World Environment Day has been celebrated every year on 5 June since 1974; engaging governments, businesses, celebrities and citizens to focus their efforts on a pressing environmental issue.
Loisaba Conservancy. Photo © silverless.co.uk
This year, the theme is biodiversity – the variety and variability of life on Earth. It is the most complex feature of our planet, and the most vital. Intricate webs of life and energy-flow link individual species to entire ecosystems, such as forests or coral reefs – which have made Earth habitable for billions of years. Recent events (such as the COVID-19 pandemic and locust invasions across east Africa) have demonstrated how delicate this web is, and how dependent we are on its stability.
“Time for Nature”
The human population has doubled in the last 50 years, and has already grown by 30 million people in 2020. This has put immense pressure on natures resources – from carbon use to grazing land – meaning it would take 1.6 earths to produce all the renewable resources we use. By damaging the delicate balance of nature, we have created ideal conditions for pathogens (including coronaviruses) to spread. It’s time to think about nature, and protect biodiversity.
Loisaba Conservancy. Photo © silverless.co.uk
Not only do we provide security and protection for endangered species and critical wildlife habitat in order to protect biodiversity, Loisaba strives to have a minimal carbon footprint with initiatives such as the community cooker and our BioDigester.
We are also delighted to hear that Kenya has banned the use of single-use plastics in all protected areas as of today. This ban prohibits visitors from carrying plastic water bottles, disposable plates and cups, cutlery and straws into national parks, forests, beaches and conservation areas, with the aim of curbing the growing plastic pollution.
The Community Cooker in action – safely burning plastics and other waste material to generate fuel for cooking.
Unfortunately, due to the closure of Loisaba’s tourism properties as a result of COVID-19, our operating budget has been significantly reduced – with a forecasted $1 million lost in revenue from tourism and other areas of income that would usually contribute toward protecting the biodiversity of the Loisaba landscape.
If you would like to help us maintain zero poaching levels, keep our rangers on the ground, protect endangered species and support local communities, please donate today. Even a small donation will make a huge difference to Loisaba’s conservation and community development work.
