Washington, DC — Population Action International (PAI) joins hundreds of organizations and governments around the world in observing World Population Day this July 11, a day set aside by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to build awareness of population issues.

PAI notes with appreciation that World Population Day this year focuses on the linkages between population, environment, and development-a linkage the organization firmly believes is integral to understanding and addressing population issues.

"Life is not separated into tidy little categories, with reproductive health, environment, and development as isolated issues to be dealt with separately," said Amy Coen, President of PAI. "Instead, these issues are fundamentally linked to, and dependent on, each other. Efforts to improve an individual's health, environment, or socioeconomic status will not fully succeed unless they are part of a comprehensive strategy that recognizes and addresses their interconnectedness."

One practical expression of this philosophy, according to PAI, is the growing number community-based population and environment (CBPE) projects, which pair natural resource conservation and management projects with family planning services in developing countries. These projects have emerged in response to repeated requests by women in rural areas where environmental projects are implemented. In addition to conservation techniques, these women increasingly ask for information and resources to help them better plan the number of, and time between, the children they have. Over the past decade, PAI has monitored and reported on these projects.

"Women are often the primary caretakers of their environment, as well as their families," said Coen. "A woman who has the means to manage her own fertility is in a far better position to help manage and conserve the natural resources her family depends on."

"Again and again, we are hearing about the increasingly fragile state of our shared environment," said Coen. "Americans who care about this tragedy of the commons should be telling their elected officials-whether in the Congress, the White House, or their town hall-to do more to ensure that programs that help protect natural resources, including family planning programs, are fully funded."

World Population Day was first observed in 1987, when Earth was home to 5 billion people. Today, 14 years later, world population is estimated at more than 6.1 billion people.