Dear Readers,

With the Sun shining outside your door, with the cool breeze blowing right across your window, and with the reassurance that vaccination drive in India is ushering along, there is ample reason to be happy, for being able, agile and alive. Survival is a birth right of not just humans but of every creature on Earth.

June is a special month because it makes earthlings revisit their wishlist for Mother Nature and its creatures.

June 5 is marked as ‘World Environment Day’ by the United Nations. And more so than ever, today we truly need to shape our willpower to restore the ecosystem instead of sharpening our axes of greed for urban development at the cost of wildlife. How sustainable is our lifestyle in the long run, is it worth costing the Earth its power to nurture. Think about it! The theme for World Environment Day 2021 is ’Ecosystem Restoration’.

The Year 2021 also marks the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Growing trees, greening cities, rewilding gardens, changing diets, or cleaning up rivers and coasts. This is the generation that can make peace with nature – You and I shall take a pledge today to make a green change. Need better reasons to kickstart your good deed of the decade, then read along…

According to Geneva Environment Network, between now and Year 2030, the restoration of 350 million hectares of degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems could generate US$9 trillion in ecosystem services. Restoration could also remove 13 to 26 gigatons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The economic benefits of such interventions exceed nine times the cost of investment, whereas inaction is at least three times more costly than ecosystem restoration.

A small step today can be a leap for the survival of mankind. It is indeed true that all kinds of ecosystems can be restored, including forests, farmlands, cities, wetlands and oceans. Restoration initiatives can be launched by almost anyone, from governments and development agencies to businesses, communities and individuals. That is because the causes of degradation are many and varied, and can have an impact at different scales.

Every thought matters. Every step counts. Your views are valuable to us. Share your ideas with us on etpanachetravel@gmail.com about how you wish to reduce your carbon footprint and heal the world to make it a better place.

ET Panache Travel Editor