The UN, since 1974 has commemorated June 5th as World Environment Day. Many nonprofits and others, including various US agencies join the global organization in employing the occasion to create awareness of environmental issues. As with many things the UN does, each year gets a theme and a host. This year, the host is Saudi Arabia and the theme is a rather wordy: “Our land. Our future. We are #GenerationRestoration.” There are links below that speak to what the UN is alluding to.
Desertification
One of the thematic objectives of this year is land restoration, to combat effects such as the degradation of good land, known as desertification. This can be due to natural causes in many situations, but in the Anthropocene era, climate change is exacerbating natural causes such as droughts much worse. Deforestation and excessive farming of land without replenishment (such as crop rotation, etc.), again compounded by climate change make things much worse for land. It becomes very hard to reclaim land that has degraded, and this is one of the core foci for this year.
- As with many problems, we see the solutions right in front of us. First comes awareness. The more farmers, those typically closest to the land, including at boundary zones between forests and farms, or urban areas and farms are the ones also the most likely to suffer insurmountable losses when land is permanently degraded. They should be advised against inappropriate aquaculture, encouraged to engage in crop rotation, composting, and the interpretation of data from various sources such as agricultural IoT, satellites, sensor fusion etc. to ensure that land use is limited as required.
2. The very same tools we speak of above, should be evangelized and cost-effective versions should be made available globally.
3. Science should be reduced to practice in both a time sensitive and resource optimal manner.
4. Biodiversity preservation is fundamental to various environmental safeguards and it is also the case with fighting desertification. Virgin forests must be preserved, pollution reduced, afforestation and reforestation should be encouraged, with land users as partners, rather than as competitors.
These are but some solutions we have to the seemingly endless and dauntless problems that face us. Of course, proposing solutions is a far cry from seeing them through implementation and their consequential sustenance. This is also an area where often slip and fail. Constant vigilance for the causes that allow us to preserve and enjoy the beauty around us is why we need days like the World Environment Day!
Something special to do
For this World Environment Day, given one of the core themes is land restoration, have a sit down and think about your own relationship with land. Not everyone gets to be lucky to be a farmer, but maybe like me you are a gardener. Perhaps you see yourself as a friend of flora and fauna. Think of two things:
- What would the degradation of land you interact closely with, however you do, mean to you?
- How can you preserve the land you work with live, live in and near, and play with?
These ruminations will probably foment many wonderful plans, that help not only you, but many generations that come by enjoy this only planet we have!
References:
- The World Environment Day, history, themes, etc: https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/