The two major residents of the earth, the animals and plants, their various kinds coexisting in different landscapes all around the world are collectively called biodiversity. An area’s biodiversity is what makes it unique and attractive. It deserves to be appreciated and more importantly conserved in order to maintain nature’s balance and the ecological cycle. With multiple obstacles in keeping the biodiversity hoarded like global warming and natural disasters, we humans need to do everything possible to keep our area’s biodiversity intact. It is important that we spread awareness and highlight the need of the hour, that is, to conserve our varied life forms, our biodiversity on earth. That is why we celebrate International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) on May 22 every year.
The idea of celebrating IDB was first shared by the United Nations (UN) to increase understanding about biodiversity issues and spread awareness. It was first observed on December 29, 1933 by the Second Committee of UN general assembly. In the year 2000, the UN general assembly adopted May 22 as IDB to mark the adoption of the text of the Convention on May 22, 1992 by the Nairobi Final Act of the Conference for the Adoption of the Agreed Text of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Kenya. The other reason for shifting IDB to May 22 was that there are a lot of holidays in December making it difficult for many countries to carry out appropriate celebrations for the event. IDB is celebrated every year based around a theme. This has been going on since the year 2002 and helps in focusing on specific points to create awareness about biodiversity. This year’s theme is “Our solutions are in nature”. It emphasises on hope, solidarity, and the importance of working together at all levels to build a future of life in harmony with nature. 2020 is a year of reflection, opportunity, and solutions. It is expected, from each of us, that we will “Build Back Better” by using this time to increase the resilience of nations and communities as we recover from this pandemic. 2020 is the year when, more than ever, the world can signal a strong will for a global framework that will “bend the curve” on biodiversity loss for the benefit of humans and all life on Earth.
The International Day of Biodiversity plays a huge role in promoting the idea of Sustainable Development. And in the present day scenario, sustainable development is the only option to lead a healthy lifestyle and leave one behind for future generations too. Hence, it is important to understand the significance of this day and make more and more people aware of it. IDB deserves to be celebrated and cherished every year, at every place, and by everyone because our biodiversity is our prestige and it deserves all the appreciation and more.
Luvpreet Singh
Great👍