This is the 2020 AFEW Environmental Competition entry by Ms. Shirley Kemuma Magabi From The University of Nairobi. Unfortunately.

1. IS IT OUR DUTY?
Our finite knowledge in the current status of the environment is a call for worry. Most
individuals are ignorant in the sense that they lack knowledge on the environmental issues we are
facing as a planet. By the unsafe practices that we engage our environment in, we endanger our
natural resources and this calls for action. Sustainable management of our natural resources is
conservatively using our natural resources so that the present and yet to come generation can
benefit from it. Most individuals have no idea on the current status of the environment hence
putting our natural resources at risk without them knowing it. We need to ambitiously challenge
this existing practice if they are not delivering the right outcomes for our environment.
One common major practice that endangers our natural resources is deforestation. This is
the cutting down of trees for one’s interests. This is particularly seen in Kenya in the rural areas
where locals cut down trees for the use of charcoal and firewood for their day to day activities,
such as cooking and burning of bricks for construction. Others also cut them down for the use of
building materials and the making of furniture. Some even sell this firewood and charcoal for
sustenance and for making of paper. Such should be introduced to alternative forms of
sustenance, like the setting up of biogas units for domestic use such as cooking and heating
purposes. Also, people should be encouraged on the ‘cut one plant two’ rule to ensure that our
future generations will have access to trees too.
Pollution in all forms affects our environment. We can see in slums sewage running
openly and then draining into water bodies when water is polluted, the availability of freshwater
becomes scarce which then leads to a fall in the availability of water, which is an environmental
concern. Such polluted water can be recycled and used for another use. Oil spillage in water
bodies leads to water pollution and affects aquatic life. When aquatic life is affected it leads to
the death of aquatic life that may also lead to the extinction of a certain species, which is the loss
of biodiversity as well. Overfishing is a practice that most fishermen practise without knowing
the dangers behind it, it leads to less aquatic life as well as the loss of biodiversity too. We,
however, can’t blame them since the demand for food increased with the increase in population
numbers. People should be educated on the dangers of overfishing and introduced to alternative
sources of sustenance and food such as farming.

2. A poorly managed environment leads to the environmental challenges we are facing.
Challenges such as the reduction in soil quality. Kenyans have always been urged to cultivate
across the slope and not along the slope, this will reduce soil erosion in numerous ways since
most rural areas in Kenya are sloppy have hills and mountains. Another practice is to avoid
overgrazing since it leads to depletion of grass and also soil erosion. Farmers have been urged to
avoid planting the same crop on the same piece of land for a long period as well as avoiding the
overuse of chemical; fertilizers and herbicides since it leads to the reduction of soil quality in that
piece of land. When people are educated on solutions to our natural resources, they tend to
practice it and save the environment as well as themselves in the process.
Loss of biodiversity which is the extinction of a plant or animal species is another major
concern in terms of our environmental concern on natural resources. Many of our practices lead
to this problem and we might knowingly or unknowingly be doing them. One case is poaching
and this is done intentionally since it is illegal in most countries. One of the latest cases is the
death of the rare female white giraffe that was allegedly killed by poachers where it was staying
in one of the conservancies in Garissa. Death of a rare species like that leads to loss biodiversity.
The species might also go extinct since it is rare.
We need to come together and involve experts on educating the locals on the current
status of the environment and how we can come up with long-term sustainable management
solutions to our natural resources. This is our planet and it is our duty to protect and save it.

3. Name: Shirley Kemuma Magabi
Age: 20 years
Grade: 2nd year
School: The University of Nairobi
Class: Journalism and Mass Communication
Postal address: P.O BOX 0706696919-00100
Cellphone: 0706585453
Email: shirleykemuma@gmail.com