World Environment Day [WED] was designated by the UN General Assembly in 1972 on the first day of United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, resulting from discussions on the integration of human interactions and the environment. Two years later, in 1974 the first WED was held with the theme 'Only One Earth'. Even though WED celebrations have been held annually since 1974, in 1987 the idea for rotating the center of these activities through selecting different host countries began.
Kerala celebrated environment day and joined the nation in observing World Environment Day today with the government taking lead by distributing one crore saplings for planting across the state.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his Environment Day message sought the support and cooperation of all sections of the society in the government's efforts of tree plantation.
Governor P Sathasivam planted a sapling at the Raja Bhavan compound as part of day's celebrations.
Schools, local self-government bodies and voluntary associations took part in the plant sapling programmes of the government under 'Green Kerala Mission'.
Importance of this year's tree plantation is that government has done away with acacia and eucalyptus that draw a lot of groundwater and distributed only fruit bearing and environment friendly trees.
A campaign titled 'Connecting People to Nature' was also launched besides starting a programme to cut down trees that were harmful to the environment.
Meanwhile, BJP as part of its green campaign 'Jalswaraj’, distributed more than 10 lakh saplings across the state for planting.