Activities

20^th International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment
Theme: Life in the Forests

The International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment is organized every year by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE), Bayer and Nikon Corporation. Some 2.4 million entries from children in more than 100 countries have been received since the competition’s inception in 1991.

The theme for this year’s competition is Life in the Forests.

Students are invited to produce original artworks that focus on forests and their impact on the survival and well-being of people everywhere, all seven billion of us. Forests provide shelter to people, and numerous plants and animals; they serve as a source of food, medicine and clean water; and play a vital role in maintaining a stable global climate and environment. The organizers are inviting children all over the world to submit their paintings to the UNEP office in their region.

Send your submissions to:
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Regional Office for North America (RONA)
900 17th Street NW, Suite 506
Washington, DC 20006, United States

For more information, contact Andrea DiPaola, Tel: (202) 621-5037, Fax: (202) 785-2096
E-mail: andrea.dipaola at unep.org

Deadline: All entries must reach UNEP RONA by April 15, 2011.

Click here to learn more about North American Regional Prize Categories and Entry Rules and Conditions. Click here to learn about global prizes.

View past winning paintings here.

2011 Winning Paintings

2011 Finalist Paintings

2011 Painting Exhibit

World Environment Day

World Environment Day (WED) was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 at the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.

Commemorated each year on June 5, WED is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. With thousands of events in UNEP's six global regions: Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America and West Asia, WED is considered one of the largest environmental events of its kind.

North American WED celebrations have been hosted by Alaska (2007), Chicago (2008), Omaha (2009), Pittsburgh (2010) and Toronto (2011).

For information on WED 2010 in Pittsburgh, visit www.pittsburghwed.com.

For information on WED 2011 in Toronto, visit www.toronto.ca/livegreen/greenlife_wed.htm.

For information on WED 2011 celebrations worldwide, visit www.unep.org/wed and www.unep.org/wed/actvities.

For information on WED 2011 celebrations in San Francisco, visit  http://climatechangeeducation.org/events/sunday_streets/0611_bayview/

Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign

The Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign is a worldwide tree planting initiative coordinated by UNEP. People, communities, businesses, industry, civil society organizations and governments are encouraged to enter tree planting pledges on-line. The campaign strongly encourages the adherence to the three basic rules of tree planting: Plant the right tree at the right place at the right time. Planting indigenous trees and trees that are appropriate to the local environment is crucial.

By the end of 2009, more than 7.4 billion trees by participants from 170 countries had been planted under this campaign – far in excess of the year-end target of seven billion. With this success continuing into 2010, the Campaign will make a substantial contribution to the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity, raising awareness of the importance of biodiversity for our well-being. Trees play a crucial role as fundamental components of the biodiversity that forms the foundation of the living networks and systems that provide us all with health, wealth, food, fuel and vital ecosystem services our lives depend on. They help provide breathable air, drinkable water, fertile soils and a stable climate. The billions of trees planted by the collective efforts of participants of the Billion Tree Campaign from all parts of society will contribute to biodiversity across the planet.

For more information on the Billion Tree Campaign, visit http://www.unep.org/BILLIONTREECAMPAIGN/

The Billion Tree Campaign in North America

The Appalachia Regional Restoration Initiative (ARRI) is a capacity-building effort among UNEP RONA and the U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.  ARRI's pledge to plant 38 million trees is part of UNEP's Seven Billion Tree Campaign.

In support of this partnership, in March 2009, UNEP RONA visited Kentucky to help volunteers plant trees on an abandoned mine site. This event led to the creation of a green jobs tree planting proposal to stimulate the economy of Appalachia and reap the ecological benefits of a region-wide reforestation effort.  This new commitment has grown into the Green Forest Works for Appalachia program, whereby 125 million trees will be planted over the next five years, resulting in the creation of more than 2,000 green jobs and restoring forests on approximately 70,820 hectares of barren mine lands.