World Wildlife Day: A call for nature’s servants
Janrey Dela Merced
Earth, before, was a field of endless colors of green and blue, a home for delicate plants and wildlife―a true beauty.
But as time moves forward, a wide pasture of trees and flora are replaced with tall skyscrapers. We move at a brisk pace towards societal development and success but lose consciousness of our environment’s well-being. Pollution, climate change, overexploitation, and many more environmental problems threatening our world are slowly degrading its former stature. This is because humanity was all too eager in developing their lives.
A vast area for wildlife fostering variegations of plants and animals before was possible, a place easily accessible. But now, our nature has deluge to a place populated by buildings, automobiles, and seemingly intelligent and upright animals carrying new technology. Even humans of indigent races who take care and cosset wildlife are being overwhelmed by people who tend to claim their land in pursuit of modernization.
As nature reclaims its natural prominence through a tempest of calamities, the time for humans to take a step in giving back to our environment has come. All of us must come together and forge a plan in moving towards development without compromising the state of the Earth.
The United Nations, along with various organizations, and with the support of schools and universities, celebrated World Wildlife Day, a program that envisions raising awareness of the world’s wild fauna and flora― a step towards making the world a better place for all. With the theme, “Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet,” the event was put into action in inspiring everyone to see the importance of biodiversity.
The event served as a reminder for everyone to respond to their duties as stewards to protect and nurture the environment from the minuscule ant to the largest tree. As this was celebrated all over the world, the event aims to be embedded to numerous people the challenge to take every possible action in preserving the wondrous state of the world. It is humanity’s role as part of this society to be part of the movement towards making the world greener and inhabitable for generations to come. We should be servants to nature, those who serve and act in making it better, and not those who serve our greed and only responding to our desire.
One of this celebration’s main highlights was to give importance to the lives and contribution of the Indigenous people to the environment. They who have been in body and soul understand how the environment works, through thousands of years in passed down experience should be given appreciation and respect. Taking care of our environment should be a symbiotic relationship; a bond forged by mutually catering to each other’s needs and nurturing them to prosper.
As this celebration kick starts, numerous academic institutions took part and aided their students and faculty to be part of the celebration. The University of the Immaculate Conception was one of the universities that responded to the call of nature and emblazoned their students to be pursers of the cause. Through the initiative of the Greenvironmental Society Officers, UIC’s University Student Government (USG) Officers, College Governors and the different colleges, the program was successfully conducted and impelled the students to take care of the environment in pursuit of building a better world for future generations.
Passion, care, and effort proved the possibility of celebrating World Wildlife Day. The same elements also emphasized that fostering a better society is possible without devastating our biodiversity and wildlife. May this momentous day emancipate everyone to take a step and save the earth, or see the world putrefy before our very eyes.