Enviornment Ministry Celebrates International Day for Biological Diversity

New Delhi, May 22: Nation celebrated the International Day for Biological Diversity on the theme ‘Water and Biodiversity’, both of which represent essential building blocks of life on Earth. The theme reflects the reality that water sustains all life on earth, and that ecosystems of our world, particularly forests and wetlands, ensure that clean water is available to us.

However, despite being two sides of the same coin, they are rarely seen in unison when it comes to their conservation, use and management.

The United Nations has proclaimed May 22 as the International Day for Biological Diversity to commemorate the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Celebrating International Day for Biological Diversity every year affirms our resolve and responsibility to safeguard the precious heritage of bio-resources for the future generations.

Having hosted the Eleventh Conference of Parties (CoP-11) to the CBD in Hyderabad in October 2012, India is presently the President of CoP.

As part of the celebrations, Dr V. Rajagopalan , Secretary , Ministry of Environment & Forests inaugurated a function organised by the Ministry of Environment & Forests in collaboration with Wetlands International – South Asia and WWF-India here today . On the occasion , the Ministry released a “Water is Life” poster, designed by Centre for Environment Education, Ahmadabad, a Centre of Excellence of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, depicting how all life forms including human beings are interconnected by, and through, water. The poster can be utilized for a wide range of activities by students and teachers, for education and awareness purposes. The poster is presented in 16 major official languages of the country and will be distributed countrywide. A soft copy of the poster will also be available on a weblink soon, for download and local printing. CEE is working out a scheme where the best entries/activities done by children around this poster can be evaluated and awarded.

During the event the following book, newsletter and DVDs were also released