World Biodiversity Day happens every year during the 22nd of May. This year, it is being celebrated under the slogan: “We’re part of the solution #ForNature”. The United Nations (n.d.) states that the slogan was chosen “to be a continuation of the momentum generated last year under the over-arching theme, ‘Our solutions are in nature'”, which served as a reminder that biodiversity remains the answer to several sustainable development challenges.”
According to the Convention on Biological Diversity (2021), their rationale for the design of the logo is:
- A popular graphic representation of “solutions” is a puzzle.
- Each piece can be given a meaning.
- Each piece of the puzzle connects to others, symbolizing interconnectedness.
- On 22 May, Biodiversity Day, the pieces come together.
Note that this logo can be customized! Refer to the guidelines at https://www.cbd.int/biodiversity-day/logo/guidelines.
History
World Biodiversity Day or The International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) was first created by the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly on December 29, 1993. The date was then moved to May 22 during the 2000 celebration of the day “to commemorate the adoption of the text of the Convention on 22 May 1992 by the Nairobi Final Act of the Conference for the Adoption of the Agreed Text of the Convention on Biological Diversity.” (Convention on Biological Diversity, n.d.). The amount of holidays already celebrated in December was also taken into consideration for moving the holiday to its present May 22nd date.
The days preceding May 22 were selected for raising awareness and almost raising ‘hype’ about the slogan and the events. These awareness-raising campaigns and calls to action that are feasible at your national level culminate during the 22nd. (Convention on Biological Diversity, n.d.-b)
Why celebrate it?
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (United Nations, 2020), “International Day for Biological Diversity is not only a day to celebrate the biodiversity around us but to nurture it and reflect on the deep connection between people and nature. Research suggests that where biodiversity is most threatened, epidemics are more numerous and the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected so many of us is a reminder of this.”
We celebrate the day to commemorate the biodiversity of the Earth. Interconnectivity is the central theme of biodiversity and is thus dependent on the balance of each other in order to overall thrive. BIodiversity is an important aspect of any biome, which increases over time as species specialize and diversify due to evolution and natural selection. This generally progressive trend that biodiversity exhibits can easily be distraught and ruined in a span of years, whereas biodiversity and evolution take millions of years to develop and stabilize. In recent times, biodiversity since the 1970s have continued to decline significantly, making extinct several plant and fish species [main sources of food for the majority of the people on Earth].
We need to note that natural selection will lead some species to be extinct on their own, however several man-made actions like pollution and over-exploitation of resources has sped up this extinction rate by at least 100 times and will accumulate to 1000 times or even 10000 times the natural rates in the following years or decades to come.
Not only is biodiversity important for the future stability of the human population, but it also acts as a key for peering into the Earth’s history and destroying such ‘relics’ withdraws our last glimpses onto said history.
The establishment of the Convention on Biological Diversity by the United Nations was an effort to unionize countries into making decisions, plans, and strategies to save the earth.
The overarching goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity are:
- the conservation of biological diversity
- the sustainable use of the components of biological diversity
- fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
Despite these efforts, the fight for saving our biodiversity is, at large, still staring. We must hope and dream big, collectively, to save the one system that holds our existence together; To truly make the 2050 vision of “Living in harmony with nature” a reality.
How is it gonna be celebrated this pandemic?
The Convention on Biological Diversity has held its fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to address the post-2020 vision regarding the commemoration of the day. The future plans are to be a “global biodiversity framework as a stepping stone towards the 2050 Vision of “Living in harmony with nature”. “ (Convention on Biological Diversity, n.d.-c) Such framework was made to have an emphasis in persevering biodiversity work that contributes to “the nutrition, food security, and livelihoods of people, especially for the most vulnerable.” (United Nations, n.d.)
Sources
Convention on Biological Diversity. (n.d.). 22 May 2021: International Day for Biological Diversity. https://www.cbd.int/biodiversity-day
Convention on Biological Diversity. (n.d.). International Day for Biological Diversity – 22 May (2019 – Our Biodiversity, Our Food, Our Health). https://www.cbd.int/idb/
Convention on Biological Diversity. (n.d.). Preparations for the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework. https://www.cbd.int/conferences/post2020
Convention on Biological Diversity. (2020). 22 May 2020: International Day for Biological Diversity. https://www.cbd.int/idb/2020
Convention on Biological Diversity. (2021). Biodiversity Day 2021 – Logo. https://www.cbd.int/biodiversity-day/logo
National Geographic Society. (2019, April 19). International Day of Biodiversity. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/international-day-biodiversity/
United Nations. (n.d.). International Day for Biological Diversity. https://www.un.org/en/observances/biological-diversity-day
United Nations. (2020). International Day for Biological Diversity 2020 | Biodiversity | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. http://www.fao.org/biodiversity/biodiversity-day/en/
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