GEO Day of Biodiversity in Mali

For the first time the GEO Day of Biological Diversity was celebrated in Africa. An excursion studied the extraordinary biological diversity of the Falaise de Bandiagara in the Dogon Country and initiated a dialogue between modern science and traditional knowledge

African premiere for the GEO Day of Biological Diversity: On 04th June some 100 scientists, politicians, environmentalists, journalists as well as Dogon healers, hunters and farmers started for an excursion to explore the biological diversity of the sandstone cliff "Falaise de Bandiagara" and of the Dogon plateau in the Republic of Mali.

Together with some 1000 members of the local population they studied the ecological quality and the biodiversity of the unique region which was declared UNESCO world cultural and natural heritage site in 1989. The event took place under the auspices of German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Wieczorek-Zeul and initiated an intensive exchange between "modern" science and traditional knowledge of local experts on medical plants, biodiversity, its conservation and sustainable use.

The GEO Day of Biological Diversity in Mali was organized by GEO and GTZ in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment of Mali and the Mission Culturelle de Bandiagara and the German Development Service (DED). It took place in the framework of the Malian Environment Weeks (Quinzaine de l'Environnement) from 04th to 18th June 2005. The results of the GEO Day of Biological Diversity in Mali were presented on the occasion of a expert round table discussion on 06th June in the Centre Culturel Français in Bamako. Representatives from research and from the Dogon community as well as the public discussed the status quo of Malian biodiversity and possible future measures for its conservation.

Programme GEO Day of Biological Diversity in Mali (PDF, 40 KB, french)
Press release on the GEO Day of Biological Diversity in Mali (PDF, 55 KB, english)
Greeting of German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Wieczorek-Zeul (PDF, 110 KB, german)
Information leaflet on GEO Day of Biological Diversity in Mali, (PDF, 306 KB, french)

	Download Photo 1 GEO-Day of Biological Diversity (1,2 MB)
	Download Photo 2 GEO-Day of Biological Diversity (1,3 MB)

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