Context: World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5 annually across the globe to mark the importance of nature and environment. 

The theme for this year

• The theme for World Environment Day 2021 is 'Ecosystem Restoration' and Pakistan will be the global host for the big day. 
• This day will also see the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. In 2020, the theme was 'Celebrate Biodiversity'.

History of World Environment Day

• World Environment Day is one of the biggest annual events organised by the United Nations (UN) to generate awareness about the significance of nature and greenery. 
• The United Nations Assembly established World Environment Day in 1972, which was the first day of the Stockholm Conference on the human environment.
• In 1974, it was celebrated with the theme 'Only One Earth'. Since then, various host countries have been celebrating it, and the idea for rotating the center of these activities started. World Environment Day was first observed in 1974 in the US.

Significance of the Day

• The main idea behind celebrating World Environment Day is to highlight the importance of the environment and to remind people that nature should not be taken for granted. 
• According to the UN, this day provides us with an opportunity to broaden the basis for an enlightened opinion and responsible conduct by communities, enterprises and individuals in preserving and enhancing the environment.
• It is celebrated across the globe to respect and acknowledge everything that the environment has given us and to take the pledge that we will protect it. 
• On this day, governments and normal citizens focus their efforts on a particular environmental issue to generate awareness.

India's Restoration Initiatives

• National Afforestation Programme (NAP): It focuses on the rehabilitation of degraded forests and afforestation around forests.
• National Mission for a Green India (GIM): It is under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and aimed at improving and increasing tree cover as a climate adaptation and mitigation strategy.
• National Biodiversity Action Plan: It has been launched to implement strategies for the reduction in rates of degradation, fragmentation and loss of natural habitats.
• Rural Livelihood Schemes: Recognition of natural resources intrinsically linked to rural livelihoods is also reflected in flagship schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).

By: Shubham Tiwari