How to Celebrate the International Day for Biodiversity

Bollywood77

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posted on 17 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Happy International Biodiversity Day! This special holiday (known as IBD for short) is held every year on May 22, and gives people all over the world a chance to show their support for conserving the Earth's biodiversity. We've put together plenty of ways to celebrate this momentous occasion, so you can get the most out of this special day.

Steps

Learn more about biodiversity.

Understand the importance of biodiversity. Knowing how biodiversity impacts your daily life, the whole functioning of your community, and the world around you is a key part of celebrating biodiversity.

Read relevant wikiHow articles.

wikiHow has plenty of content about biodiversity. Get started with articles like Help Protect Biodiversity, Understand the Concept of Biodiversity and Learn About Biodiversity and Food Webs.

Visit the Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Visiting can help you learn more about the Convention and biodiversity. You can also find further resources on biodiversity this way.

Visit your local library or museum library.

Look for books about nature, animals, plants, ecosystems, and more. All of these are pieces of the biodiversity jigsaw.

Visit a local conservation area.

It might be a zoo, a nature park, a reserve, or a protected forest. You can even visit a nature center, an aquarium, or a museum. There are many places that you can go to learn more and experience biodiversity firsthand.

Know the background to the IBD.

The IBD first started when the Convention for Biological Diversity came into force. The United Nations proclaimed May 22 the International Day for Biological Diversity (IBD) in order to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. The change of date from December to May helped to ensure that country celebrations were not coinciding with numerous holiday season events held in December.

Check out the IBD theme for each year.

Every year the IBD celebrations focus on a particular theme. You can find the theme for this year and for past years at the International Day for Biological Diversity - 22 May website.

Check out local biodiversity activities online.

Many local groups participate in the IBD celebrations each year. See what your local community groups, municipalities, schools, companies, and government are up to.

Participate in The Green Wave.

Get your school involved in The Green Wave. This involves planting a tree and watering it at 10:00am local time to create a "green wave" across the world and recording the event for all to follow online.

Host a tree photo competition.

Have members of the community submit photos of their favorite neighborhood tree. Ask them to also write a short explanation of why this tree matters to them. If you want to narrow the parameters of the competition and to highlight the importance of biodiversity, ask competitors to select only native trees or trees that provide ecosystem benefits, such as food, animal shelter or shade.

Celebrate the work being done by local farmers to conserve biodiversity.

Organize an event for local farmers to come and talk to the community. They can chat about their biodiversity conservation efforts, from preserving heirloom crops to keeping stands of native bush and trees to help native animals and plants thrive amidst the agriculture. Provide awards to the farmers from community members to thank them for their time and efforts in conserving biodiversity.

Hold a poster competition.

Award the best poster that describes the importance of biodiversity to your local area.

Arrange for a group tour of local biodiversity.

E-mail and drop off flyers (on recycled paper) to members of your neighborhood. Invite them to come and learn more about the biodiversity in their local area. If it will be a long walk, ask them to bring their own paper bag lunch and to consider packing it with locally produced food.

Hold a quiz night to raise funds for local biodiversity restoration projects.

Choose an area of your local environment that is in need of restoration. Advertise the quiz night widely in your community and let people know the reason behind it. Sell tickets to the event to raise funds and ask for donations of environmentally considerate prizes. Create biodiversity-related questions for the quiz night, such as questions about local wildlife, trees, plants, ecosystems, and more. Serve food sourced locally for snacks or ask people to bring a plate of home-cooked food.