The World Habitat Day is marked every first Monday of October. The date was declared in 1985 by the United Nations after a recommendation by the Commission on Human Settlements. The day was first observed in 1986, 10 years after the United Nations conference on human settlement (held in Vancouver Canada in 1976). Habitats refer to places where communities of plants and animals live together under a set of environmental conditions. Man’s activities have changed many habitats driving other species away or even leading to extinction of some species.
World habitat day is dedicated to looking at habitats of man and other living organisms. There is need to maintain a balance to allow all organisms to live on this planet. This calls on us to preserve numerous and diverse types of habitat to ensure continued survival of all spices.
Suggested activities
- Visit the national park, Bomas of Kenya, traditional villages, slum settlement etc. Ask an expert to conduct a guided tour.
- Invite an elder from the locality to discuss how they lived in the past.
- Discuss how man’s activities have affected the habitats within the locality.
- Conduct cleanups to ensure clean habitat.
- Invite an experts to discuss the activities of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNHCS- Habitat) in Kenya.
- Discuss what can be done to rehabilitate the degraded habitats. Implement the feasible suggestions.
- Write an essay or summary notes on how you celebrated the world Habitat day. Publicise your success on this blog.
For further Information, contact:
United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNHCS-Habitat) (http://unhabitat.org)