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Thursday, June 3, 2010

Celebrate World Environment Day on Saturday, June 5th!

Every June 5th since the year I was born has been World Environment Day.  This is the first year I've ever heard of it, even though it was hosted by the U.S. in 2005, so I thought I'd share with you!  This year it is hosted by Rwanda and they are focusing on biodiversity.  Here's some info. from their booklet:
"Did you know that you are one in a million? Or more precisely,
one of millions on this wondrous planet - anywhere in fact
between an estimated 5 to 100 million species. If you think
about it that means there is a lot we still don’t know about
our planet, or whom we share it with. We do know though
that humans are among only a handful of species whose
populations are growing, while many animals and plants are
becoming rarer and fewer.
A total of 17,291 species are known to be threatened with
extinction, but this is just the tip of the iceberg; many species
disappear before they are even discovered. Human activities
are mostly to blame – what we use, where we live and what
we consume, all have an impact on the Earth’s resources.
As a result, we are risking the loss of the very foundation of
survival. The variety of life – known as ‘biodiversity’ – gives us
our food, clothes, fuel, medicine and much more. When one
species is taken out of the intricate web of life, it can trigger a
domino effect with unforeseen consequences.
At the same time, humans do have the power to stem the
tide of extinction. Through conservation action, we have
brought species back from the brink and restored vital natural
habitats. But, we need to do much more and faster.
The United Nations has declared 2010 the International Year
of Biodiversity to stress the importance of biodiversity for
human well-being and encourage a redoubling of our efforts
to reduce biodiversity loss.
The theme of World Environment Day (WED) 2010, “Many
Species. One Planet. One Future.” echoes this urgent call to
conserve the diversity of life on our planet."

For more information, check out:  
http://www.unep.org/wed/2010/english/

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the reminder and the great info!

    I can't believe that bags are required to put your trash in, that's just weird!

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  2. Its true despite all the media involvement...very few people know abou tsuch marked calender days...i hope that bloggers like us would be able to create awareness

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  3. Thank you for making us all aware that there is much more we can do to help the environment and OUR WORLD! Every day I keep finding new ways to reuse things.....it's nice!

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