WILD

Celebrate Biodiversity

What do the United States (the world’s largest economy and “superpower”), The Holy See (independent micro-state of the Vatican) and Andorra (independent micro-state in SW Europe) have in common? They are the only three states in the world which have not ratified the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity (CBD). Despite this, and in fairness, long before the CBD the US passed the Endangered Species Act of 1973, a pioneering legal instrument that powered a movement around the world and underlies a great deal of US domestic accomplishments in protecting biodiversity.   While the Endangered Species Act has had, and continues to have, positive effects on US biodiversity, it’s now time for the US to step up to the International call-to-action of the CBD.  Perhaps the year of biodiversity will spark movement in this direction?

2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB), a unique opportunity to increase understanding of the vital role that biodiversity plays in sustaining life on Earth.  Declared by the United Nations, IYB now has a multitude of international partners, will host many celebrations and events and provides key information about the importance of biodiversity.

The key message of the IYB is: Humans are part of nature’s rich diversity and have the power to protect or destroy it.  Biodiversity, the variety of life on Earth, is essential to sustaining the living networks and systems that provide us all with health, wealth, food, fuel and the vital services our lives depend on.  Human activity is causing the diversity of life on Earth to be lost at a greatly accelerated rate. These losses are irreversible, impoverish us all and damage the life support systems we rely on everyday. But we can prevent them.  2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity. Let’s reflect on our achievements to safeguard biodiversity and focus on the urgency of our challenge for the future. Now is the time to act.

WILD is proud to be a partner of IYB and will continue to post news about biodiversity on the blog and in other publications throughout the year, especially the “Species of the Day,” which features a different IUCN red list species each day!

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