Montreal marks the International Day for Biological Diversity
A large gathering of some 150 people assembled last weekend at the Biosphere environmental museum in Montreal to mark this year’s International Day for Biological Diversity and celebrate the forests of the world.
This year’s International Day was held world-wide under the theme “forest biodiversity” as a contribution to the 2011 International Year of Forests.
In his message to the international community, the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon stated “The benefits of forests are far-reaching. Forests catch and store water, stabilize soils, harbour biodiversity and make an important contribution to regulating climate and the greenhouse gases that are causing climate change,” he said. “Yet, despite our growing understanding and appreciation of just how much we reap from forests, they are still disappearing at an alarming rate. This year’s International Day for Biological Diversity is devoted to highlighting the need for urgent action.”
Addressing the participants the Director of the Biosphere, Mr. Jean Banglais, stressed the role of the
Biosphere in building awareness about biodiversity and spoke of the role of cities and urban citizens in the biodiversity solution.
Representing the city of Montreal, Mr. Alan DeSousa stressed the role of cities in solutions to the
biodiversity crisis. He welcomed the decision by Governments at the Nagoya biodiversity summit in 2010 to support local action for biodiversity and stressed that the city of Montreal was ready, along with other cities, to take up the challenge.
Mr. Jean Lemire, the ambassador for The Green Wave initiative, urged the audience and others to act year round, not just on the International Day for Biological Diversity. He said that we need to be very frank and recognise the scope of the biodiversity crisis and act accordingly.
He emphasized that awareness was a big part of this. Starting in the fall of 2011 and running for 1,000 days, Mr. Lemire will embark on a voyage to highlight the richness and importance of biodiversity around the world as a contribution to the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity.
Audience members were inspired by the words of five youth delegates as they read out the youth
declaration they had been delivered in Nagoya last year. The students were from Saint-Laurent Academy in Ottawa. In a symbolic gesture for living in harmony with nature, the ceremony culminated with the students and other participants planting two sugar-maple trees, native to Canada, on the grounds of the Biosphere as a contribution to the International Year of Forests and to The Green Wave campaign.
Addressing the participants, Mr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, said: “As we move towards the preparation of Rio+ 20 in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012, let us all remember the wisdom of Severn Cullis-Suzuki. In June 1992, when she was 12 years old, this young Canadian addressed the first Rio summit, challenged adults to take care of the future, her future, and the future of the children of the world.
