What a wonderful world...

Celebrating Earth Day 2021

"I see trees so green, red roses too, see them bloom for me and you, and I think to myself what a wonderful world" This is the opening line to a classic rendition by the late Louis Armstrong. When we survey all that Mother Earth is and all that is therein, we can truly say "wonderful" indeed. Whether our efforts are wonderful and great, however can be likened unto an ongoing saga, or television drama series... Never ending, but interesting to observe. On April 22nd every year, World Earth Day is observed, across the globe. People along with many stakeholders participate in various activities and work towards raising awareness about critical issues facing the Earth as we know it. 

Pollution, global warming, and deforestation are just some of the problems that are routinely discussed as being a major threat to nature.  Over one billion people spread across 192 countries participate in Earth Day activities each year. This counts as the largest civil observance in the world. The theme this year is "Restore Our Earth" and its focus is on natural processes, the emergence and development of green technologies and continuous emphasis on innovative thinking that can restore the world’s ecosystems. The theme in itself also serves to reject the belief that climate change can be addressed only through mitigation and adaptation. 

Emphasizing Food Security:
A major objective is emphasize on agro-food systems and securing what is by far now an even more vulnerable aspect of the "Earth" , given this pandemic that has inserted into our everyday lives and by extension the lives of all that  call planet earth home. Consider this, agro-ecosystems are the largest terrestrial ecosystems in the world, occupying almost about 34% of all land on the planet. A necessity in reversing dysfunctional trends and negative impacts on food security, mankind must now turn it's attention to the concept of eco-agri-food systems. To fully understand ecosystem services and functions such as pollination, soil fertility, nutrient cycles, and biological pest control, we need to consider what is at stake regarding value chains. 

Catering for external influences and factors in the way biodiversity operates, is also very instrumental in the way we understand and appreciate how food security works.  It also means expanding our goals beyond the scope of agricultural productivity and economic growth.

An appreciation is also required of how biodiversity contributes directly and  indirectly to agriculture, and thereby to our well-being, leads to the possibility of all food producers and even the agri-businesses working towards more eco-positive (nature positive) production that protects, maintains and restores ecosystems. 

This requires for us locally and by extension regionally, to mentally shift from "putting aside" or "finding" land to conserve biodiversity  in protected areas to “sharing” land to restore rebuild, biodiversity in and around food production. Agro-ecological practices such as integrated pest management and eco-forestry systems,  combined with "clean energy" practices and wastewater treatment, strengthen each linkage in this holistic value chain that we mentioned before. This continuous emphasis on “systems thinking” could play a pivotal role in tackling the interrelated challenges presented by the Sustainable Development Goals specific to food production and food security as we know it. 

How did we celebrate World Earth Day?
As any environmental organization would, Environment Tobago, did it's own little exercise in earth moving and soil excavating. Our very own Tree Planting Ambassador for Tobago,
Sean McCoon visited with his counterparts in Trinidad (Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance T&T Chapter) to celebrate World Earth Day. Jamoon, Breadfruit and Primrose trees were planted at the Point Fortin RC Primary School, and the Salazar Trace Government Primary School.
Environment Tobago was also invited to make presentations further on the importance of trees and agricultural practices in future to the said schools. A relationship with the mentioned schools, and we look forward to more interaction with teachers and students in future.