The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) . This celebration coincides with the 2010 Biodiversity Goal adopted by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and by the Heads of State and Government attending the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002.
The term biological diversity or biodiversity refers to the wide variety of living things on Earth and the natural patterns that they make up. "The biological diversity that we observe today is the fruit of billions of years of evolution, shaped by natural processes and, increasingly, by the influence of the human being," they explain from Unesco. This diversity forms the vital web on which we are an integral part and depend on. To date, around 1.75 million species have been identified on our planet, a third of which are in danger of extinction . However, scientists usually estimate current biodiversity between 3 and 50 million species, with 13 million species being the most accepted value.
The opening ceremony of the International Year of Biological Diversity will take place on January 25 at Unesco headquarters in Paris. Those interested can follow the news related to the AIB on a daily basis through the official website or the CBDNews twitter.
