Every Year on April 22, the World observes “International Earth Day”. This year, the focus of the observance was “Restoration of Earth”.
Meanwhile, Pepperpot Magazine spoke with a representative of the Environmental Protection Agency who explained that Earth Day is recognised by a number of non-Governmental and Governmental Agencies.

LaDonna Kissoon, a representative of the EPA, during an interview noted that in this 51st year observances, the EPA along with other agencies used their platforms to bring awareness to the public and interested persons about the importance of the environment and the essentiality of its services are to us as a people.
“ So over the years, we have zeroed in on things like Climate Change, Deforestation, Forest Fires, we have looked at endangered species, these are all views we would have taken over the 51 years regarding Earth Day and bringing around all those things,“ Kissoon told Pepperpot Magazine.

She noted that in commemorating the occasion, the EPA would have planted trees and a lot of work was done with schools around the country.
Despite the pandemic, the EPA is still engaging in doing work with students to mark this important day.
Kissoon said that as a result of the pandemic, the Agency has received several complaints relating to the fact that people are more environmentally conscious, as a result, there are practising more and listening more to be able to deal with issues that affect the earth.

But as noted the Earth preservation would be affected by issues such as deforestation, the representative noted that this activity has a major impact on the earth’s perseveration.
“So that has had a major impact and continues to have a major impact, with deforestation and land degradation increasing at an alarming rate to satisfy man’s desire for wealth, but it has also been happening through natural disasters such as the forest fire that would have occurred in the Amazon, and in Australia. Because of these events, the organisation is pushing and would coordinate the theme for Earth Day this year. It focuses on areas such as deforestation and thus would have an impact on Guyana’s rich biodiversity and ecosystem,” Kissoon told Pepperpot Magazine.

According to Kissoon, the focus this year is on insects.
“We really take for grant the importance of insects especially as it relates to bees, the importance of bees on our livelihood,” Kissoon was quoted as saying.
The theme “Restore Our Earth” focuses not only on the need to reduce our impact on the planet as we recover from the effects of COVID-19, but also on how we can play a role in repairing the damage we have done. The theme is in keeping with the UN International Decade for Ecosystem Restoration and includes three days of climate action organised by global environmental organisations, including EARTHDAY.ORG, and a virtual summit on 22 and 23 April to highlight the urgency for stronger climate action. The event will be live-streamed because of the pandemic.

The Environmental Protection Agency in Guyana has planned a week of activities to commemorate Earth Day with a focus on bees, including webinars, radio and television interviews, a radio quiz, and competitions for children.
You can share your ideas and questions by sending letters to: “Our Earth, Our Environment”, C/O ECEA Programme, Environmental Protection Agency, Ganges Street, Sophia, GEORGETOWN, or email us at: eit.epaguyana@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The history of Earth Day began on April 22, 1970, when a United States Senator from Wisconsin Gaylord Nelson proposed the first nationwide environmental protest to shake up the political establishment and to put the issue on the national agenda.
This information is according to a Facebook post on the history of the observances of Earth Day.

The post further detailed that “Earth day achieved a rare political alignment, thus enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labour leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts. Sen. Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest honor given to civilians in the United States — for his role as Earth Day founder.

As 1990 approached, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organise another big campaign. This time, Earth Day went global, mobilising 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting the status of environmental issues on to the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Although Earth Day was founded by Senator Nelson, the name was coined by an advertising executive called Julian Koenig, who was also responsible for some famous marketing catchphrases, such as “Timex, it takes a licking, but keeps on ticking”.

As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. Earth Day 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. For 2000, Earth Day had the Internet to help link activists around the world. By the time 22 April rolled around, 5,000 environmental groups around the world were on board, reaching out to hundreds of millions of people in a record 184 countries.