As mentioned in previous Juneposts in this blog, this month is about celebrating ecosystems and the solstice.
June 21st is the Solstice - Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere with the longest day and Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere with the shortest day. More recently June 21st has also been observed as International Day of Yoga. The sun salutation or Surya Namaskar being central to yogic practices thus apt to coincide with the Solstice.
Meanwhile June 17th is observed as the International Day to Combat Desertification and Drought with the 2026 theme being "Rangelands: Recognize, Respect, Restore" which dovetails well with the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) declaration of 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.
The Icelandic practice of Rettir - the annual sheep roundup is especially vital to the nation's horses, horse-riding traditions as well as the delicate ecosystems of that Land of Fire and Ice. The sheep and the horses in the pastures help maintain the highlands in spring as well as the flocks and herds health through the year. This traditional cherishing of the wild spirit - the roaming - of the horses and flocks feels especially right in 2026, the Year of the Fire Horse.
In the context of reversing desertification and grasslands and pastures, it becomes vital to talk of the solarization and use of solar sheep to fight the creeping desert in Talatan in China's Qinghai Province. As this Facebook reel puts it, the construction of the Talatan Solar Park -the size of Singapore at the edge of the desert has helped create a microclimate that sustains green cover - so much so sheep needed to be brought in to control the grass and weeds (Solar Sheep!) thus generating power, pasture and profits in the region.
Rangelands such as the Rakhals in the Salt Desert, Kutch district of Gujarat in India and the Gujjars and Bakkerwals - nomadic pastoralists of Jammu and Kashmir provide vital oases and ecosystem services respectively.
SDGs at Play
Healthy ecosystems and practices and people who consolidate them automatically boost the sustainable development goals (SDGs) as a whole as well as directly and indirectly.
The ecosystem services of nomadic pastoralists such as the Gujjars and Bakkerwals in Jammu helo with watershed management (SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation) as much as SDG 15 - Life on Land.
The sensitive Rakhal rangelands and traditional knowledge that maintains them is vital in the harsh environs of the Salt Desert which is nevertheless home to a vast interdependent biodiversity thus healthy rakhals boosts SDG 15.
The introduction of the Solar Park at the edge of the desert in China ensured SDG 7 - Access to Affordable and Clean Energy as well as combating Drought and Desertification thus boosting SDG 15 as well as tackling the region's health and nutrition requirements (SDG 2 - Zero Hunger, SDG 3 - Good Health and Wellbeing).
Rainforests
The theme for Rainforests Day 2026, observed annually on June 22nd, the day after the June Solstice, is "The Forest Within You." Rainforests in addition to being the lungs of the planet and massive carbon sinks are also vital biodiversity and traditional medicine hotspots. They are also the source of our water security as many mighty rivers emerge from the rainforests that sustain life and livelihoods. Nothing heals like forests and forest products and this is exponentially more relevant with regard to rainforests.
In 2026, the search engine Ecosia reached and exceeded its goal of planting 250 million trees through its searches. Most of this was done through empowering local communities and restoring forests, watersheds and reviving biodiversity not just increasing green cover.
Rainforests also protect and support many indigenous and tribal communities that are imperiled by modern way of life. Thus it is heartening to hear news of the Amazon healing (RE-green - Earthshot Prize 2026 - Restore Earth) and Southeast Asian conservationists and environmental activists such as Theonila Roka Matbob in 2026, who halt its encroachment, like in Papua New Ginea's rainforests by the devastation of Rio Tinto the mining company, being honored with the Green Nobel - Goldman Environmental Prize 2026 as well as Whitley Award for Indonesia's Leuser Rainforest.
The $10 million XPrize for Rainforests is more tech focused but also focused on monitoring rainforests and enable local indigenous communities' stewardship of them, e.g., Limelight Rainforest.
Thus the restoration of ecosystems is helping slowly and locally and globally improving people, planet and prosperity - slowly but surely.
While May's observations were about biodiversity, June is about the ecosystems that support them and the processes and species that are indicative of ecosystem health. The environment, the ocean, prevention of desertification through rangeland management, the summer solstice as well as rainforests day. Protecting and restoring ecosystems is vital to enable climate action (SDG 13) and thus ensure a future for ourselves.
June 8th is observed annually as World Oceans Day. In 2026 it has a three themes, the United Nations' evocative theme was:
REIMAGINE: Beyond the world we know, a new relationship with our ocean.
The World Ocean Day network that supports "a multi-year initiative to drive collective action for ocean health and climate stability, supporting the global '30x30' goal to protect at least 30% of oceans by 2030" has amore action oriented Oceans Day 2026 theme:
“Strong Marine Protected Areas for Our Blue Planet”
June is observed as Orca Awareness Month and June 16th is Sea Turtle Day, both species at the top of their respective food chains are indicators of Ocean Health.
The apex predator - the Orca or Killer Whale the largest of the dolphin family as an alpha in many ways is rightly celebrated through the month of June.
Meanwhile the sea turtle is no slouch as efforts to restore its population have improved ocean connected lives and livelihoods in coastal areas especially in Tamil Nadu this year. Also, it was originally a video of a pulling out a plastic straw from the bloody nostril of a sea turtle that exponentially improved legislations and efforts to clean up beaches, oceans as well as ban the use of single use plastic including the young people initiated No Straw November movement from California.
Marine Plastic Pollution & OBP Menace
Be it the massive Ocean Cleanup organized by Boyan Slat since 2013 after encountering the Great Pacific Garbage Patch or our local heroes working to restore the ocean and coastal ecosystems (river estuaries and mangroves) by cleaning it up and removing the plastic pollution from it and preventing city plastic reaching the oceans through urban waterways (ocean bound plastic), each are Ocean heroes and their efforts build sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11) while also improving the lives of local coastal communities ( SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth). In a way they are humans churning the ocean through cleanup (EFI & Its Weekend Beach Cleanup OhShun Trash; Afroz Shah cleaning up Mumbai's mangroves and tourist beaches, Bapi Gochhayat of Odisha, or Taiwan's Ryan Wang of Rhinoglass and many many more) to reveal its secrets and treasures to sustain us humans in the future. Buffeted as we are by the climate crisis we need this modern human churning of the ocean.
Sustaining Life and Livelihoods: SDG 14
Life and Livelihoods, Blue Economy and Sustainable Development and Climate Action efforts on the ocean create economic opportunities and wealth sustainably while also protecting the ocean ecosystem and our environment. Be it SDG 14 - Life Below Water or SDG 13 - Climate Action the Ocean SDGs & Economy SDGs (SDG 8, SDG 9, SDG 10) there is hope in peaceful coexistence through restoration of the ocean as well as protecting it well. Sustainable coastal and marine tourism is just one such opportunity.
For Climate: For Our Future
Oceans are heaven as well as the best carbon store. It is through protecting our marine ecosystems can we ensure true climate action on an exponential scale. Strong Marine Protected Areas will lead to carbon credits and indirect carbon sequestration as well as improving the lives and livelihoods of adjacent local communities.
A bonus for getting to the end of this blog post
In honor of Oceans Day and my ocean-loving young nephew's birthday all in the same week in June I have recorded a playlist of 8 videos of the 8 chapters of the story, The Hermit and the Rose by Boris Lakhoder - a creative and imaginative explanation of the real-life symbiosis between the hermit crab and the sea anemone.
The month of June while observed as Orca Awareness Month (All About Killer Whales) otherwise has an enhanced focus on the ecosystems that support the biodiversity that's celebrated through May.
Between World Bicycle Day (June 3rd, "Cycling into a Greener Future," 2026 theme), Environment Day (June 5th), Ocean Day (June 8th), International Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (June 17th), the Summer Solstice (also observed as Yoga Day, where Surya Namaskar a.k.a. Sun Salutations from India in the Northern Hemisphere is vital to the ancient practice and the sun too reaches its exaltation over the Tropic of Cancer running through the heart of India with two Sun Temples in the East and West along the latitude), and Rainforests Day (June 22nd), the focus is firmly on the ecosystems and environment that supports life and livelihoods.
The time is now. Action is necessary urgently as security risks abound in India, South Asia and beyond due to climate change and the heating planet supercharging weather phenomena such as the El Nino. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres himself took time out to mention the impending climate disasters likely triggered by the Super El Nino as warned by the World Meteorological Organization:
While our Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are environment coded, protecting our planet in the quest to truly progress is all about putting people, planet, progress and profits in the same page of the plan of action.
Inclusive plans of action and an intersectional lens are vital features of true environmentalism. The effects of the climate crisis are gendered and classist hence the process of protecting our environment needs to voices of women, girls, minorities and the marginalized, with a responsive ground up, grassroots grown approach.
For Our Future
Nations are institutions are doing quite a bit to protect our environment "for our future," but a lot more needs to be done.
The pace of destructive activity and our crude oil addiction outpaces conservation and restoration efforts and the mainstreaming of renewable energy sources.
Ecofeminism is needed as the growth model now more than ever. Gender Equality (SDG5), Reduced Inequality (SDG10) and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (SDG16) are all vital to Climate Action (SDG13) and the path to Just Transition and robust environmentalism.
Meanwhile, as an individual, this environment day and beyond you can track your personal carbon footprint (Check out OnlyPlanet.in) and find means to shrink it to reduce your impact on the environment in order to protect it ... for our future. For, to quote the immortal Jane Goodall,
"Every single one of us makes an impact on our planet every single day and we can choose what kind of impact we make."
