Editorial 28/01/2010

Celebrating the diversity of life on earth: 2010 declared 'International Year of Biodiversity'

The United Nations declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). Throughout the year countless initiatives will be organized to disseminate information, promote the protection of biodiversity and encourage organizations, institutions, companies and individuals to take direct action to reduce the constant loss of biological diversity worldwide. The celebrations for the International Year of Biodiversity are led by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Countdown 2010, as one of the largest multi-stakeholder networks for biodiversity conservation and for promoting the 2010 Biodiversity Target, is a partner of the CBD for the IYB. The network is hosted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s largest and oldest environmental organization. In less than five years, the Countdown 2010 initiative has built a network of nearly 1,000 partners  from all sectors of society – ranging from national, regional and local governments to businesses, museums, non-profit organizations, academic institutions and community groups. Each partner has committed to concrete actions to conserve biodiversity.  The IYB is a unique opportunity for the Countdown 2010 network to spread the biodiversity message to a wider audience and to position biodiversity higher on the international political agenda.

Countdown 2010 and IUCN have partnered with AthenaWeb to promote the International Year of Biodiversity 2010 to its audience by showcasing remarkable films that focus on biodiversity and by keeping its visitors and newsletter’s subscribers informed about the new biodiversity video entries.

Check the ATHENAWEB'S biodiversity video library: BIODIVERSITY

More information about the IYB: check the official IYB website or read more about the initiative on the Countdown 2010 website.