The natural environment has many components — for example, air that living organisms breathe, carbon dioxide for plants, soil that provides nutrients to plants, a variety of organisms, including insects, birds and other animals, that live alongside humans, and last but definitely not least, water. All living organisms need water in order to survive. And all organisms play a role in keeping the natural environment healthy.

What can plants and animals do?

Plants can:

• remove carbon dioxide from the air.
• release oxygen into the air.
• provide food, shelter and a place for some animals, including humans, to raise their young.

Animals, birds and insects can:

• pollinate flowers.
• eat fruit and berries and eliminate the seeds as waste; the seeds then grow into new plants.
• eat dead plant material and provide nutrients for the soil so more plants can grow.

What can people do?

People can act alone or as part of a community and:

• make a small pond to provide a water source for birds or other animals.
• plant native flowers, trees or shrubs, and especially plants that produce foods like berries, nuts or fruits.
• leave a corner of their back garden to grow wild to provide shelter and food for small birds, worms, frogs and insects.
• plant grass or ground cover on bare patches of soil where erosion has occurred.
• install or build a rain container to collect rainwater.
• consider using porous (allows water to pass through) concrete for pavements and walkways.
• recycle as much material as possible so that habitats are not destroyed to create additional landfill space.
• volunteer to plant trees or develop habitats in their communities.
• protect natural resources in the community from pollution or contamination.

Earth Day is 22 April of each year. Do not wait for 22 April in order to clean and conserve your human habitats — that is, the place where you live. The infographic below shows five ways you can conserve and protect Earth every day of the year.

Group activity

Formative assessment 4: 

Gather together up to 15 community members. Make sure you have a mix of young and old and male and female members of the village.

Ask a member of a local NGO or civil society who is familiar with the villagers and landscapes in your vicinity to act as facilitator. The facilitator takes you out for a walk as a group to observe what conservation activities could be carried out in the area where you live and work — try to include as many parts of your area as possible, such as farms that raise animals or grow crops, hillsides, beaches or riverside areas. The activities you choose should be manageable for village members — for example, picking up rubbish and separating the waste into paper, plastic and metal for recycling; collecting animal dung, diluting it with water and using it in the fields as manure or fertiliser to add nutrients to the soil; or collecting dead twigs and leaves, letting them dry and using them to cover the soil where vegetables or fruit trees grow. Planting trees is an exciting group activity that can any member of the village community can become involved in.