Introduction

The United Nations proclaimed May 22 The International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. When first created by the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly in late 1993, 29 December (the date of entry into force of the Convention of Biological Diversity), was designated The International Day for Biological Diversity. In December 2000, the UN General Assembly adopted 22 May as IDB, 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. This was partly done because it was difficult for many countries to plan and carry out suitable celebrations for the date of 29 December, given the number of holidays that coincide around that time of year.

2018 Activities

International Day for Biological Diversity was observed on May 22, 2016 with the theme “Mainstreaming Biodiversity: Sustaining People and their Livelihoods” being the focus.  The theme “Mainstreaming Biodiversity: Sustaining People and their Livelihoods” was chosen to coincide with the thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 13) to be held in Cancun, Mexico from 4 to 17 December 2016 which will focus on the mainstreaming of biodiversity within and across sectors.

In the spirit of the theme for the year, activities were chosen to highlight how biodiversity can sustain people and their livelihoods and conservation of the ecosystem. The activities chosen included Medford Craft World and the National Conservation Commission.  As has become the custom, public awareness and education activities were planned for four primary schools: Wesley Hall Infants School, Ellerton Primary School, St. Bartholomew Primary School and St. Christopher Primary School.