Biodiversity is life!
This three-word phrase is the slogan of the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB), a celebration, reflection and call-to-action for the sustainable future of life on Earth. Zoos and aquariums are all about biodiversity. Everything we do comes back to biodiversity. We show it, we study it, we save it.The United Nations General Assembly has designated 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). A global target to significantly reduce the rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010 was agreed by nearly 200 countries back in 2002. The next conference of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan, in October 2010, will assess international progress towards this target.
Biodiversity may be considered at three levels of organisation:
The species level - about 1.8 million species of animals, plants, fungi, algae and microbes have been described and named.
The ecosystem level - the world's species interact and depend on each other in complex webs of life based on energy flow through the processes of eating and avoiding being eaten.
The genetic level - genes are the conduits of DNA and DNA is the inheritable unit that makes variation possible between individuals, populations, communities and species.
Biodiversity, being such an overarching theme, zoos and aquariums are best suited to serve as biodiversity embassies, to show, conserve and educate - and spreading the message! The focus of EAZA on carnivores in 2010 perfectly fits the overall theme and illustrates biodiversity by using a specific group of animals. It is always helpful to have as concrete as possible examples when talking about complex issues. EAZA and the carnivore campaign will perfectly support the global endeavours to save biodiversity.
Gerald Dick
WAZA Executive Director
