The official theme of International Biodiversity Day in 2010 is "Biodiversity for Development". The first and foremost purpose of all related Action Days, therefore, is to raise public and political awareness, at the national and international levels, of the significance of ecosystems and biodiversity for human well-being.
Previous Biodiversity Action Days have shown that this can be achieved by inviting a variety of stakeholders to jointly analyze a specific ecosystem; by helping them to arrive at new insights and "A-Ha's"; by providing an attractive program surrounding the event; by accompanying the activities by expert panels that are open to the public; and by involving the media to broadcast and report on the related experiences.
The International Year of Biodiversity 2010 provides excellent opportunities to scale up this approach and create a global mosaic of the value and meaning of ecosystems to humankind. Simultaneous Biodiversity Action Days in up to 50 countries will broaden public awareness of the CBD and its objectives, and will stimulate the political debate around options for its preservation and sustainable use.
2010 marks a year of key targets under the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD). The UN General Assembly in September and the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the CBD in October 2010 will assess progress made. Scientific input for these evaluations will come from "The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)", a study to demonstrate how biodiversity and ecosystems impact on the world economy. Furthermore, all countries are being asked to promote public awareness of the importance of biological diversity.
International Biodiversity Day is a public event that serves to highlight the importance of ecosystems for human wellbeing. For 2 to 4 weeks around 22 May, a broad range of people in the participating countries will be invited to jointly explore and analyze a local ecosystem. The idea is to evaluate and demonstrate the value of this ecosystem and its biodiversity in a way that is easily understood by everybody. In cooperation with the TEEB team the "value" of exemplary ecosystems will be assessed.
Governments, foundations, companies, non-governmental organizations, the media and other partners are invited to join in and contribute to their local event. With joint efforts from all individual partners a global picture of what biodiversity provides for human beings will be drawn.
As the name implies, a national Action Day on Biodiversity brings people to action. A broad variety of stakeholders come together at a previously defined site, to analyze the features of this specific ecosystem. Typically, participants are given a straightforward task, such as collecting samples of all species they can find on that site. Scientists accompany mixed groups of participants to help them assess the characteristics of species, links between them and the ecosystem as a whole. All results are then gathered and analyzed together and with the help of experts. This exercise alone provides ample space for new and often surprising insights.
However, these biomonitoring activities are only one element of what may constitute a fascinating national Action Day. In the past, some countries have chosen to combine it with related events, to further increase the attractiveness of the Day for the public and media. For example, a three-day Sustainable Living Festival was held preceding the Biodiversity Action Day in South Africa in 2008, and the Action Day itself ended with a Gala Dinner where the preliminary results were presented. In 2007, Viet Nam organized an International Symposium on Biodiversity and Climate Change, as a follow-up of the national Action Day.
All activities are to be covered in print, in audio form and/or in film for national publication. There will be a film with reports from most of the participating countries and a (photo) presentation, both of which are to be shown in the margins of the special session on biodiversity of the UN General Assembly and the CBD Conference of the Parties in 2010.
GEO will publish reports in the German and international editions of GEO. In addition, all events will be showcased on this website. Other national and international media are being approached and invited to collaborate. The resulting global mosaic of national experiences will help furnish a more complete picture of the contributions eco-systems make to human development.
This, in turn, will help increase public commitment to the conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity.
