World Environment Day which was started in 1974 by the United Nations is considered their most important day for raising awareness for the need to protect our environment.
As you will know many of the earth’s ecosystems are near points of irreversible change or depletion which continues to get pushed higher year on year due to many factors including population and economic growth along with unsustainable lifestyles and individual greed.
A fact you may not know is the human race uses the equivalent of 1.6 planets to provide the resources we use and to absorb our waste. This means it now takes the Earth one year and six months to regenerate what we use in a year. By 2050, if lifestyles continue on the same trajectory, with a rising population expected to reach 9.6 billion, we will need three planets to sustain our ways of living and consumption.
There are, however, things that can be done and rather than give up we must come together and use days such as World Environment Day as an engine for change.
Each year World Environment Day has a theme and this year’s is the illegal trade in wildlife.
The illegal trade in wildlife is pushing many animal and plant species to the brink of extinction and in recent years we have lost many iconic animals such as the West African Black Rhinoceros. Losing these and indeed any animal or plant species even on a local scale can have a very big impact on local biodiversity and the ecosystems we depend on for food, medicines and even fresh air.
It is to create awareness on these issues that the World Environment Day was started and this year’s theme is under the slogan ‘Go Wild for Life’, and this is exactly what we want you to do.
So this June 5th why not get involved by:
- Holding an event to help educate others on World Environment Day and spread awareness on environmental issues.
- Recycle or introduce recycling somewhere that doesn’t have it such as your workplace.
- Spread the word. If you have done anything to celebrate then share it online and let’s get people talking!
Whatever you do no matter how small will make a difference and if awareness can be spread and each person you help educate does something small then it will all add up. So let’s ‘Go Wild for Life’!
