Environment

EARTH DAY A GLOBAL FESTIVAL Not sure how to celebrate April 22? Here's a sampler of the worldwide whirl planned for the big day. The committed and the merely curious will be gathering at sites from Toulouse to Tokyo. There's something for everyone: a quiet read or a marathon rock concert, a bike ride or a mountain climb, some tree planting or trash sculpting.

TV SHOWS

Glasnost on the air. The Blue Eye of Siberia, a Soviet documentary on the deterioration of Lake Baikal, plays on April 18 and 19, and a two-hour feature on April 22 will address the Soviet Union's worst ecological disasters.

Rockers to the rescue. A CBS special called Save the Planet runs on April 20. With hosts Katey Sagal (Married . . . With Children) and comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, the show has musical numbers by the Fine Young Cannibals and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Paula Abdul, Alice Cooper and Billy Idol will "provide their own thoughts on the state of the world's environment."

China tunes in. A speech by Premier Li Peng urging support for environmental protection leads off the evening news from Beijing on April 22, and an Earth Day concert airs nationwide later that night.

Mother Earth's delicate condition. On April 22 ABC broadcasts the Earth Day Special, featuring Bette Midler as an abused Mother Earth who collapses in a town square, suffering from global warming, deforestation, etc., and gets tended by Drs. Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris) and Steven Kiley (James Brolin). Visitors to the invalid include Kevin Costner, Quincy Jones and Meryl Streep.

Video marathon. The VH-1 cable network will air 52 consecutive hours, starting the night of April 20, of Earth Day programming, including musical performances, videos, short documentary films, humor and political commentary.

CONCERTS AND DANCE

Rocking in Rio. About 260,000 people are expected for Paul McCartney's Brazil concerts on April 19 and 21, part of a world tour calling attention to the environment.

Whole lot of shaking. Columbia, Md., is host to "Performance for the Planet," a concert with 10,000 Maniacs (the band, not the audience), the Fabulous Thunderbirds and the Jungle Brothers. April 21.

Tokyo serenade. The "We Love Music, We Love the Earth" concert includes Sadao Watanabe, Lee Ritenour, Patti Austin, James Taylor, Dave Grusin and Oscar Castro-Neves. April 21.

Fancy footwork. Mankind in and out of harmony with nature is the theme of The Source, a ballet premiering in Piqua, Ohio, April 21.

Bangkok bash. Thailand's top rock band, the Carabao, headlines the "We Love the Forest" concert on April 22.

THEATER

Whodunit. The All Children's Theater Ensemble in Warwick, R.I., presents End of the World Cafe, a mystery in which Mother Earth hires a detective to find out who wants to kill her and why. April 21.

Where's Shakespeare? Sacred Earth Trust is managing a drama competition that begins on Earth Day in London. Playwrights are invited to submit scripts, videos or cassettes giving an environmental slant to religious stories.

BOOKS

Reflections by a Member of the Species. The late German neurologist Hoimar von Ditfurth examines man's arrogance and the resulting disregard for and mistreatment of nature. Claassen; 39.80 deutsche marks ($24).

Design for a Livable Planet. Ecology-energy expert Jon Naar's handy, all- < around guide to individual and group action. Harper & Row; $12.95.

The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest. In Lynne Cherry's lushly drawn children's story, a woodcutter's plan to chop down the towering tree meets with objections from the forest denizens. Gulliver Books/ Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; $14.95.

Damming the Narmada: India's Greatest Planned Environmental Disaster. This attack on a mammoth dam project scheduled for central India is so controversial that the Indian customs department banned it for a time in 1988. It was written by Claude Alvares and Ramesh Billorey. Third World Network and APPEN; 40 rupees ($2.30).

Making Peace with the Planet. The latest book by biologist and best-selling author Barry Commoner sets a new agenda for activists and governments. Pantheon; $19.95.

Will the Earth Stop Turning? Haroun Tazieff, France's former Secretary of State for Prevention of Natural Disasters, assesses threats ranging from ozone-layer damage to garbage and suggests how policies might be improved. Segher; 85 francs ($15).

A Forest Journey: The Role of Wood in the Development of Civilization. An illustrated history by John Perlin of how man's reliance on wood for fuel and as a building material has shaped culture, economies, politics and technology. Norton; $19.95.

The Rise and Fall of the Environmental Business. Italian economist Emilio Gerelli's book stresses the need for monetary incentives to help the environment. Il Mulino; 20,000 lire ($16).

FESTIVALS AND RALLIES

Sunrise over Nova Scotia. Early-morning and evening ceremonies will be held at the picturesque but polluted harbor of Halifax. Children's choirs will sing, and medicine man Noel Kirkwood of the Micmac Indian nation will speak "as the Great Spirit moves him," says the organizer.

New York frolic. Where the ball traditionally drops in Times Square on New Year's Eve, a model of the earth will rise at 9 a.m. to begin an all-day Earth Day festival. Crowds will hear speeches, eat organic foods, examine "environmentally sound" consumer products and enjoy entertainment ranging from a samba band to the B-52s rock group.

Rio replay. Brazil's discovery on April 22, 1500, is re-enacted with an ecological twist at Copacabana Beach. Sailors disembarking from a schooner will carry constructive emblems of mankind: solar energy, bicycles, - biodegradable products. Then they will load up the ship with destructive symbols: nuclear energy, pesticides, aerosol cans and, yes, bureaucrats.

Hong Kong carnival. A day-long educational entertainment at Kowloon Park featuring singers, artists and mimes, as well as exhibits of "green" consumer products, demonstrations of how paper is recycled and games like "nonpolluting picnic."

Fun and games in Chicago. The city's Academy of Sciences is having a children's sing-along, a puppet show and games like "smart shopper," in which youngsters choose the most environmentally sound product in a make- believe store.

Tokyo happening. Visitors to the Earth Day festival at Yume-no-shima (Dream Island), a park built on what was once a trash dump, can take in a concert or play, watch milk cartons being turned into postcards and cooking oil into soap, or tour two nearby garbage-processing centers.

Honolulu review. Modes of transport that rely on fossil fuel are banned from the Low Energy Parade. Participants must bring a vehicle run by solar energy, electricity or methane gas. Otherwise, a bicycle or foot power will do nicely.

St. Louis roundup. Handmade costumes and masks of endangered species are the highlight of the parades on April 21 and 22 that start at the city's famed zoo.

CLEANUPS

Adopt-a-beach. Thousands of volunteers will hit the California coastline from San Diego to Oregon, to clear litter and refuse off the beaches.

Litter lift. More than 60,000 citizens, including students, officials and civic and business leaders, are expected to fan out along 9 km (15 miles) of Winnipeg, Canada, roadways to pick up trash and debris.

Give a day for the Bay. In Maryland, residents by the thousands have signed up for the April 21 statewide cleanup that has Chesapeake Bay as the focus. Volunteers will plant trees and marsh grass, paint DON'T DUMP signs on storm drains, build nesting boxes for ducks, remove fish barriers, pick up debris from streams and shorelines, test water and scout pollution sources.

PLANTINGS

The wooden curtain. Trees will be planted at various sites along the border between East and West Germany, where fortifications once stood.

Trees across America. In St. Louis, 10,000 people are expected to plant 10,000 trees on the banks where the Mississippi and Missouri rivers meet.

Forest transplant. On Canada's Vancouver Island, Boy Scouts and others will remove trees from an old forest that is about to be cut down and replant them 3.2 km (2 miles) away in an area that has already been cleared of vegetation.

Kenya countdown. The Evangelical Fellowship of Kenya will launch its campaign to plant 1.5 million trees with the help of churches and schools.

FEATS

Bike to the future. More than 200 cyclists are pledged to take part in a 24- hour bike-a-thon to raise money for a stream-bank cleanup around Grand Rapids.

Peak performance. To demonstrate that the environment is a common cause, 15 U.S., Soviet and Chinese climbers hope to reach the top of 8,848-meter (29,028-ft.) Mount Everest on Earth Day. Those who get there will place satellite calls to heads of state, then pick up garbage and gear dumped by previous expeditions.

Tower of trash. In Toulouse, the activist group Friends of the Earth will unveil a 2.5-meter (8-ft.) tall garbage sculpture titled Monument to the Unknown Refuse.

A rousing pounding. Led by Native Americans, Oregonians across the state will beat on drums just before noon. The thumping is meant to assure disgruntled earth spirits that mankind is still here and trying to improve the planet's condition.

Ladybug liberation. In recognition of the danger that burst rubber balloons pose to birds and the environment, schoolchildren in Solano County, Calif., will celebrate by releasing, instead of balloons, 300,000 colorful ladybugs.

Neighborly nudge. Not everyone worries about the hazards of releasing balloons. As many as 10,000 of them, carrying cards with pro-environmental messages like "Buy recycled paper," will be sent aloft from Munich's main square. The project's organizers hope for a wind from the southwest that will blow the balloons into highly polluted Czechoslovakia.

Kite flyby. More than 3,000 kites made by schoolchildren in Tours, France, will be joined together and flown, creating a colorful arch across the Cher River.

Clear-water relay. To raise consciousness about contamination in rivers and streams, activists will collect a bottle of springwater in Lincoln County, Ky., and relay it by canoe down the Green River's 616-km (382-mile) length to Evansville, Ind.

Pollution protest. Rome's nature lovers plan to put their bodies on the line April 21 when they stage a sit-down, maybe even a lie-in, along one of the Italian capital's traffic-choked central thoroughfares. Survivors can attend a concert in a nearby piazza.