Archbishop Anthony Muheria of Nyeri Catholic Archdiocese has warned of a bleak future unless Kenyans take deliberate action to conserve the environment.

In his weekly address on the state of the nation, the prelate expressed concern over wanton cutting down of trees and dumping of solid and liquid waste into rivers which he said spells doom to the country.

“There is a thriving timber business which has led to cutting down of trees in our farms and forests for people to make money and pay their bills but let us find alternative means to earn a living,” said the archbishop in his address.

Environmental degradation, coupled with rampant indulgence in drug and alcohol among the youth, he added, puts Kenya on a dangerous path to self destruction unless corrective and collective measures are taken to check the trend.

“To protect our environment and the earth at large, we must guard against destruction of our forests and all that which is green so that there is enough oxygen for our survival,” stated archbishop Muheria.

He appealed to Kenyans to plant trees, urging parents to ensure that each of their children plants at least five trees in a year and increase tree cover five-fold over the next five years.

“If all 15 million young people plant five trees each, as a country we shall have planted about 75 million trees in one year which adds up to 350 million trees in five years,” he said.

Quoting the scriptures, the Bishop observed that it was God’s command to Adam to make the Earth a good place to live for humans and animals.

“Even The Pope reminded us in a recent communication that it is our divine duty to take care of Mother Earth and we must heed the call to protect all that is within because we are God’s tools to preserve His creation,” he added.

He took issue with the dumping of plastic waste all over including rivers, a thing he feared could choke and make the country’s water sources unsafe.

“Dumping of solid waste, particularly plastic bottles is of grave concern to all of us and a contributor to destruction of the environment,” the clergyman said and warned against inherent damage to the ecosystem.