The World Environment Day is a very important day in the history of mother earth, it is also known as the Environment Day, Eco Day or for short, WED. It has been one of the greatest annual events celebrated worldwide by people with the aim of protecting the unique and life nurturing nature of planet earth on every 5th June.
WED was formally designated by the UNEP on 5th June 1972, the opening day of the first World Environment Conference in Stockholm, Sweden, and the first WED was held in 1974 in USA, on the theme “Only One Earth”.
Since then, nearly 150 countries have been involved in celebrating this event every year, with activities ranging from raising awareness on environmental protection, to encouraging actions for recycling, sustainable development and consumption, tree planting and fighting global warming, cleaning up pollution and many other issues of concern.
The 2019 theme (“Beat Air Pollution”) was chosen by China – the host for World Environment Day 2019. This year’s topic invites all of us to consider how we can change our everyday lives to reduce the amount of air pollution we produce, considering its contribution to global warming and its subsequent effects on our health and the environment at large.
In an effort to celebrate this year’s WED, the Conservation Society Sierra Leone (CSSL) and the School Nature Club, Daru chapter, with funds provided by Goldtree (SL) Limited celebrated the event on Friday 7th June 2019.
The celebration targeted 80 school pupils and 16 liaison teachers drawn from various primary and junior secondary schools in Daru town. The event, which took place at the Local court barry in Daru, attracted various stakeholders including the Police, the Military, the Paralegal, chiefs, the Jawei Youth Council, elders and other members of the public.
The event started with a street parade by the pupils from Daru to Goldtree mill site, where the children converged and received basic awareness messages from the HSE Manager E. Koroma on the overall importance of the WED, with emphasis on the theme ‘Beating Air Pollution’ and the importance of trees and tree planting. A symbolic planting of indigenous trees by pupils, teachers and others at the Goldtree conservation plot was undertaken at the end of the visit.
The procession was led to the local Court Barry in Daru, where public talks on the overall importance of the WED celebration were given. The Goldtree HSE Manager gave the keynote address to mark this all-important event, in an effort to further raise awareness and better educate the pupils and members of the public on taking the required actions to combat environmental issues.
At the end of his address, Mr. Koroma gave some set of questions in the form of a quiz about the WED, the importance of trees, causes and effects of air pollution and how to address the problem. This event saw pupils winning cash prizes as a token to keep them interested, encouraged and motivated on taking environmental protection and conservation as a matter of importance for sustainability.
