Zooming 50 years into the future from now, stands before us prospects of either a desert or a forest, depending on how we treat the environment, today.

South Sudan lays at the axis of the desert and is therefore vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change.

The environment is not only our dear neighbor but a sweet lover that we share more with each other than the fuel, furniture, pasture and shed that we enjoy.

Animals, humans inclusive, survive in a symbiotic manner by exchanging breaths; that which the vegetation exhales, the animals inhale and that which the animals exhale the vegetation inhales.

Trees also generate clouds that produce rains to water our crops for food. The river water we depend on for daily use equally comes from the rains brought about by the trees.

Amazing medical products and nutritional benefits of the trees, shrubs, grass and the flora, are just a few tokens of a long list that the vegetation offers humanity and the entire biosphere.

However, the speed of our environmental devastation is alarming and if not, positive steps are taken, then we are heading for doom, desertification.

It’s never too late to do the right thing and the right time to plant a tree is now, take action to do just that.

Taking measures to mitigate environmental degradation could be hard at times as survival under delayed salary payments makes life unbearable. Many rely on charcoal burning and firewood sales for a living, but continuous planting of trees helps.

Many of us started our studies under trees. It would be historical to protect what helped us to become what we are and keep the scenery beautiful.

Educating children on the importance of environmental conservation through tree planting instills in them the culture of sustainability and creates a good relationship with the surroundings.

University of Juba students’ initiative to embark on a tree planting to raise awareness on environmental protection to curb climate change should be supported and replicated in the country. By this, we shall have a forest instead of a desert in 50 years’ time.