By Amin Kef Sesay
Every year since 1974, nature conservationists around the globe celebrate World Environment Day, encourage awareness and observe its protection.
Since 1974, World Environment Day has been celebrated, engaging Governments, businesses and citizens in an effort to address pressing environmental issues with participation from over 143 countries annually.
World Environment Day came into existence in 1972 by the United Nations Assembly on the first day Stockholm Conference held on the human environment and later in 1974, the day started to be celebrated with the theme “Only One Earth”.
Over the years, the day became a global platform for raising awareness and taking action on urgent issues from marine pollution and global warming to sustainable consumption and wildlife crime.
This year, the theme of World Environment Day was: “Re-imagine, Recreate, Restore.”. The global host for the day in 2021 to highlight the importance of ecosystem restoration was Pakistan.
According to the WED website, every three seconds, the world loses enough forest to cover a football pitch, and over the last century, humans have destroyed half of the wetlands. As much as 50 per cent of coral reefs have already been lost and up to 90 per cent of coral reefs could be lost by 2050, even if global warming is limited to an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The theme means to prevent, halt and reverse this damage – to go from exploiting nature to healing it. This World Environment Day kicked off the global mission to revive these billions of hectares.
The theme focuses that healthy ecosystems can enhance people’s livelihoods, counteract climate change and stop the collapse of biodiversity.
In a study in the journal Nature, it was found out that greenhouse gas emission from food systems would be reduced by half if the world turned to a mainly plant-based diet.
When we think about reasons why we should protect the environment, we should know that it is our moral obligation to do so. As human beings living on earth; it is our responsibility to make sure that it is protected.
Our environment is what houses and helps our ecosystem grow and thrive. Without protecting and taking care of our environment, we are putting many lives in danger such as animals, plants and crops, and even our own.
All of the ecosystems that make up our environment are deeply connected. One change to an ecosystem could completely change the dynamic that has been created. There are many ways that you can help our ecosystem as well as protecting the environment.
The ecosystem (all the communities of living organisms found in a specific place, their habitats and their interactions) in which we live provides natural services for humans and all other species that are essential to our health, quality of life and survival.
For example, our forests remove carbon dioxide and other pollutants from the air we breathe and also cool our air temperatures, reducing the formation of ground-level ozone, a pollutant that can cause heart and lung problems to worsen.
Our wetlands store storm water, filter and make harmless storm water pollutants, and recharge our aquifers (where most of us get our drinking water) with these filtered waters; and the dune systems on our beaches form natural barriers to storm waves, provide important habitat, and travel ways for wildlife.
One of the major reasons why we need to work towards protecting the environment is because it helps to protect humanity. If we do not have an environment, then we would not have a place to live or resources to live on.
Another huge factor that is at risk if we do not protect our environment is the forests around us that we use to survive. The forests have many natural resources that we generally use on a daily basis.
