Do your part for Environment Day

SINCE 1973, when World Environment Day (WED) was first proclaimed, every 5 June millions of people around the world rally around the cause of ensuring that the environment is protected to sustain current and future generations of humans and other forms of life.

Led by the United Nations, WED is one of the biggest global tools used to advocate for environmental protection and to call for political action to safeguard the natural world.

Although the entire month of June is called Environment Month, 5 June still remains the highlight and will be celebrated worldwide in hundreds of different ways, including through river and beach clean-ups, educational talks, peaceful marches, public debates, competitions, tree-planting ceremonies, recycling drives, awareness campaigns and storytelling.

WED 2016 is themed around the rampant illegal trade that is decimating wild populations of many animals and plants globally.

Themed Go Wild for Wildlife: Zero Tolerance for Illegal Wildlife Trade, the day should, at the very least, allow for some quiet, sombre reflection on the plight of millions of animals and plants that are trafficked daily along illegal trade routes towards consumers with more sinister objectives than the conservation of these species in their natural habitats.

In South Africa, people are aware of the impact of the illegal wildlife trade on rhinos, with nearly 5 500 rhinos known to be poached in South Africa in the last eight years. We may, however, be less aware of the fact that illegal wildlife trade has had devastating effects on a range of other species. In fact, South Africa has lost no less than three cycad species to extinction due to their illegal removal from the wild and trade, with the remaining 35 of our 38 cycad species all being threatened.

This WED, people can still take a few minutes out of their day on Sunday and celebrate earth. Plant a tree, play in the soil, pick up litter on your street, recycle batteries and plastic in your trash cans, buy a reusable shopping bag, scoop your bath water onto your lawn, start a compost heap or worm farm, walk to the corner store instead of driving, go hiking in a local nature reserve, or just breathe in fresh clean air and remember how our environment supports us all.

No matter what you do to commemorate this WED, recall the original theme from 1973: There is Only One Earth, and it is ours alone to love and to protect.