22nd April is Earth Day.
Earth Day is an annual event celebrated around the world on 22nd April to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First celebrated in 1970, it now includes events co-ordinated globally by the Earth Day Network in more than 193 countries.
The theme for this year’s Earth Day is Restore our Earth. Its focus is on the natural processes that take place across the world, emerging green technologies and what new ideas are being discussed for the purpose of repairing the world’s ecosystem.
Martin Harper, the Global Conservation Director of the RSPB, wrote in his blog on 6th April 2020 of the importance of the message of Earth Day in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic:
“Because, when the restrictions are lifted, there are some things which will not have changed.
The UK will still be one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. The UK Government (and devolved administrations) will still have to introduce new policies, funding and laws to meet its commitment to restore nature in a generation and replace the losses from the past fifty years. It will still have responsibility to reduce its environmental footprint abroad, to save nature on its 14 Overseas Territories and to play a leadership role in addressing the ecological and climate emergency internationally. And we shall remain a critical friend and partner in delivering that ambition.
The key principles of nature conservation still stand. We will still need to provide more space for nature by delivering more, bigger, better and joined protected areas, by taking targeted action to recover threatened species and by reforming land and sea use so that we live in harmony with nature. And we shall still need to wean ourselves off fossil fuels to prevent catastrophic climate change.
Nature will still provide huge benefits to people. While the RSPB believes in the intrinsic value of nature, we know that people continue to benefit from a healthy natural environment. The lockdown has brought this into sharp relief which is why we have been promoting ways to connect to wildlife to lift their spirits such as #BreakfastBirdwatch. It works for me. My garden has been watched like never before and I am paying more attention to the returning migratory birds on my daily run round the common near home. Nature still provides cultural and spiritual benefits as well as essential services such as flood management, carbon storage and the products we consume. We shall still need nature based solutions to tackle some of our biggest societal challenges.
In short, after this is over we shall still need to invest in nature.”
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” – Albert Einstein
“An understanding of the natural world and what’s in it is a source of not only a great curiosity but great fulfilment.” – Sir David Attenborough
"The earth is what we all have in common." – Wendell Berry
No comments:
Post a Comment
If you feel like commenting on my blog, you can contact me by completing the comment form below. I will respond to all comments and enquiries and constructive criticism will always be welcomed.