World Environment Day

We celebrate World Environment Day every year on 5th June to bring positive changes and enhance healthy ecosystems. The earth is what we all have in common. So, every year we celebrate this day to help nature in healing itself. Nature is our first mother. It gives us so much including food we eat, water we drink, the air we breathe and much more and in return we are harming our nature and eventually we are harming our livelihood. Nature doesn’t need human but human will always need nature to sustain. If we possess healthy ecosystem then only, we can fight climate change and discontinue the ruining of biodiversity.

World Environment Day is celebrated globally to inspire people to change their lifestyle and take action to build a greener future. World Environment Day is worldwide initiative taken by United Nations (UN) to spread awareness. UN established Environment Day in 1972. World environment Day is celebrated by various host countries. It was first observed in 1974 in United States of America and the theme was “Only One Earth”.

United Nation has declared this decade as “Ecosystem Restoration” decade. Ecosystem Restoration is a process of reversing the degradation of ecosystems, such as landscapes, oceans and lakes to regain their ecological functionality. Also, to increase the productivity and capacity of ecosystems to meet the society’s need.

Till 2030, the refurbishment of 350 million hectares of degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems could generate US$9 trillion in ecosystem services. Restoration could also remove 13 to 26 gigatons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. All kinds of ecosystems can be restored, including forests, farmlands, cities, wetlands and oceans. Restoration initiatives can be launched by almost anyone, from governments and development agencies to businesses, societies and individuals. That is because the causes of degradation are many and varied, and can have an impact at different levels.

Every year World Environment Day is celebrated at various countries but officially it is hosted by one different country in which official celebrations takes place. The host for World Environment Day this year is Pakistan. Pakistan will highlight the importance of “Ecosystem Restoration” this year. The theme for this year is ”Reimagine. Recreate. Restore”. The Government of Pakistan plans to develop and restore the country’s forests through a ‘10 Billion Tree Tsunami‘ campaign spread over five years. The campaign includes restoring mangroves and forests, as well as planting trees in urban settings, including schools, colleges, public parks and green belts.

Through the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami, Pakistan is contributing to the Bonn Challenge, a global effort linked to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Under the challenge, countries are pledging to bring 350 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2030.

Here’s what you can do to contribute:

  • Plant more trees.
  • Segregate your waste into wet waste and dry waste
  • Follow the 5R’s – Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Renew, Recycle
  • Travel by Public Transport
  • Spread Awareness about Environment
  • Conserve water. Implement Rain water Harvesting
  • Avoid using plastic
  • Save Electricity
  • Use art as a way to spread the message.