“Oh anok-anok
Tok leh menghaso mandi laok
Besaing main ghama-ghama
Ale lo ni tuo umonya berjuto
Kito usoho
Jauhke daghi malapetako
Ozone lo ni ko ho nipih nak nak aghi
Keno make asak hok biso we pakso manusio
Seghemo bendo-bendo di dunio tok leh tehe
Sapa bilo-bilo”
Written by Mukhlis Nor and made famous by Zainal Abidin serving as his first hit entitled “Hijau” back in 1991.
Ask any Malaysian about “Hijau” and they will nod in glee and start with its catchy tune. Today is World Environment Day, with the theme of ‘Celebrating Biodiversity.’
As much as we are still restricted under COVID-19, there are many causes for celebrating reports of free-roaming wildlife, from walruses to jaguars, elephants to llamas, monkeys to dolphins, penguins to kangaroos. An equal cause for celebration is the number of people who are currently connecting with whatever bit of nature they can watch from their windows, gardens, and natural spaces. This, in my opinion, is a welcoming consequence with an increase in awareness and unexpected celebration of nature after months of confinement.
Unfortunately, though, many reports send a different and far more sobering message. We are on track to lose close to a million species by mid-century. The Amazon forest and coral reefs around the world are dangerously close to a tipping point. From insects to elephants, the species population stands to collapse. These losses in biodiversity have profound consequences for humanity. The Global Risk Report by the World Economic Forum reveals the cascading risks of unraveling ecosystems, including water shortages, human-made natural disasters, involuntary migration, and social instability. In another new report called Nature’s Risk Rising states that more than half of all global GDP is dependent on nature #whoa. We are all facing a planetary nature emergency that puts all of us, and our future generations, at risk.
Watch this short animated feature entitled ‘The Gigantic Change’, released as part of World Environment Day narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, where it looks back from 2050 to show how people came together to save the world from the climate and ecological crisis.
Rimba Warisan Kita. Let’s Rise Together #ForNature #ForPeopleForPlanet
One of the hardest lessons we learned from the pandemic has been the immediate revelation of cracks and fault lines of our global exposure to risk. Our economic systems are failing us, leaving the vulnerable community members behind and exacerbating inequality. Our resilience to unforeseen shocks is disappointingly low. Yet, it’s just a prelude to what’s in store if we continue to allow biodiversity to disappear. Life on earth would not be possible without nature’s services. It is our greatest common good.
The time is now for a global reset of our relationship with nature. It is time for a global reckoning with underlying drivers and the consequences of biodiversity loss. Most of all, it is time to build a nature-based planetary safety net, by protecting, sustainably managing and restoring ecosystems around the world, to buffer us from future shocks.
To make this happen, we recommend that all of us embark on transformative change. It is time for us to;
- Re-imagine our systems for producing food and fiber,
- Re-imagine our planning and management of landscapes and seascapes,
- Transform our systems of finance and investment which accelerate biodiversity loss,
- Transform our relationship with indigenous people and local communities everywhere, whose lands represent many of the last areas of the world’s remaining intact species habitats.
Most of all, we must recognize, value, and celebrate the role biodiversity plays in sustaining humanity. Let’s live in harmony with nature. This can only be achieved if we reverse the negative impact of biodiversity loss and pursue full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Here’s to a world filled with love, uniting the global community in actions for positive change.
Stay blessed. Plant a Tree today.
Hijau Video Author http://FB.com/hafeezoworks
The Gigantic Change Author: Extinction Rebellion & Passion Pictures
https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-risks-report-2020
https://www.weforum.org/reports/nature-risk-rising-why-the-crisis-engulfing-nature-matters-for-business-and-the-economy
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/
