Barbados will join worldwide celebrations to mark International Biodiversity Day on Friday, May 22, under the theme: Biodiversity for Sustainable Development.
As the focal point for the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Ministry of the Environment and Drainage will conduct school tours at the West Indies Sugar Cane Breeding Station and the Soil Conservation Unit, to raise awareness about the contribution of Barbados??? biodiversity to the national goal of Sustainable Development.
Tomorrow, Thursday, May 21, students of the Wesley Hall Infants School will tour the West Indies Sugar Cane Breeding Station, Groves, St. George, at 10:00 a.m., before moving on to the Soil Conservation Unit, Belleplaine, St. Andrew, at 11:45 a.m.??Then, on Tuesday, May 26, students of the St. Christopher Primary School will tour the Soil Conservation Unit at 10:45 a.m.
This year???s theme reflects the importance of efforts made at all levels to establish a set of Sustainable Development Goals as part of the United Nations Post-2015 Development Agenda for 2015 to 2030, and the relevance of biodiversity to the achievement of sustainable development.
The International day for Biological Diversity provides an opportunity to communicate and involve the public in building awareness about the value of biodiversity to human wellbeing around the world.
It also offers an opportunity to highlight issues of relevance for island states that have island ecosystems as part of their national biodiversity heritage; issues of climate change; marine and coastal biodiversity; invasive species; species threatened with extinction tourism and biodiversity.
julia.rawlins-bentham@barbados.gov.bb