Rwanda to host celebrations

KATHMANDU: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today announced that Rwanda, an East African Country, will be hosting the World Environment Day 2010.

World Environment

Day (WED), which aims

to be the biggest global celebration for positive environmental action, is coordinated by UNEP every year on June 5.

This year’s theme for the celebrations is ‘Many Species. One Planet. One Future’ — a message focusing on the importance of the globe’s wealth of species and ecosystems to humanity, which supports this year’s UN International Year of Biodiversity.

Justifying the selection of the venue, UNEP said in a press statement that Rwanda’s combination of environmental richness, including rare and economically important species such as the mountain gorilla, allied to newly evolving and pioneering green policies were some important reasons for selecting Rwanda as the host country.

Rwanda’s capital Kigali will be the venue for this global celebration, with a myriad of activities over several days to inspire Rwandans, East Africans and people around the world to take action for the environment, the statement said.

According to UNEP, it aims to mobilise more people than ever for the celebrations, with a huge variety of activities ranging from school tree-planting drives to community clean-ups, car-free days, photo competitions on biodiversity, bird-watching trips, city park clean-up initiatives, exhibits, green petitions, nationwide green campaigns and much more.