The United Nations has designated 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). It is a celebration of biological diversity and its value for life on Earth, taking place around the world throughout the year 2010.
Official slogan of IYB 2010:
“Biodiversity is not our life. In fact, it is our sandbox.
Biodiversity is our future.”
IYB was declared by the 61st session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2006. The IYB will help raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity all over the world. It will reinforce the message: saving biodiversity requires an effort from everyone.
The term ‘Biodiversity’ is most often understood as the number of different species of plants, animals and microorganisms in existence. However, biodiversity also covers the genetic variations and traits within species.
“The world is invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth: biodiversity,” says the official website of the IYB, produced by the Montreal-based Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which coordinates IYB activities.
IYB coincides with the date of the 2010 Biodiversity Target, an international commitment made by countries of the world in 2002 to achieve ‘a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national levels’ by this year.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is the foremost international agreement that brings countries of the world together to conserve biodiversity. In force since 29 December 1993, it provides the framework for sustainable use of the world’s plant and animal resources, and for sharing the benefits on a fair and equitable basis.
Article 13 of the Convention covers public education and awareness as a key strategy for achieving these goals. IYB 2010 will showcase the on-going education and awareness activities while inspiring many more.
TVE Asia Pacific is happy to be part of this global effort. The regional media foundation has been producing and disseminating video films and online content on environment and development issues for 15 years. Many of these have covered challenges of conserving species and ecosystems in the world’s largest region – the Asia Pacific – home to half of humanity and a significant share of the planet’s biodiversity.
Among TVEAP’s more recent productions are:
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The Greenbelt Reports series exploring coastal ecosystem management challenges in South and Southeast Asia;
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A set of short films looking at how water resources will be impacted by climate change in different sub-regions of mainland Asia; and
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Saving the Planet, a pan-Asian series that looks at how local communities are using education and awareness to conserve their habitats and species
UNEP video on 2010 - International Year of Biodiversity
UN Secretary General’s video message of 2010 International Year of Biodiversity
Biodiversity in a nutshell
In the past 250 years of research, about 1.78 million species of animals, plants and micro organisms have been identified and named. But the total number of species is unknown and probably between 5 and 30 million. About 15,000 new species are discovered every year.
In 2006, scientists described a total of 16,969 new species — including 2,000 plants species and 1,000 vertebrate species, among them 185 mammals, 196 reptiles, 108 amphibians, and 37 birds.
The challenge now is to preserve threatened ecosystems before these species, and others as yet unknown, are lost.
Photographs by Manori Wijesekera & TVEAP Image Archive
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The United Nations has designated 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). It is a celebration of biological diversity and its value for life on Earth, taking place around the world throughout the year 2010.
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IYB coincides with the date of the 
