“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not every man’s greed.
-Mahatma Gandhi
Waking up to the twitters of the songbirds, the gentle breath of fresh air that passes by the earthly smell of the soil when it rains, and the warmth of the sun during summer gives an ecstatic feeling in our hearts, which is felt by us living beings under one standard roof called the environment. The environment isn’t merely about the trees and plants that we know; it is a combination of nature, human interactions, ecological balance, emotions, and integrity achieved worldwide. A few decades ago, “Save Environment” was not emphasized as an awareness program. However, in recent times, it has turned into an international campaign, helping people understand the importance of our environment.
Since 1974, the 5th of June is annually observed as World Environment Day across 143 countries, and to celebrate the day, nations step up and volunteer to host the event with an awareness theme. With 2021 marking its 47th anniversary, Pakistan happens to be hosting the celebrations, with the theme being “Ecological Restoration.” To commemorate the same, they have announced plans to expand and restore the country’s forest area through a “10 billion Tree Tsunami” project, which is expected to be fully complete in the next five years. Thus, with the beginning of a new decade, this year also marks the formal launch of the Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030).
Ecosystem Restoration is the process of recovering and bringing back destructed parts of the ecosystem, such as landscapes and oceans, to attain ecological sustainability for further utilization in the future. This is considered essential during the digital era to inculcate a sense of belongingness among our future generations towards the environment. The UNEP has also released a practical guide for ecosystem restoration, which provides a unique range of measures that can help slow down the degradation of ecosystems and foster their recovery. However, this will only be successful when people start acknowledging that ‘the environment is not just a place of consumption, but it is also a place of contribution.’
