World Environment Day was first celebrated in the year of 1974 in Spokane, USA with the theme of “only one earth” which means there is no planet B and we need to better take care of this one and only planet. But today, are we taking care of our precious planet?
Why are All Lives Important?
Starting from the tiniest insect crawling on the ground and ending to the biggest and strongest species on earth, Humans... All Lives Matter. We all have experienced the worst experiences during this year, whether it’s bushfires in Brazil, US, and Australia or locust infestation in East Africa, cyclones in India, and now a global disease hitting lives and economies globally. This depicts the interdependence of humans and the webs of the life in which they exist. We, as a part of this global system, need to understand that the world is battling with all the environmental disasters and we should stand together for our environment. We need to get out of our cocoons and spread the wings for a better environment. As Albert Einstein clearly said, “The Environment is everything that isn’t me.” This sentence needs to change, and this human-centered ideology needs to be addressed because All Lives Matter.
World Environment Day
World Environment Day is celebrated worldwide and aims to raise awareness among the masses on the pivotal role which environment plays for existence of lives. The day was first celebrated in the year of 1974 in Spokane, USA with the theme of “only one earth” which means there is no planet B and we need to better take care of this one and only planet. The celebration of this day provides us with an opportunity to broaden the basis for an enlightened opinion and responsible conduct by individuals, enterprises and communities in preserving and enhancing the environment.
Celebrating Biodiversity
Considering the climate emergency, the world is facing and how every species plays a role in preserving this earth, the theme of this year is “Celebrating Biodiversity.” It clearly states that humans cannot sustain without the presence of flora and fauna. In more clear words, we can’t survive in isolation, depending on small and big living beings and together form a giant network of diverse life forms on earth. For example, insects are pollinators due to which lives are flourishing, forests are diverse, crops are growing, and we are getting food on our plate.
The recent case of Elephant death in Kerala
Take the very recent example of Elephant death due to feeding on cracker-filled pineapple. The unborn child is also fallen into the trap and lost the life unknowingly with his/her mother. The issue is way more than what it looks like. The issue of conflict between elephants and humans. The issue is directly giving us signs of going back to roots and think that we have disturbed or say devastated their habitats by our economic development projects and disturbed their traditional corridors. Therefore, they are coming back to their old pathways and fall trap to conflict retaliations.
What do we need to understand?
Humans need to understand that we don’t need to sacrifice our prestigious biodiversity and increase the economy at the cost of these all lives. All lives matter and we humans need to learn to live in harmony with the other beings living on this planet as we all are part of this system.
Wish you a Happy World Environment Day!
The global wildlife trade is animal cruelty and puts our health and the world economy at risk from pandemics like COVID-19. Join us and ask Prime Minister of India to support the call to end the global wildlife trade forever at the G20 summit.
What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another – Mahatma Gandhi