Minister Molewa leads Biodiversity Day celebrations
Ms Edna Molewa, the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, led the celebration of International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) at iSimangaliso Wetlands Park in KwaZulu-Natal on 22 May 2012. During the IDB event, the Minister also launched the National Biodiversity Assessment report.
Marine Biodiversity Theme for 2012
The United Nations proclaimed 22 May the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to protect ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss by increasing understanding through communication, education and public awareness of biodiversity issues. The theme for IDB this year is Marine Biodiversity and will focus on raising awareness on marine resources, their conservation and sustainable use as well as the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of their use.
South Africa became a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1995.
National Biodiversity Assessment report
The National Biodiversity Assessment report which the South Africa National Biodiversity Institute assisted in developing is a comprehensive technical assessment report of the state of South Africa’s biodiversity and ecosystems, across terrestrial, freshwater, estuarine and marine environments. The assessment has an emphasis on spatial biodiversity information including species and ecosystems and lays the foundation for effective management of biodiversity and for monitoring our progress against national and global targets.
This report can be downloaded from SANBI's BGIS website
Comments
Add a comment