Man is part of nature. He thrives on nature's bounty. But often, in his greed and ignorance, man interferes with nature's ways causing lasting damage to nature and himself. In his own long-term interest man must learn to live in harmony with nature.

Harmony springs out of knowledge and understanding. We know very little of the inter-relationships among natural living communities like the plants, the birds, the mammals and the microbes. More  deficient is our knowledge of the relationships between these communities and the environment composed of air, water and land. Also deficient is our knowledge of man's proper place and his role in the  complex web of life. This vast canvas of enquiry is the scope  of the science of ecology.

Harmony with nature also calls for restraint in man's activities that affect the environment. Man must be thrifty and not wasteful in his use of the environment. Activities which cause  pollution of  air, water  and  land and  rapid exhaustion  of natural resources such as minerals and forests need to be controlled.

To generate world-wide awareness of ecological and environmental problems and to encourage, global, regional and national action, the United  Nations General Assembly convened the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment at Stockholm, Sweden from June 5 to 16, 1972. The Conference adopted 5th June as the World Environment Day to be celebrated every year all over  the world.

The Indian Posts and Telegraphs Department is happy to associate itself with the observance of World Environment Day by issuing a commemorative postage stamp.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India