Botovi Chishi
World Environment Day, commemorated each year on 5th June, is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The Day’s agenda is to give a human face to environmental issues; empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development; promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues; and advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.
World Environment Day is a people’s event with colourful activities such as street rallies, green concerts, essay and poster competitions in schools, tree planting, as well as recycling and clean-up campaigns.
The World Environment Day theme selected for 2006 is “Deserts and Desertification” and the slogan “Don’t Desert Drylands!”. The slogan emphasizes the importance of protecting drylands, which cover more than 40% of the planter’s surface. This ecosystem is home to one-third of the world’s people who are more vulnerable members of society.
World Environment Day is also a multi-media event, which inspires thousands of journalists to write and report enthusiastically and critically on the environment. It is a visual event with television documentaries, photo exhibits and displays, as well as an intellectual event for those who organize and participate in seminars, roundtable meetings and symposia. In many countries, this observance provides an opportunity to sign or ratify international conventions and sometimes leads to the establishment of permanent government structures dealing with environmental management and economic planning.
Keeping this in view, the UNESCO Club Nagaland is also observing World Environment Day 5th June 2006 in a small way, to promote a few environmental-friendly activities by distributing tree saplings (planting materials is providing by the Department of Land Resource Development free of cost) to the schools in Kohima so as to encourage the students to promote and make aware of the importance of their role for the protection of our environment through the means of education.
The club also appeals to each and every one to renew our pledge to cherish and respect the planet that sustains us. The well being and the hopes of the people of the world can never be served until the environment and eco system that sustain all life on Earth are secure. The need of the hour is to create awareness programme, which precedes action, to bring about a general awareness to the community and also focus the awareness at the learning age of tomorrow’s citizens who are the children of today.
The writer is President UNESCO Club Nagaland
