World Environment Day this year is June 5, 2021! But what is it? Sponsored by the United Nations Environment Program, World Environment Day has been a staple platform for raising awareness of a variety of environmental issues since 1974.

Different countries around the world have the opportunity to host celebrations that highlight specific issues such as the connection between human and environmental rights in Turkey in 1996 to the air pollution crisis hosted by China in 2019. This year the celebrations will take place in Pakistan and focuses on biodiversity and damaged ecosystems.¹

An ecosystem is defined by National Geographic as “a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscapes, work together to form a bubble of life.”² Restoring these essential ecosystems is a massive undertaking and there is a critical call to action through the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration program which is a 10-year goal to prevent further damage, biodiversity loss, and climate change. 

Learn more about this and work with Nutrition for Longevity to eat with purpose again. We have vegan, pescatarian, and flexitarian custom meal plans available. 

Why is it important?

This year’s theme and launching of the 10-year restoration program are essential pieces to improving the current world we are living in. Biodiversity is defined as “biological diversity in an environment as indicated by numbers of different species of plants and animals”.³ There is a substantial link between this idea of biodiversity and human health and well-being as it can affect a variety of different things including clean air and water, access to nutritious foods and medicine, natural disease resistance, and climate change.^{4, 5}

There have been parallels drawn between recent events such as serious brush fires in the US and around the world and the COVID-19 pandemic to reduced biodiversity and ecosystem destruction. The United Nations describes this as the interdependence between humans and the environment. It is estimated that within the next 10 years, one out of every four species may become extinct even though there are currently over 8 million plant and animal species.⁴ This interdependence of human well-being, biodiversity, and the environment are intertwined and need to be examined together when looking to make improvements and impactful changes for the future.

Overall, World Environment Day is a time where everyone can come together to work toward a common goal of saving the environment! Now more than ever when we are still facing the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s theme of ecosystem and biodiversity restoration hits home.

How can Nutrition for Longevity help? 

Nutrition for Longevity is already doing our part in helping conserve biodiversity by emphasizing sustainability! The custom meal plans we provide start with locally-grown produce that is farmed sustainably and in a way that prioritizes the environment where we grow our crops! We also put a focus on growing a large variety of produce (who knew there were SO many different kinds of leafy greens)! Learn More about biodiversity on the N4L farm!

 References:

1. Ecosystem Restoration. World Environment Day. https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/about/ecosystem-restoration. April 15, 2021.
2. Society N. Ecosystem. National Geographic Society. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/ecosystem. April 15, 2021.
3. Definition of biodiversity. Merriam-webster.com. https://www.merriamcom/dictionary/biodiversity. April 15, 2021.
4. Nations U. World Environment Day | United Nations. United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/observances/environment-day. April 15, 2021.
5. Naeem S, Chazdon R, Duffy JE, Prager C, Worm B. Biodiversity and human well-being: an essential link for sustainable development. Proc Biol Sci. 2016;283(1844):20162091. doi:10.1098/rspb.2016.2091