially youth and women associations, have been undertaken and new measures such as Agroforestry and Education have been implemented. Along with other youths, Shema is helping Rwanda to achieve a major reversal in the trend of declining forest cover and is on course to achieving its goal of forest cover 30% of total  land area by the year 2020. On your View, why is it important to involve young people like Shema in Sustainable forest management?