World Environment Day, celebrated each year on June 5, was created during the 1972 United Nations (UN) Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden.
Like Earth Day, World Environment Day focuses on "encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment." However, as a UN creation, World Environment Day also brings political attention to a specific "host country" each year to help address the environmental challenges that country faces.
This year's host country is Canada and, with the theme "Connecting People to Nature," they are challenging their citizens and people around the world to spend more time with nature.
You can participate by taking photos or videos of your favorite spots in nature and tagging them #WorldEnvironmentDay or #WithNature. Sharing images of wonderful places around the world encourages others to connect to and preserve nature!
You are also encouraged to join iNaturalist to help build the world's largest nature database, or join one of the hundreds of World Environment Day events happening around the globe.
Learn more about World Environment Day at worldenvironmentday.global. Or take a look at the World Environment Day Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to see how others around the world are connecting to nature.