| BIAZA International Year of Biodiversity Updates.... |
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| News from IYB - UK (July) |
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| News from IYB-UK, the UK partnership for the International Year of Biodiversity 2010
GBOB – TEEB report for business and the Secretary of State’s Biodiversity keynote
The Global Business of Biodiversity Symposium website now provides links to a number of the outcomes to the conference on July 13, These include the maiden speech on biodiversity from the Defra Secretary of State the RHon Caroline Spelman, and The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity Report for Business from TEEB, the launch of which set the tone of the symposium. IYB covered the conference in the IYB-UK website news, reporting on some of the key perspectives coming back from business. IYB are now working with Ten Alps to produce a report of outcomes from the conference to contribute to the business segment talks in Nagoya at the October COP10. The Convention on Biological Diversity’s business lead Ravi Sharma commented on the reach of the GBOB with more than 650 delegates and a high level of engagement with private sector organisations
Communicating biodiversity
At the GBOB side session on communicating biodiversity, Ed Gillespie of Futtera presented this interesting thought piece on ‘branding biodiversity’. It highlights the communication tensions between conventional appeals based around awe, wonder and love of nature, and those emerging out of monitorizing the value of ecosystem services which is so important for financiers, economists and governments - where assessments of land use practice will be a key aspect of future conservation policy and practice. These approaches both have validity, but to very different constituencies, and both approaches need an extra element – the call for action.
Ten biodiversity projects to help endangered species in the UK have been given grants worth two million pounds generated from landfill taxes. Outnumbered star, Daniel Roche came face to face with a toad at Trent Park in Cockfosters, London when funding group, WREN (Waste Recycling Environment Ltd), announced who will receive the money including a number of IYB-UK partner organisations.
ENDS
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| IYB-UK aims to help people discover the connections between themselves and the world around them and to realise the consequences of biodiversity loss, as well as the huge benefits that are shared if we conserve and use life on Earth in a sustainable way. |
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| It is hoped the partnership of key organisations in the UK and across the world will encourage people to understand the issues and learn about some of the success stories that indicate a way forward that can make a difference. IYB2010 gives people an opportunity to take time throughout 2010 and beyond to appreciate the natural world around them and join in the world-wide action on a local level. |
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| The United National General Assembly has declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. The celebrations and events across the world will act to highlight the loss of biodiversity, which, as a result of human activities, is estimated to be as high as 1,000 times the natural rate, and is expected to rise further as a result of the impacts of climate change. The impact of biodiversity loss to the essential services that sustain human life is on a scale similar to the impact of climate change, an order of magnitude greater than the current global financial crisis. |
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| In October 2010, governments will set new targets and steps needed to address biodiversity loss for the decade ahead, and it has been widely acknowledged that the original targets set after the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 have not been met. |
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| For information on how to get involved, or to find out about UK events during the International
Year of Biodiversity, log on to www.biodiversityislife.net |
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| Key dates during International Year of Biodiversity include: |
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| 13–14 January 2010 |
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| Inter-Academy Panel Meeting on Biodiversity hosted by the Royal Society, London |
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| 22 May 2010 |
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| International Biodiversity Day |
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18–29 October 2010 |
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| 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in
Nagoya, Japan |
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| The aims of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity are to: |
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Stress the importance of biodiversity for our wellbeing |
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Reflect on our achievements to safeguard biodiversity so far |
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Encourage a redoubling of our efforts to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss |
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| IYB-UK (www.biodiversityislife.net) |
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| The UK partner resource to the IYB2010 is led by a secretariat hosted by the Natural History Museum and supported by Defra, it includes hundreds of organisations across diverse sectors in all four countries of the UK. The Natural History Museum Cromwell Road London SW7 5BD United Kingdom +44 (0)20 7942 5654 |
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