International Day for Preventing Environmental Exploitation in War
November 6 · Level 10 · #224 of 2238
War harms more than people: rivers, forests, farmland and the air suffer too. The UN General Assembly set up this day in 2001 to remind the world that nature needs protection from the fallout of conflict.
How it is celebrated: environmental groups, schools and aid organisations publish reports and hold talks on how fighting pollutes water and soil and wipes out wildlife habitats. Many events also look at ways to repair damaged land once the guns fall silent.
During the 1991 Gulf War, hundreds of oil wells in Kuwait were set on fire, and it took months to put the blazes out.