World Environment Day - “Many Species. One Planet. One Future.”

This is the day the United Nations chooses to focus peoples attention on the issue of the environment. The environment is getting more coverage in the main stream, but surely we need to focus on the environment each and every day?

World Environment Day has been commemorated on June the 5th since 1972. Through World Environment Day, the United Nations hopes to “give a human face to environmental issues and enable people to realize not only their responsibility, but also their power to become agents for change in support of sustainable and equitable development.”

The recent oil spill in the gulf of Mexico is going to be affecting our planet for years to come. Each us is connected to this planet and we need to think about the ways that we are impacting on it, from the oil industry that manufactures much of our plastic to how we use plastic in our daily lives.

The United Nations is hoping that this will be the biggest World Environment Day ever and is calling on each and every community to do something to bring about change. Stop using plastic bags, or organise a neighbourhood clean-up, plant some trees, or just use the Cape Town Green Map to choose a green activity for the day! Try and make changes each and every day that will allow you  to lighten your impact on t he planet.

The theme of this year's  World Environment Day is “Many Species. One Planet. One Future.” This is appropriate as the United Nations has also declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity.
 On this planet we are all inter connected and it is about time that we realised that fact.  The UN Environmental programme  states that “it is estimated that there are between  5 million to 100 million species. Scientists have only managed to identify about 2 million species so far. If you think about it, that means there a huge amount we still don't know about our planet or whom we share it with.
 
A total of 17,291 species are known to be threatened with extinction – from little-known plants and insects to charismatic birds and mammals. This is just the tip of the iceberg; many species disappear before they are even discovered.

The reason? Human activities. With our present approach to development, we have caused the clearing of much of the original forest, drained half of the world’s wetlands, depleted three quarters of all fish stocks, and emitted enough heat-trapping gases to keep our planet warming for centuries to come. We have put our foot on the accelerator, making species extinctions occur at up to 1000 times the natural rate.”

As a result, we are increasingly risking the loss of the very foundation of our own survival. The variety of life on our planet – known as ‘biodiversity’ – gives us our food, clothes, fuel, medicine and much, much more. You may not think that a beetle in your backyard or grass growing by the roadside has a fundamental connection to you - but it does. When even one species is taken out of the intricate web of life, the results can be catastrophic.
 
World Environment Day is an opportunity to stress the importance of biodiversity for human well-being, reflect on our achievements to safeguard it and encourage a redoubling of our efforts to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss.

“Many Species. One Planet. One Future” echoes the urgent call to conserve the diversity of life on our planet.  A world without biodiversity is a very bleak prospect. Millions of people and millions of species all share the same planet, and only together can we enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.
 
On World Environment Day consider carefully the actions each of us must take, and then address ourselves to our common task of preserving all life on Earth.

Through WED, we can employ our individual and collective power to stem the tide of extinction. Our conservation action has brought some species back from the brink, and has restored some vital natural habitats around the world. On  this day let us resolve to do much more, and much faster, to win the race against extinction!