Earth Day Celebrations– 2009
Urban biodiversity is the diversity of living forms (flora and fauna) and their habitats in the urban settings. Floral and faunal diversity found both in natural and man-made environ of an urban area is usually not taken seriously by a common man and even the level of awareness towards the so called urban natural resources has been very poor.
The growing trend of urbanization and its increasing human population is putting a strain on the existing biodiversity. Reports indicate that the situation will worsen in the coming decades if measures are not taken immediately. According to United Nations, 60% of the world’s population will reside in urban areas by 2030. To avoid further loss of biodiversity and to ensure that our city is green, raising greater public awareness on biodiversity in urban areas has become inevitable.
Besides there are various benefits of conserving urban biodiversity; from improving quality of life to enhancing ecosystem services, providing recreational spaces, preserving the cultural values and to improving aesthetics. Hence there is an urgent need to sensitize the masses specially the school goers who hold the key to bring the much needed change in our thoughts that will pursue conservation of the green zones of the urban areas.
Students being the citizens of tomorrow and the group that will be most impacted by present actions around the world, it is important to ensure that they play a proactive role in addressing key environmental issues such as fast disappearing urban natural settings that are considered as the lungs of the urban environ.
We at TERI would like to rekindle our commitment to the cause and share the excitement and fun of Earth Day by celebrating the day through involvement of school children with an emphasis to create a holistic outlook towards urban biodiversity.
The series of activities are built around the theme “Give Delhi a chance to breathe”.
The growing trend of urbanization and its increasing human population is putting a strain on the existing biodiversity. Reports indicate that the situation will worsen in the coming decades if measures are not taken immediately. According to United Nations, 60% of the world’s population will reside in urban areas by 2030. To avoid further loss of biodiversity and to ensure that our city is green, raising greater public awareness on biodiversity in urban areas has become inevitable.
Besides there are various benefits of conserving urban biodiversity; from improving quality of life to enhancing ecosystem services, providing recreational spaces, preserving the cultural values and to improving aesthetics. Hence there is an urgent need to sensitize the masses specially the school goers who hold the key to bring the much needed change in our thoughts that will pursue conservation of the green zones of the urban areas.
Students being the citizens of tomorrow and the group that will be most impacted by present actions around the world, it is important to ensure that they play a proactive role in addressing key environmental issues such as fast disappearing urban natural settings that are considered as the lungs of the urban environ.
We at TERI would like to rekindle our commitment to the cause and share the excitement and fun of Earth Day by celebrating the day through involvement of school children with an emphasis to create a holistic outlook towards urban biodiversity.
The series of activities are built around the theme “Give Delhi a chance to breathe”.