International Year of Biodiversity - investing in nature, improving lives
The International Year of Biodiversity has been launched at a ceremony in Berlin with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel warning that the world will face "enormous costs" if no action is taken to tackle climate change and听to secure biodiversity.
The world is facing a global extinction crisis which threatens not only the natural environment but mankind itself. All life on earth depends upon species, ecosystems and natural resources. 香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 says this must be safeguarded before it鈥檚 too late, as we are destroying the very natural infrastructure that supports us, at an ever increasing rate.
鈥淲ell managed natural resources are crucial to sustainable development, supporting peaceful communities, encouraging well-balanced economic growth and helping reduce poverty,鈥 says Julia Marton-Lef猫vre, Director General of 香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播. 鈥淧rotecting biodiversity protects valuable assets that are vital to the global economy.鈥
Julia Marton-Lef茅vre will be one of the speakers at the UNESCO launch of the International Year of Biodiversity at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France on 21 January.
The latest update of the 香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 Red List of Threatened Species鈩 showed that 22 percent of all known mammals, 30 percent of all known amphibians, 12 percent of all known birds, and 28 percent of reptiles, 37 percent of freshwater fish species, 70 percent of plants, 35 percent of invertebrates, assessed so far, are under threat.
Some estimates suggest that the current global rate of species extinction due to human activity is about 1000 times the natural rate of loss. With targets to reduce the loss of biodiversity by 2010 not close to having been met, 香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 is calling for a stronger Convention on Biological Diversity to safeguard life on earth, in all its forms.
鈥淲e are facing an extinction crisis,鈥 says Jane Smart, Director, 香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 Biodiversity Conservation Group. 鈥淲e need to remember that extinction is irreversible, once a species is extinct it is gone forever. The loss of this beautiful and complex natural diversity that underpins all life on the planet is a serious threat to humankind now and in the future.鈥
香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 is calling for ambitious but realistic biodiversity targets, which can be clearly measured and put into practice. It also wants more research on the status of biodiversity, more protected natural areas, on land and sea, and closer collaboration with the business community to find new ways of combining conservation and commerce. Greater public awareness of what鈥檚 at stake if we continue to disturb and destroy ecosystems is also considered to be a high priority.
鈥淏iodiversity is the basis of all life on earth,鈥 says 香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播鈥檚 Head of Ecosystem Management Programme, Neville Ash. "We need practical action and supportive policies to conserve species, manage and restore ecosystems, including protected areas and the wider landscape, and promote the sustainable use of natural resources.鈥
Press Events:
鈥 20 January 2010: Launch of French round of European Capitals of Biodiversity Competition, Paris
鈥 21 January 2010: Launch of International Year of Biodiversity at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, attended by 香港六合彩开奖结果现场直播 Director General, Julia Marton-Lef猫vre
鈥 21 January 2010: Conference on Biodiversity and Climate Change, Brussels
鈥 26-27 January 2010: European Conference, Madrid 鈥 Post 2010 Biodiversity Vision and Target: The role of Protected Areas and Ecological Networks in Europe
Further information:
Media team:
Nicki Chadwick, Media Relations Officer, m +41 76 771 4208, e
Pia Drzewinski, Media Relations Officer, m + 41 76 505 8865, e
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