Both our health and the health of our planet depend on plants. Plants make up 80% of the food we eat and 98% of the oxygen we breathe and yet they are under threat. Up to 40% of food crops are lost due to plant pests and diseases every year. This is affecting both food security and agriculture, the main source of income for vulnerable rural communities.
Climate change and human activities are altering ecosystems and damaging biodiversity while creating new niches for pests to thrive. International travel and trade, which has tripled in volume in the last decade, is also spreading pests and diseases. We need to protect plants both for people and the planet, and all of us have a role to play.
International Day of Plant Health 2022
07/04/2023
Get Involved!
Whether you’re a government, city, private business, NGO, journalist, a civil society organization or individual, we can provide you with a range of multimedia content in several languages to share, and to support your International Plant Health Day activity.
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Why an International Day of Plant Health?
The United Nations designated 12 May the International Day of Plant Health (IDPH) to raise global awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect biodiversity and the environment, and boost economic development. The Day is a key legacy of the International Year of Plant Health 2020.
Publications
Get ready to celebrate the International Day of Plant Health!
Healthy plants constitute the foundation for all life on Earth, as well as ecosystem functions, food security and nutrition. Plant health is key to the sustainable development of agriculture required to feed a growing global population by 2050.
Activity book – Healthy plants, healthy planet
This activity book has been designed, written and illustrated to bring children and young people closer to the world of plant protection; the science that deals with plant health.
In collaboration with
