INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

Biodiversity is created from the words Bio and diversity. Bio means life while diversity implies a range of different things. Biodiversity, therefore, can be defined as the desirable range of plant and animal life in the world. The planet Earth inhabits a vast variety of living organisms, from tiny bacteria to gigantic elephants. All these are a representation of particular ecosystems. To celebrate these organisms, the World biodiversity day is celebrated on May 22nd every year. According to the UN General Assembly, the aim for this holiday is to create awareness of the many challenges facing the biodiversity.

History of International Day for Biological Diversity

The first celebrations of International Day for Biological Diversity were held in 1993. Earlier in 1992, several governments’ leaders assembled at the Earth Summit UN conference held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The leaders agreed on a strategy for sustainable development that would meet the needs of people while at the same time ensure the planet remains healthy for the future generations. It is during this conference that the leaders reached an agreement on the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The convention, however, came into force on December 29, 1993, and in the following years, the date was designated as the International Day for Biological Diversity or International Biodiversity Conservation Day.

In 2001, the UN General Assembly moved the celebrations of this holiday to May 22nd due to the numerous holidays that were observed in late December.

Each year, the UN chooses a theme for the World Biodiversity Day that gears towards educating the public on the topics that fall under the veil of diversity. Recently, the themes have been, Biodiversity and Agriculture, Biodiversity and Poverty Alleviation and Biodiversity and Climate Change.

How to Celebrate the International Day For Biological Diversity

Whether you are from a desert climate, swamp, forest or even a valley, you can celebrate International Day for Biological Diversity in your own unique way.

For instance, you can mark this day by learning more about biodiversity. Get an understanding of the importance of biodiversity to your daily life and its benefits to the entire world. The best way to get all this information is by visiting a local library and reading books about nature, ecosystems, plants, etc. You can also visit a local conservation area like a zoo, nature reserve, or an aquarium and get to experience the life of various animals firsthand. You’ll be amazed to discover wild animals, insects, and plants you have never noticed.

International Day for Biological Diversity is also a great time to participate in a local clean-up campaign. During the cleanup, remove any invasive plants that are negatively impacting on the local fauna’s biodiversity. It is regrettable that human trash and pollution have negatively impacted biodiversity in a great way.

As a contribution to keep International Day for Biological Diversity celebrated for many more years, donate to a center that supports biodiversity. These funds usually go into a kitty meant to secure species that are on the brink of extinction.

You can also join the world in this conversation on social media by sharing your thoughts using the hashtag #InternationalDayForBiologicalDiversity, #BiologicalDiversity, and #IDBD.

Other great ways to mark this day include watching a movie on environmental issues, planting trees or starting a garden and distributing educational resources about biodiversity to schools, colleges, newspapers and other media houses.

Why Celebrate International Day for Biological Diversity

Human beings are the dominant species on the planet. We are living creatures that can enforce positive change and encourage growth and diversity. We can also impose a negative change to morph the earth into something unable to sustain life. Observing the International Day for Biological Diversity makes it is a constant reminder that we have the most power to change the world into something great.