Once again! The World Environment Day (WED) held on the 5th of June 2017, has come and gone but the essence of this year’s theme “Connecting People to Nature” is a theme that implores us to get outdoors and into nature, to appreciate its beauty and its importance, and to take forward the call to protect the Earth that we share.
UN Environment always seeks to make the biggest global call and mobilization for action. The World Environment Day, since it began in 1972, is the biggest annual event for positive environmental action and takes place every 5 June. This year, Canada was the host country and choose the theme of the celebrations to be centred around the planet.
The call to Connect People to Nature, is for everyone, everywhere, global citizens to organize events, from neighbourhood clean-ups, to action against wildlife crime, to replanting forests and trees for every one tree that is cut down to considering how actions impact the environment. It invites you to think about how we are part of nature and how intimately we depend on it. It challenges us to find fun and exciting ways to experience and cherish this vital relationship.
To mark this year’s World Environment Day celebrations, Leudrill Geoservices Limited choose to join the Lagos Island Chapter at the LUFASI Nature Park, Lekki-Epe Expressway, Sangotedo for the WED 2017.
Kickstarting the events for this WED 2017, The NES Lagos Island Chapter NESLIC on the 3rd of June 2017, organised a lecture, a tour of the LUFASI nature park and award ceremony for winners of the essay competition to mark this year’s event.
The event showcased Dr Taibat Lawanson, Associate Professor of Urban Planning, University of Lagos and Ms Kofo Adeleke, Director, Programmes, Community Conservation and Development Initiatives (CCDI), Lagos Nigeria, as keynote speakers.
The theme of the event was centred on “Nature Conservation in an Urban Setting; Lagos Yesterday, Today and the Future”. Both speakers from their wealth of experience touched on the effects of urbanization and how it’s affecting Green balance in our environment. They also raised important facts by pointing out how the Lagos environment has changed over time with various significant changes to our landscape. They concluded that not much is being done to integrate environmental experts in decision making and policies are not really geared towards safeguarding and enforcing Green environmental balance in urban settings. Therefore, we call on all environmental bodies in Nigeria to focus on promoting Green environments within their communities and spaces around them as well as in the activities to reflect on Nature. World Environmental Day 2017 in pictures!
The Nature park tour at the LUFASI Nature Park, Lekki-Epe Expressway, Sangotedo also provided us with a glimpse of what we miss in urban settings. It also provides us rare encounters with wide life and forest reserve and trails, typical absent in most areas of Lagos State in general. We are all encouraged to visit the LUFASI Nature Park, Lekki-Epe Expressway, Sangotedo or any Green park or Nature reserve near you as a way for us to connect with nature and also promote this year’s theme “Connecting People to Nature”