It is World Environment Month
What does “ENVIRONMENT” mean to YOU?
- It’s where I live
- It’s everything familiar to me
- It’s everything green around me – plants and nature
- It’s all the living things and non-living things in the world
- It’s Biodiversity
- It’s the man-made things and the Earth we live on
ENVIRONMENT in academic terms
- “For some people, ‘environment’ means ‘nature’ – the natural landscape and all of its non-human features, characteristics and processes. Ideas of wilderness and of pristine landscapes that have barely been influenced by human activities.”
- “For other people, ‘environment’ includes human elements. Agricultural and country landscapes – including urban areas… changed by humans in some way”
- So the ‘environment’ exists in some kind of relation to humans. We see it as the ‘backdrop’ to our human history. It’s the habitats and resources that humans exploit. It’s the wilderness surrounding human settlements that humans have yet to dominate…
“Each year, World Environment Day is a powerful platform to accelerate (speed up), amplify (magnify) and engage (involve) people, communities and governments around the world to take action on critical environmental challenges facing the planet.”
What is Going on this World Environment Month?
- The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) announced that Colombia would be hosting World Environment Day 2020 in partnership with Germany.
- 2020 is a year for urgency, ambition and action to address the crisis facing nature.
- A special time for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment.
More about Colombia
- Colombia is one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries with the second-highest level of biodiversity in the world.
- It boasts Amazon rainforests, highlands, grasslands, deserts
- It is the only country in South America with islands and coastlines along both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
- Colombia is the fourth-largest country in South America, after Brazil, Argentina and Peru. It is also the 25th-largest country in the world.
- With over 50 million people, Colombia is the third-most-populated country in Latin America.
It’s Time for Nature
- Biodiversity is the foundation that supports all life on land and below water.
- It affects every aspect of human health: clean air and water, nutritious foods, scientific understanding and medicine sources, natural disease resistance, and climate change mitigation.
What can YOU do?
This World Environment Day, learn how all living things on Earth are connected in the web of life and how we can act: #ForNature
TASK 1
Take a walk outside your home or open your window. Sit and listen. How many different animal sounds do you hear? If you live in a city you may hear cats, dogs, squirrels, bees, flies, mosquitoes and several different birds. If you live in the countryside you will probably hear more. List your sounds here. If you hear birds, try to identify which species they are; if you hear insects, try to identify them too.
TASK 2
Find out what one thing (ISSUE) that is harming nature in your neighbourhood. The issue could be dumping, road building, developments, pollution, plastic, you name it. Are people using pesticides near you e.g. farms, wine farms, etc? Do a bit of research and find out what is going on around you.
TASK 3
Food Webs – draw a food web based on an ecosystem in your area. Answer these questions:
- Explain why humans are at the top of the food chain.
- Give 3 examples of producers.
- Give 3 examples of consumers
- What does a scavenger member of the food chain do?
- How is a food chain different from a food web?
TASK 4
Give 5 reasons why South Africa is so MEGA BioDiverse? Draw something to illustrate this.
The best thing you can do is ENJOY Nature while she is healthy and here. Take care and become a Nature Custodian. NOW!
