About World Environment Day
On World Environment Day, Environmental Volunteers engaged in a campaign to organize numerous online and offline activities, raising awareness about environmental conservation and sustainability. They shared actionable steps for protecting the environment, guided communities in adopting eco-friendly practices, and dispelled myths and misinformation about environmental issues.
World Environment Day is celebrated annually on June 5 to promote global awareness and action for the protection of the environment. The theme for World Environment Day 2024, ‘Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience,’ emphasizes the urgent need to restore degraded lands, combat desertification, and enhance resilience to drought. Environmental degradation and climate change contribute to numerous health problems and deaths, impacting food security, water availability, and biodiversity. Protecting and restoring our lands is critical for ensuring a sustainable future and improving public health globally.
Why Ecosystem Restoration
The world is grappling with severe challenges. Billions are suffering due to the climate emergency, food and water insecurity, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Our ecosystems are indispensable allies in facing these crises, and their protection and sustainable management are crucial. However, safeguarding our remaining natural landscapes and oceans isn't enough; we must also restore the planet's degraded ecosystems to harness their immense benefits.
Ecosystems, from forests and farmland to rivers and oceans, play a vital role, and our poor stewardship has led to significant losses. Restoring these ecosystems—forest landscapes, agricultural lands, livestock areas, and fisheries—is essential to return them to a healthy and stable state, ensuring they provide necessary services and support sustainable production and livelihoods. Currently, a third of the world's farmland is degraded, 87% of inland wetlands have vanished since 1700, and a third of commercial fish species are overexploited. This degradation affects 3.2 billion people, about 40% of the global population, and costs us over 10% of our global economic output annually.
Reversing this trend offers massive benefits. Reviving ecosystems and implementing natural solutions could achieve over one-third of the climate mitigation needed by 2030, curb the risk of mass species extinctions, and prevent future pandemics. Agroforestry alone could enhance food security for 1.3 billion people. While global restoration requires sustained investment, evidence shows it pays for itself. Restoring coral reefs by 2030, for example, could generate an extra USD 2.5 billion annually for Mesoamerica and Indonesia. Costa Rica's forest cover restoration has doubled since the 1980s, boosting ecotourism to account for 6% of its GDP.
Restoration science, though young, already provides the knowledge and tools necessary to halt degradation and restore ecosystems. Proven practices such as sustainable farming and agroforestry can guide farmers. Inclusive landscape approaches support social and economic development alongside ecosystem health. Policymakers and financial institutions increasingly recognize the vast potential for green investment.
Everyone—governments, businesses, civil society groups, and individuals—can contribute to this restoration effort, resetting our relationship with nature and ensuring a healthier planet for future generations.
Learn more about how to become #GenerationRestoration and understand more about ecosystem restoration.
About Health Volunteers
Our Health Volunteers are integral pillars of our programs, advocating, observing, and leaving a ripple impact utilizing our Learn, Act, and Engage methodology. Volunteers have the potential to create a sustainable impact on communities and the world when properly engaged. For us, our health volunteers are the most important stakeholders who take action in the field, whether online or offline. They lead the way in sensitizing people and communities, informing individuals on how to stay safe, and promoting preventive measures.
Health Volunteers form a network equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge on diverse public health issues. We aim to combat stigma, myths, and misinformation in society by building the capacities of Health Volunteers with the right, evidence-based information they can disseminate further.
World Environment Day 2024 – Led by United Nations Volunteers, Health Volunteers and France Volontaires
United Nations Volunteers India in partnership with Health Volunteers, France Volontaires, and Yuvanika Foundation, Yellow Streets, Reaching Sky Foundation celebrated World Environment Day 2024 with great enthusiasm and commitment to environmental sustainability under the theme: "Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience" with the tagline "Our Land. Our Future. We are #GenerationRestoration." World Environment Day 2024 – Led by United Nations Volunteers.
Delhi: On June 4, a vibrant youth adda was organized at the United Nations Office in Delhi, where 45 young people gathered to discuss "Youth Volunteering for a Healthier Planet." The youth participants brainstormed and shared innovative ideas on how they can contribute to creating a healthier planet.
Gurgaon: On June 5, 2024, Air India Limited Headquarters in Gurgaon hosted a remarkable World Environment Day event organized by Yellow Streets, Health Volunteers, and France Volontaires. This event brought together corporate volunteers to promote environmental awareness and sustainable practices.Highlights:Seed Bombing Workshop: Participants learned to create and plant seed bombs, enhancing green spaces.Pledge Wall Activity: Volunteers committed to actions like reducing plastic use and conserving water.
Mangalore: The College of Fisheries, in collaboration with Yuvanika Foundation, hosted an event inaugurated by Dr. Anjaneyappa, Dean of the College, with a ceremonial sapling plantation. Attendees concluded the celebration with a pledge to sustainable living, highlighting the power of collective action and the importance of ongoing efforts for environmental sustainability.
The campaign achieved several key objectives:
- Raising awareness among young people and inspiring them to become advocates for environmental sustainability.
- Providing community members with resources and guidance to promote sustainable practices.
Multiple events were organized in communities, including poster-making sessions, street rallies, social media campaigns, pledges to volunteer for environmental protection, and one-on-one educational sessions with youth and adolescents about the importance of land restoration and combating desertification.
We invite more young people to join us as health volunteers and make an impact. Register in our next campaign with us at www.healthvolunteers.in
Find the practical guide on how to become #GenerationRestoration
Join us on Social Media:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/healthvolunteers/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/healthvol/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/volhealth
Support our cause and donate to Health Volunteers.
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. — William James
Comments