EARTH DAY 2016

“Trees for the Earth!“

The idea of celebrating ​​Earth Day has been introduced for the first time in 1969, and it has officially been celebrated since 1992 when, during the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, a far-reaching program for promoting sustainable development has been harmonized. United Nations General Assembly has declared April 22 as the International Earth Day.

The theme of this year's Earth Day is “Trees for the Earth!”. Trees will be the first of five major goals in honour of five-year countdown to 50th anniversary of Earth Day. As a result of deforestation, land development and poor forests management, our planet is currently losing over 15 billion trees every year. The plan is to plant 7.8 billion trees by 2020 which will mark fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day. This would mean one tree for every person on the planet. This plan will focus on those regions of the world which are most affected by deforestation. Goals of this plan are also to:

Ø Fight climate changes and pollution;

Ø Support communities and their local economies, as well as their way of life;

Ø Protect biodiversity.

The International Earth Day is celebrated around the world with various events in order to draw citizens’ attention to the importance of nature conservation and the prevention of negative consequences on the environment. The aim of celebrating this date is to warn about the dangers that threaten life on Earth, ecosystems and urban areas, due to industrial development, increased energy consumption, global warming and climate changes. This significant date is celebrated in order to make the world’s population aware of their responsibility towards the planet they live on, and therefore minimize the negative impact on the environment. Around the world, numerous actions and events are organized, in order to raise the level of environmental awareness, educate and motivate citizens to actively participate in the fight to preserve planet Earth.

The Earth Day is celebrated in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well, with a number of actions aimed at familiarizing citizens with the problems which ecosystems are faced with, but polluted urban zones as well, and the way we can improve the condition of the environment.