Happy World Day to Combat Desertification! This day is observed every year on 17 June. This year, the Day’s slogan is “Enhancing soils anywhere enhances life everywhere“ since 2010 is the International Year dedicated to Biodiversity. To this end, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) aims to sensitize the public to the fact that desertification, land degradation and drought dramatically affect the biodiversity resident in the soil.
There is a close relationship between livelihood and ecosystem wellbeing, and soils that are rich in biodiversity. Healthy soils produce life, and yet soil health depends a lot on how individuals use their land. What we do to our soils determines the quality and quantity of the food we eat and how our ecosystems serve us. Our increasing ecological interdependence also means enhancing soils anywhere enhances life everywhere.
Get involved, speak out. Learn and teach others. Show leadership and help clean up. Reconnect with nature, our life force. Together, we can develop a new vision for biodiversity: Many Species. One Planet. One Future.
Today we celebrate the International Day for Biological Diversity. This special occasion reminds us of the urgency to take action to conserve biodiversity – our life source. Biodiversity concerns everybody. The actions of every single individual are essential to guarantee that human impact on biodiversity is reduced and that the survival of future generations is ensured.
Write your message for biodiversity!
It is simple, just click here and submit your personal card. Hundreds of cards will be collected and put together in a large photo mosaic illustrating biodiversity. The mosaic will be displayed on the Countdown 2010 website and at major events worldwide such as the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October in Japan where world leaders will define the future of global biodiversity policy and a new biodiversity target.
The International Day for Biological Diversity 2010 focuses on the links between biodiversity, human development and people’s livelihoods. Here are some facts:
Three-quarters of the world’s poorest people depend on natural resources for their daily existence.
One billion people worldwide depend on drugs derived from forest plants for their medicinal needs.
One billion people in developing countries rely on fish as their main source of food, while an estimated 38 million people are employed directly by fishing and many more in the processing stages.
60 percent of key ecosystem services are being degraded or used unsustainably.
May 22, the International Day for Biological Diversity, is observed annually and commemorates the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity on this day in 1992. This year we highlight the efforts farmers are making to conserve biodiversity, aid in global development and alleviate poverty in rural areas. The International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) and its member organizations worldwide celebrate this day under the auspices of the International Year of Biodiversity 2010, to which IFAP is a partner organization.
Agriculture provides multiple services to the Earth and Humanity, including the conservation of and development of biodiversity, meeting human development needs and striving for economic and social sustainability. Many of the answers lie in helping farmers’ organizations to increase the scale of the ingenious and innovative systems farmers have developed worldwide. Learn more here!
Yesterday, 11 January 2010, marked the launch of the International Year of Biodiversity with the theme “Biodiversity is Life – Biodiversity is Our Life”. The theme is of critical interest to farmers since biodiversity and agriculture are interdependent; both are also key elements to address climate change and food security. Conserving biodiversity is a shared responsibility of stakeholders worldwide, and farmers are willing to do their part.
Throughout 2010 the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP), the farmers’ voice at the world level, representing 600 million family farmers grouped in 120 national organizations in 80 countries, will be highlighting the crucial role played by farmers to conserve ecosystems.
IFAP will also be challenging national governments and the international community to put in place programs to help secure the planet’s biodiversity, while at the same time, ensuring that farmers have the necessary tools to increase food production by 70 percent by 2050 to feed a growing world population. To move forward on conserving biodiversity, the world farmers’ organization advocates a list of actions and placing biodiversity as a policy is a high priority in 2010.
The United Nations has designated 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. The goal is to increase public awareness of the topic of biodiversity with its many facets.
After organising the historic cabinet meeting of Nepali government ministers at the base camp of Mt. Everest, the ‘Summiteers Summit to Save the Himalayas’led a march through Copenhagen, Denmark on the occasion of International Mountain Day, 11 December 2009. This awareness raising program aimed to draw the attention of the world leaders and the global community gathered for the UNFCCC COP 15 towards the perils of climate change in the Himalayas.
The highlight of the event was a colorful march in the streets of Copenhagen. It was led by mountaineering icon Apa Sherpa together with 35 renowned summiteers of 8,000 m peaks in summit gear who were joined by about 300 other Nepalese and supporters from all over the world. Other activities included: the “Himalaya – Changing Landscapes“ photo exhibition, a spectacular series of a repeat photographs; documentaries; a cultural program by a Sherpa cultural group and a Danish band; speeches by mountaineering icons and the issue declaration to save the Himalayas . Several organisations such as Nepal’s National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), ICIMOD, WWF Nepal, the Nepal Tourism Board, Nepal Mountaineering Association, the World Bank, Danish Embassy and private institutions joined hands with the government to launch this very special event.
More details can be found at Save the Himalayas. The Summiteers kindly request you to link your website expressing solidarity to the Himalayan cause by electronically signing on the declaration. Let’s come together to save the Himalayas!!
To learn more see a video clip of Dawa Steven Sherpa explaining why dealing with the problems of climate change in Nepal is so important for the world. Or watch a video clip of the Nepalese cabinet meeting held on the Kalapatthar plateau at the base of Mount Everest to draw attention to the impact of climate change.
To raise awareness that gender equality and women’s leadership are central to an effective global climate change agreement, the Global Gender and Climate Alliance (GGCA) launched world-class performing arts events on gender and climate change in Copenhagen at the COP 15.
The events were co-sponsored by the GGCA and the governments of Finland and Denmark. The exhibit (Re-)Cycles of Paradise, produced by ARTPORT, presented thought provoking and interactive art installations focused on women as agents of climate change solutions. During the first week of negotiations Theater for Africa, a professional theater/music group from Cape Town, South Africa, staged a series of performances and presented “Want it Done, Ask a Woman“, daily street theater performances highlighting gender and climate change.
On 17 December the GGCA, in partnership with Denmark, Finland, South Africa, Jordan, Grenada, Ghana, Lesotho, Costa Rica, AOSIS, IUCN and UN Foundation, also organised an official high-level COP15 Side Event titled “Investing in Women’s Leadership for Climate Solutions”. Featuring a number of high-profile women, the event will focus on the importance of gender equality as critical to mitigation and adaptation and enhancing the effectiveness and reach of climate change funding. Speakers include the President of Finland, the Denmark Minister of Development Cooperation, senior officials from the United States and World Bank, and a grassroots woman leader. The side event will close with an historic photo shoot of 100 women leaders: I Am An Agent of CChange, followed by a high-level speaker reception at DGI-byen. Read the full media advisory.
On Friday 13 November 2009, Indigenous Peoples arrived in Rome, Italy from places as diverse as the Amazon rain forest to the Arctic to the African deserts, from the Pacific islands to the mountains of the Himalayas in order to sound the alarm on the dire effects suffered by their communities from the food crisis. They are participating in the Global Indigenous Peoples’ Food Sovereignty Forum, taking place from 13-17 November. The Forum is a part of “People’s Food Sovereignty Now!”, the Civil Society Forum, parallel to the United Nations World Summit on Food Security, from 16-18 November at the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) headquarters.
Indigenous representatives shared stories of how they are being impacted by the food crisis. They also identified many causes of food insecurity for indigenous communities, including climate change, the loss of land, territories and resources, the non-recognition and violation of their Indigenous rights, the modification of genetic resources, environmental pollution, among others. The representatives stressed the importance of food sovereignty over security, noting their livelihoods and cultures are linked to their lands and territories. The Peoples’ Food Sovereignty Forum concludes 17 November with the adoption of a final declaration containing a number of recommendations that will be read at the UN World Summit on Food Security, on 17 November 2009. Read the full Media Release.
People’s Food Sovereignty Forum – Agriculture that Refreshens the Climate
Volunteering for our Planet, an initiative of the United National Volunteers program, is tracking voluntary efforts to adapt, innovate and mitigate environmental issues. In a bid to send a message to the delgates of the UN Climate Change Convention in Copenhagen that people around the world are concerned and also willing to take direct action, United Nations Volunteers is asking you to submit how many hours you’ve been volunteering for our planet.
The website features inspiring stories of people taking action around the world.
