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Ecosystem degradation: A major threat to humanity

Hiba Huneini|- The World Environment Day was celebrated on Saturday with an international appeal for healing the planet from the emerging crises that humanity is suffering from. This year the celebration launched formally the “UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration” that was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on March 1, 2019. The UN Decade is led by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) from 2021 until 2030. The Convention on Biological Diversity defines ecosystem as “a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their nonliving environment interacting as a functional unit”. The main types of ecosystems vary from farmlands, forests, lakes and rivers, grasslands and savannahs, mountains, oceans and coasts, peat lands, to urban areas. According to UNEP, ecosystem restoration means “assisting in the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed, as well as conserving the ecosystems that are still intact.” Restoration can be done in various ways such as and not limited to planting trees, using more natural fertilizer, growing more diverse crops, having farming techniques, reducing pollution, and managing water and solid waste… etc.
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