Restoration Begins with Me!
In March 2021, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Environment Facility-funded Integrating Water, Land and Ecosystems Management (GEF-IWEco) Project, the UNEP Caribbean Sub-Regional Office (CSRO), the Cartagena Convention Secretariat and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Representation for Jamaica, the Bahamas and Belize, jointly invited members of the public to participate in the conversation on ecosystem restoration.
The campaign, launched on the International Day of Forests (IDF) under the theme “Restoration Begins with Me”, culminates today - World Environment Day (WED), June 5th, 2021, as we welcome the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
We asked individuals and groups of all ages to send us a photograph, accompanied by a short description, or a short video, of an activity that shows how they value and care for plants, trees and forests, and/or what these mean to them.
Today, in celebration of WED 2021, we recognize the variety of submissions in a mosaic posted to our social media accounts, and, in the coming days we will continue to feature individual submissions. We thank all those who participated in this campaign. We appreciate the very interesting and valuable submissions to the campaign and are encouraged by the many examples of activism in the region.
Whether planting and looking after trees and seedlings, monitoring their growth, conducting research, teaching others about the need to restore degraded areas, allowing some areas to revert to their natural state of wildness, or simply appreciating and sharing the beauty and value of threatened ecosystems and the flora and fauna they support - we learned that people, individually and collectively are caring for ecosystems in countries throughout the Wider Caribbean region.
We hope that seeing their stories will inspire more to action, and if already active, inspire more to share their stories. In this way we can begin the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration with hope for a healthier planet.
#RestorationBeginsWithMe
#GenerationRestoration