Plant Conservation Day and World Biological Diversity Day stand together as reminders of the multifaceted interrelationship of all living things.
Plant Conservation Day, May 18th
Plant Conservation Day provides a wonderful incentive to celebrate and explore the momentous importance of plants, their fundamental place in our lives, and our role in their conservation.
Plants form the foundation of all life on Earth: they regulate our climate, purify our water and air, and when they return to the earth, they enrich the soil and mitigate erosion. Plants, in their astonishing variety, are also an essential resource for human sustenance and well-being, providing food, medicine, shelter, and clothing, while providing extraordinary beauty to the planet.
The world’s plants, so essential to all life, are facing serious threats to their survival. Diminishing of plant species will cause accelerating negative impacts on the humans, wildlife and ecosystems to which they are essential.
Plant Conservation Day, was started in 2001 by the Association of Zoological Horticulture (AZH), which joined forces with Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) in 2006. This partnership has expanded Plant Conservation Day celebrations worldwide and developed resources for organizations, groups, and individuals dedicated to enjoying and conserving the world’s plants.
On this day, consider visiting or volunteering at a local Botanical Garden or planting a native species in your garden or community.
Visit the links below for more information and opportunities to participate.
World Biological Diversity Day, May 22
World Biodiversity Day is a United Nations–sanctioned international holiday for the promotion of biodiversity, initiated in 1993, and held on May 22, this year.
The intrinsic value of biological diversity to modern life is often overlooked as the urbanization of society tends to dissociate us from the natural world. The planet’s interconnected natural ecosystems depend on biodiversity to sustain life itself.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) recently determined that climate change is anticipated to be the foremost source of biodiversity depletion by the end of this century. The Earth’s climate has always experienced change and the natural world acclimates. The accelerated pace of climate change today, however, is challenging many species to adapt rapidly enough to survive. Predicted increases in temperatures will affect species distribution, increase extinction rates, alter reproduction cycles, distort plant’s natural growing seasons and deplete natural habitats.
Protecting biodiversity can actually diminish the effects of climate change by maintaining nature’s delicate balance of cleansing and realigning. Shared contributors to both biodiversity loss and climate change, such as industrial pollution, makes addressing these issues collectively a strong step toward our ultimate success on both fronts.
The preservation of biodiversity is the combined responsibility of international organizations; governments, national and local; the private sector and individuals. All these components have a vital role in correcting destructive practices, spreading important information and fostering connections to the natural world.
As EU Environment Commissioner, Stavros Dimas, said:
Biodiversity is the natural wealth of the Earth, the basis of life and the prosperity of mankind. But the pool of life is shrinking at an alarming rate. The message is clear: we are robbing ourselves of our own future. It is now vital to step up our actions to safeguard the variety of life on Earth.
For additional information, visit these links:
