World Environment Day 2020

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This year’s World Environment Day focusses on biodiversity. On this World Environment Day 2020: we need Protected Areas to battle the ongoing biodiversity loss.

In 1972 the United Nations General Assembly designated June 5th as World Environment Day. Governments, businesses, celebrities and citizens are engaged to focus their efforts on a pressing environmental issue. This year’s theme focusses on Biodiversity. All over the world, you can participate in online events to celebrate World Environment Day here and check out #ForNature.

Nature provides us with food, fresh water, air for us to survive and thrive. We are depended on it for our survival as it provides us with the essential infrastructure that supports life on Earth and human development. This means, that to take care of ourselves we must care for nature. Biodiversity is an essential part of this life system. If we want to secure a healthy life on our planet, we need to secure biodiversity.That is why it is Time For Nature.

Currently, nature is pushed to its limits. Through deforestation, encroachment on wildlife habitats, intensified agriculture and our influence on a changing climate, we are accelerating biodiversity loss. With this, Earth’s ecosystems on which we depend will collapse. However, if we listen to nature now, we can change the tide.

World Environment Day 2020: We need Protected Areas!

EUROPARC has been advocating on nature’s behalf since its very start. We recognize that we need to give space to nature to secure our own livelihoods. In an ever urbanised Europe, Protected Areas provide green spaces that counter the high level of biodiversity loss we are currently experiencing.

Now more than ever, we need Protected Areas as drivers of biodiversity, as all life on this planet is founded on it.

EUROPARC welcomes, the European Commission’s recognition on the importance of Protected Areas in its new biodiversity strategy. Member States will be in charge of designating  Protected Areas and strictly Protected Areas and will define conservation objectives and measures for all Protected Areas. Here, EUROPARC Federation and its members should have a key role to play to provide our expertise to our own Member State in order to ensure a participative and representative process. We urge the commission to listen to offer adequate support in order for this ambitious plan to work.

EUROPARC will contribute to support the work of Protected Areas, to harmonize and improve their management in order to collectively recover and restore the conservation of Nature in Europe. Together we can, and must, combat biodiversity loss and secure a healthy planet for future generations.

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