On August 12, 2012, the inaugural World Elephant Day was launched to bring attention to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants. The elephant is loved, revered and respected by people and cultures around the world, yet we balance on the brink of seeing the last of this magnificent creature.
The escalation of poaching, habitat loss, human-elephant conflict and mistreatment in captivity are just some of the threats to both African and Asian elephants. Working towards better protection for wild elephants, improving enforcement policies to prevent the illegal poaching and trade of ivory, conserving elephant habitats, better treatment for captive elephants and, when appropriate, reintroducing captive elephants into natural, protected sanctuaries are the goals that numerous elephant conservation organizations are focusing on around the world.
World Elephant Day asks you to experience elephants in non-exploitive and sustainable environments where elephants can thrive under care and protection. On World Elephant Day, August 12, express your concern, share your knowledge and support solutions for the better care of captive and wild elephants alike.
Trees deserve more credit for all the amazing things they do for us.
Show your thanks right now.
Each Stand For Trees Certificate you purchase supports a specific forest community so the trees remain protected and are worth more alive than dead. Read about all of the incredible work happening around the globe and stand up for a forest now.
The International Day of Forests, the 21st day of March, was established by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on November 28, 2012.
Each year, various events celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests, and trees outside forests, for the benefit of current and future generations. Countries are encouraged to undertake efforts to organize local, national, and international activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns, on International Day of Forests.
The Secretariat of the United Nations Forum on Forests, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization, facilitates the implementation of such events in collaboration with governments, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, and international, regional and sub-regional organizations.
International Day of Forests was observed for the first time on March 21, 2013.
Each year more than 13 million hectares (32 million acres) of forests are lost, an area roughly the size of England. As go the forests, so go the plant and animal species that they embrace – 80% of all terrestrial biodiversity.
Most importantly, forests play a critical role in climate change including global warming: deforestation results in 12-18 percent of the world’s carbon emissions – almost equal to all the CO2 from the global transport sector.[citation needed] Equally crucial, healthy forests are one of the world’s primary ‘carbon sinks.‘
Today, forests cover more than 30% of the world’s land and contain more than 60,000 tree species, many as of yet unidentified. Forests provide food, fiber, water and medicines for approximately 1.6 billion of the world’s poorest people, including indigenous peoples with unique cultures.
Forests are vital to our water supply. They influence how and where rain falls, and they filter and clean our water. By protecting the world’s forests, we are also protecting the clean water that we depend upon for our survival.
THE QUESTION IS WHETHER WE HAVE THE WIT — AND THE WILL — TO SAVE THEM
Forests are the lungs of the earth and our greatest ally in fighting climate change. They absorb carbon and turn atmospheric CO2, water and sunlight into wood while producing the oxygen we breathe. But instead of returning the favor, we cut them down. It’s estimated that roughly 15% of global annual greenhouse gas emissions today are the result of deforestation and forest degradation. That’s comparable to the total annual CO2 emissions of China, or the emissions of the entire global transportation sector — all the world’s planes, ships, trucks, and automobiles combined.
Protecting forests and restoring those that have been degraded are among the easiest options we have for slowing climate change. It doesn’t require any new technological breakthrough — it simply requires each of us to join in. We all impact climate change, but now we can each be part of a broader solution. Companies can stand with employees. Sports teams can stand with fans. And we can all stand with our friends and loved ones. We can each purchase Stand for Trees Certificates to help offset our own emissions, and share the news of our purchase on our favorite social media platforms.
In short, Stand For Trees represents nothing less than a global and grassroots intervention. Trees stand for us. Now its time for all of us to Stand For Trees.
“Stand for Trees can be a game-changer by harnessing the power of crowd-funding to protect forests, the air we breathe, and the climate that sustains us.”
Actor Edward Norton, a U.N. goodwill ambassador for biodiversity
THE QUESTION IS WHETHER WE HAVE THE WIT (AND THE WILL) TO SAVE THEM
Forests are the lungs of the earth and our greatest ally in fighting climate change. They absorb carbon and turn atmospheric CO2, water and sunlight into wood while producing the oxygen we breathe. But instead of returning the favor, we cut them down. It’s estimated that roughly 15% of global annual greenhouse gas emissions today are the result of deforestation and forest degradation. That’s comparable to the total annual CO2 emissions of China, or the emissions of the entire global transportation sector — all the world’s planes, ships, trucks, and automobiles combined.
Protecting forests and restoring those that have been degraded are among the easiest options we have for slowing climate change. It doesn’t require any new technological breakthrough — it simply requires each of us to join in. We all impact climate change, but now we can each be part of a broader solution. Companies can stand with employees. Sports teams can stand with fans. And we can all stand with our friends and loved ones. We can each purchase Stand for Trees Certificates to help offset our own emissions, and share the news of our purchase on our favorite social media platforms.
In short, Stand For Trees represents nothing less than a global and grassroots intervention. Trees stand for us.
I was 19 years old when the concept of celebrating a special day for Mother Earth was coming to be. I remember the joy and the respect that surrounded this concept. We we celebrating our home, our planet. Problems were identified.
The need to step up to this challenge was recognized because something had to be done to preserve our home, to save it for future generations.
I’m sitting here in my office and I’m looking up at my bookshelves. I see books there that I got during those early years:
The End Of Nature, EarthRight, The Green Consumer, Topical Nature, Save Our Planet, Spiritual Ecology, 50 Simple Things You Can Do To Save The Earth, 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do To Save The Earth, How to Make The World A Better Place, Two Minutes A Day For A Greater Planet, Silent Spring, The Reclycler’s Handbook …
and several more.
I took Ecology classes in college. I participated in activities and the spirit was there. Something would be done by my generation to make Earth a healthier, safer and cherished place.
I have become an adult, a senior citizen and I look back … “celebrating 45 years”.
I wonder …. what has been done? What has been accomplished? Is Mother Earth healthy? Will we be able to hand down a sustainable planet to the next generation as we planned?
Sadly, I think not. They will have the same challenges and even more so because of the way my generation has “conducted business” and failed at making this wonderful planet what it should be. We failed to reverse the damages done by “progress”. And these still continue to this day.
We hear it all the time: climate change, carbon emissions, fossil fuels, burning rain forests, disappearance of endangered species, plastic pollution, environmental protection and so much more ….. There’s a lot to do; so much more than what was needed in 1969.
Like Prince Ea says: “Sorry, future generations“. It is a beautiful world. Stand up and get the job done.
Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22, on which day events worldwide are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first celebrated in 1970, and is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and celebrated in more than 192 countries each year.
In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace, to first be celebrated on March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. This day of nature’s equipoise was later sanctioned in a Proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations.
A month later a separate Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. Nelson was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award in recognition of his work. While this April 22 Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations. Numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues.
Give back to Mother Earth this Earth Day – April 22nd, 2015 – by planting a new tree in your area, or by donating to have a tree planted in a developing nation.
It Is What It Is 