June 5th is World Environment Day and there’s a lot happening this year. For the first time, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has chosen India to be the global host country.

The theme for this year is ‘Forests: Nature at your Service’. It emphasises the link between quality of life and the health of our forests and ecosystems. The year is also the UN’s International Year of Forests.

Events planned range from film festivals, workshops and planting trees in the World 10K forest at Bengaluru. Also on the cards is a 10k run (Bengaluru) and a Walkathon (Delhi). NDTV’s 24-hour Greenathon will raise awareness and funds for TERI’s solar power project.

For something unusual, there’s the ‘Million Fireflies’ weekend cycle ride. Somewhere in the Western Ghats is a village called Purushwadi. As June begins and the rain clouds hover promisingly, this little village is dazzled by hordes of fireflies that come out to mate. The cycle ride begins from Dadar where participants (and their cycles) board a train to Kasara, from where they will ride 80 kms to Purushwadi. You can camp at the village, experience the simple food of rural Maharashtra and enjoy a night under the stars with the glint of fireflies all around you.

What better way to celebrate nature and indeed, the beauty of our forests, on this World Environment Day?

Are you doing anything for World Environment Day?

If you would like to mark World Environment Day by donating a “Chulika” cookstove to a family in a village, helping them breathe easier and save a tonne of carbon emissions going into the environment annually….write to us at contact [at] climategrump.net

For more details on what this implies, check out our post : Helping Rural India Breathe Cleaner – Click Here