In recognition that humanity will not meet this goal, the United Nations General Assembly has declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. This global public communication initiative will be driven by the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD), calling on all nations to join in IYB 2010 and to use this opportunity to discover the biodiversity that surrounds us, realise its value, our connection to it and the consequences of its loss, and act to save it.
Biodiversity is the variability among living organisms from all sources including, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are a part. It also includes diversity within species and diversity of ecosystems.
The objectives of IYB 2010 are to raise awareness of the importance of conserving biodiversity for human well-being; promote understanding of the economic value of biodiversity; enhance public knowledge of the threats to biodiversity and means to conserve it; engage as many people as possible; celebrate success stories and use momentum to trigger even more action and public support for biodiversity.
2010 is dedicated as the IYB in an effort to bring about the behaviour and policy changes necessary to conserve Earth’s biodiversity for future generations. South Africa is in a unique position to participate in this global public engagement campaign because it is the third most biodiverse country on Earth; its biodiversity supports important formal and informal biodiversity based economies, for example ecotourism, fisheries and the medicinal plant trade; the country is a signatory to the Convention of Biological Diversity via the Department of Environmental Affairs as the national focal point; and South Africa’s ecosystems harbour eight times more species than the global average and therefore attracts top ecologists to do research.
More than 600 biodiversity experts from across the globe participated in the recent international conference of Diversitas, held in Cape Town in October 2009. This conference highlighted the need to improve public and policy engagement around biodiversity for the benefit of the planet and all its people.
Some of the biodiversity realities that emerged from the conference included the Earth is losing species 100 times faster than in pre-human times and the rate of loss is accelerating; that we are heading for ‘biodiversity tipping points’ – the consequences of which are difficult to predict, but scientists agree that it will be slow and expensive to reverse –; and the global biodiversity outlook is poor, but there are “patches of hope”.
For more information visit www.cbd.int/2010 or www.countdown2010.net