May 22nd was designated by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Day for Biological Diversity (IBD) in order to increase widespread understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues.  

The 2007 theme is Biodiversity and Climate Change and came just weeks after the release of a series of reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which also highlight the challenges facing biodiversity -- and by inference livelihoods and human well- being as a result of the build up of greenhouse gases. The IPCC states, for example, that tourism in Africa, much of which is based on nature, is likely to be hard hit, with 25 per cent to 40 per cent of animal species such as zebra in the national parks of sub-Saharan Africa set to become endangered over a third of turtle breeding sites in the Caribbean may be lost if sea levels rise by 0.5 meters. Islands with moist cloud forests, like Hawaii, can expect to suffer a loss of endemic bird species. In the Arctic thinning and reduced coverage of sea ice is likely to have important knock on effects. Crustaceans, adapted for life at the sea ice edge, are an important food for seals and polar cod.  

UNEP undertook several activities in the UN complex in Nairobi, involving UN staff, the Kenyan Government, relevant partners, and the Kenyan youth to commemorate the day and  raise people’s awareness on issues related to this year’s theme.These activities included:

Essay and drawing competitions:

Prof. Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, presents awards to students

The essay competition targeted standard 8 students, to write essays on the theme, “How to develop without destroying biodiversity in Africa?”. The drawing competition targeted standard 1 to 4 students, to prepare drawings on the theme . The winning students were given prizes and opportunity to read their essays during the award ceremony ,environment-related books published by UNEP, used computers, as well as the scholarship based on the voluntary contribution from UNEP staff members and sponsoring banks. The environment-related books and publications were also sent to other schools participating in the competitions .

Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director, plants a tree

UNEP staff were engaged to pledge and plant 500,000 trees towards the achievement of the Billion Tree Campaign. During the month of April 2007, all UNEP staff were asked to do three things: 1) Buy trees for children in Nairobi; and 2) Buy trees for them to plant in two weeks from IBD on 22nd May 2007 to the World Environment Day on 5th June 2007; and finally 3) Pledge from their ongoing UNEP activities within the programme of work, the planting of trees. The goal is for UNEP to reach a total corporate pledge of 500,000 trees by 5th June 2007, with at least 10,000 trees actually planted in the two weeks between 22nd May and 5th June 2007.

Publication on “Biodiversity and climate change”
In response to the request from the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), UNEP published the International Day for Biological Diversity brochure on “Biodiversity and Climate Change” developed by the CBD Secretariat in Kiswahili. The publication was launched during the IBD celebrations and award ceremony on 22nd May 2007, and distributed widely throughout the country, with assistance from the Government of Kenya.

IBD celebrations and award ceremony on 22nd May 2007:
High-level officials from the Government of Kenya, representatives of partner institutions, media representatives, as well as students and teachers of the winning schools attended the ceremony. During the celebrations, the Kiswahili version of the International Day for Biological Diversity brochure on “Biodiversity and Climate Change” will be launched. Furthermore, during the award ceremony, in addition to the prizes given to the winning students, their schools will also be given prize, including environment-related books published by UNEP, used computers, as well as the scholarship based on the voluntary contribution from UNEP staff members and sponsoring banks. The environment-related books and publications will also be sent to other schools participating in the competitions

The celebrations aim to highlight biodiversity importance in various ways including:  Biological diversity as essential for human existence and has a crucial role to play in sustainable development and the eradication of poverty. Biodiversity provides millions of people with livelihoods, helps to ensure food security, and is a rich source of both traditional medicines and modern pharmaceuticals. Biological diversity is essential for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The poor are the most likely to suffer from the consequences of destabilization of ecosystems, such as floods, crop failures and loss of genetic resources.

Every country in Africa has unique biodiversity and valuable ecosystems that are of both national and global importance. African countries have set aside large parts of their territories as biodiversity areas, and have consistently made efforts to develop and maintain their protection as a key element of their strategy to implement the CBD.   Improved land use planning at national and local levels should be undertaken as important step in the conservation process, but also as a basis for achieving sustainable development.