With India reeling from COVID-19, some of the country’s biggest celebrities, including actors Shilpa Shetty, Akshay Kumar and Arjun Kapoor, are banding together to raise awareness about the need to protect the environment and restore the buffer zones between humans and animals.

In a series of homemade videos released on the eve of World Environment Day, the stars called for a concerted global effort to combat climate change, limit pollution and reverse the destruction of natural spaces, like forests and wetlands. The videos were produced by the Bhamla Foundation.

“Forest fires, dying coral reefs, polluted air and now a global pandemic. It’s brought our planet to the brink of total destruction and all of us are responsible,” said Kapoor. “We didn’t inherit this Earth from our ancestors but have borrowed it from our children. It’s our duty to leave a clean, healthy, thriving world for them.”

More than 340,000 Indians have died from COVID-19 and while the origins of the coronavirus remain contested, the World Health Organization believes it may have emerged in wild animals before jumping to humans. A 2020 report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) found that urban sprawl, logging, and the expansion of farming is chewing up natural spaces, reducing the buffer zones between humans and animals. That is making pandemics, like COVID-19, more likely, it said. More than 60 per cent of the microbes known to infect humans come from animals.

“There is a very real connection between how we’re treating the planet and pandemics,” said Atul Bagai, coordinator of India’s UNEP office. “If we want to prevent another COVID-19, we need to undo the damage we have done and put some breathing room between humans and animals.”

World Environment Day marks the official launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a 10-year global push to revive forests, rivers and other natural spaces damaged by development. It comes as human activity has altered more than 75 per cent of the Earth’s surface and ecosystem degradation is affecting some 3.2 billion people.

To shine a light on those challenges, the Bhamla Foundation enlisted the help of some of India’s biggest stars. With the country deep in the grip of a second wave of COVID-19, many spoke from their homes, some holding cell phones, about what they described as the urgency to restore the planet.

“All of us have the right to a healthy, clean and sustainable environment,” said actor and producer Shilpa Shetty. “We need to be mindful of the choices we make (and) take effective steps to help Mother Nature heal from decades of damage.”

Other celebrities who made an appeal included actors Taapsee Pannu, Ali Fazal, Bhumi Pednekar, and Sonu Sood, cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, designer Manish Malhotra, and journalist Faye D’Souza.

United Nations goodwill ambassador Dia Mirza also had a message for fans on World Environment Day. The mother-to-be posted a picture of herself on Instagram hugging a tree with the caption: “If COVID-19 taught us one thing it would be the undeniable link between human health and nature.” She urged fans to join online discussions around World Environment Day and to take an active role in ecosystem restoration.

The United Nations General Assembly has declared the years 2021 through 2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN Decade is designed to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide. This global call to action will be launched on 5 June, World Environment Day. It will draw together political support, scientific research and financial muscle to scale up restoration with the goal of reviving millions of hectares of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Explore UNEP’s work on preserving ecosystems, including forests, coastlines, peatlands and coral reefs. Find out more on the UN Decade of Restoration here.

About the Bhamla Foundation:
The Bhamla Foundation has over 18000 patrons spread over India working for various causes in fields of Health, Sociology, Child Rehabilitation, Woman Empowerment & Spreading Awareness regarding preservation of the Environment. The foundation’s President is Mr. Asif Bhamla.

Further resources:
Report: Preventing the Next Pandemic
Plastic clean-up brings crocodiles back to Indian River
Turning waste into energy in India
India’s natural accounting framework