Every year on the third Saturday of April, Ukraine celebrates Environment Day. It was established in 1998 pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 855/98 “On Environment Day,” following the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, which became one of the most significant events in the history of the environmental movement.
On this day, the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) was established—an environmental program that is now the UN’s primary body in the field of environmental protection, tasked with providing leadership and fostering cooperation in the interests of the environment by promoting action, raising awareness, and providing assistance to improve the quality of life.
The main goal of this day is to raise awareness among Ukrainians regarding environmental conservation, emphasizing human responsibility for preserving and restoring the environment, which suffers from the consequences of human activity. After all, human health directly depends on the state of the environment—the cleanliness of the air, soil, and water. A polluted natural environment becomes a source of pathogenic microorganisms and dangerous harmful substances that enter the human body and cause serious health consequences.
The full-scale Russian invasion has caused great damage to the natural environment. This includes the pollution and contamination of soil, land resources, water bodies, and the atmosphere, as well as the destruction of forest resources, biodiversity, and mineral resources, and the devastation of nature reserve sites and territories. The consequences of this negative impact will be long-term and will have not only local but also global implications.
Caring for the environment starts with each individual, family, home, and street. Starting today, each of us can: stop using plastic bags, disposable bottles, and tableware; be energy-efficient in our daily lives; choose the most eco-friendly transportation; conserve water; sort waste and send it for recycling. Of course, we can do much more, but we should start with ourselves today.
The cleanliness of our land is in our hands! Preserving the beauty of nature and contributing to its renewal is everyone’s responsibility, and we should pay attention to the environment not only in the spring, but throughout the entire year. And after defeating the occupiers, we will help nature recover, and this will be yet another victory for us!