By Elebesunu E.E.M
The World Environment Day, 5th of June, is the day set aside by the United Nations to commemorate environmental health by encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment. The theme for this year’s event is ‘Biodiversity’, a concern that is both urgent and existential.
The term Biodiversity simply refers to the wide variety of life forms on Earth such as plants, animals and microorganisms. It is important that we realize the value of biodiversity because it is the source of most of our natural resources. Plants produce oxygen which is required for living, as well as adding beauty to the environment, and acting as windbreaks and flood barriers against harmful weather conditions. Microorganisms decompose many waste materials which would otherwise be toxic to our environment. Numerous animals and plants are required in agriculture for providing a variety of food products. The list of benefits goes on and on.
Man’s recent activities have proven to be far more harmful than beneficial to these organisms, which should be a great cause for concern. Activities such as hunting and wildlife poaching lead to loss of natural habitats and extinction of species. Deforestation decreases the amount of rainfall and atmospheric oxygen. Pollutions such as air, land and water pollution by chemicals, solid waste, sewage and radioactive wastes cause global warming, loss of organism populations, and could be very detrimental to our health.
We need to be aware that any damage to our environment and the life forms in it will lead to equivalent harm to humans because we depend so much on these natural resources for our survival. Currently, several animal and plant species are on the brink of extinction. The rate of destruction and degradation which our environment undergoes is very alarming and should serve as a wake-up call to action to preserve the integrity of our environment, as well as the biological organisms in it.
It’s time for nature. It’s time to exploit less and preserve more. It’s time to focus on devising strategies for conserving our natural resources. It’s time to work on providing essential infrastructure to support life on Earth and Human development. It’s time to protect the ecosystems’ right of our biological organisms. It’s time to nurture nature so we can have a better future.
It’s time to save our planet.
Elebesunu E.E.M is an Environmental sustenance advocate
Disclaimer: the views expressed in the article are entirely those of the author and does not in any way reflect those of the blog
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