Today (22 May) is the International Day for Biodiversity (IDB), which commemorates the adoption of the text of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on 22 May 1992.
The day provides a unique opportunity to foster wide support for the Convention, its Protocols, and related action frameworks.
As the global community is called to re-examine our relationship to the natural world, despite all our technological advances we are completely dependent on health and vibrant ecosystems for our water, food, medicines, clothes, fuel, shelter, and energy.
When biodiversity has a problem, humanity has a problem
Biological diversity is often understood in terms of the wide variety of plants, animals and microorganisms, but it also includes genetic differences within each species, such as varieties of crops and breeds of livestock, and the variety of ecosystems (lakes, forest, desert, agricultural landscape) that host multiple kind of interactions among their members (humans, plants, animals).
Biological diversity resources are the pillars upon which we build civilizations. Fish provide 20% of animal protein to about three billion people. Over 80% of the human diet is provided by plants. As many as 80% of people living in rural areas in developing countries rely on traditional plant-based medicines for basic healthcare.
However loss of biodiversity threatens all, including our health. It has been proven that biodiversity loss could expand zoonoses, which are diseases transmitted from animals to humans. While, on the other hand, if we keep biodiversity intact, it offers excellent tools to fight against pandemics like those caused by coronaviruses.
While there is a growing recognition that biological diversity is a global asset of tremendous value to future generations, the number of species is being significantly reduced by certain human activities. Given the important of public education and awareness about this issue, the UN decided to celebrate the IDB annually.
Be part of the plan
The theme of this years IDB is "be part of the plan", which is a call to action for all stakeholders to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity, by supporting the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, also known as the Biodiversity Plan.
The Biodiversity Plan offers opportunities for co-operation and partnerships among diverse actors. Governments, indigenous peoples, local communities, non-governmental organisations, lawmakers, businesses, and individuals are encouraged to highlight the ways in which they are supporting the implementation of the Biodiversity Plan.
Everyone has a role to play and therefore can be part of the plan.
This year the celebration of IDB will coincide with two meetings of Subsidiary Bodies of the Convention on Biological Diversity, both taking part in Nairobi, the:
It is also expected to increase the visibility momentum in the lead-up to the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16), to be held in Colombia from 21 November to 1 November 2024.
