Official launch of the International Biodiversity Year in Belgium

20 November 2009, Brussels (Belgium). To celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB), the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) will organise a diversity of activities for families, schools, scientists, professionals and others throughout the year. On 17 November, the Institute officially presented its programme for the coming year.

The main goal of the programme is to raise awareness and to encourage the public to act against biodiversity loss. The campaign ‘I give life to my planet’ invites individuals and groups to take small actions but make a big difference. The free booklet ‘366 acts for biodiversity’ supports the campaign, proposing biodiversity tips for every day of the year.

Biodiversity plays a key role in the Institute’s museum. On 14 October 2010, a unique, interactive exhibition on biodiversity in the city will open to the public. Furthermore, by 2013, an entire museum wing will be dedicated to the numerous aspects of biodiversity.

Schools will receive special treatment throughout the year including: a free interactive exhibition for primary school children on city biodiversity will tour Brussels’ communities as of 13 March 2010. In addition, an educational kit on biodiversity, specifically for secondary education, will be launched in September 2010.

From 20 May to 29 August 2010, Brussels will be the game board for the BioGeoSafari, a trail game that enables players to discover Brussels’ hidden biodiversity treasures! To top off this engaging programme, RBINS invites all food-lovers to the Pollen Picnic on 7 July 2010 to taste numerous goodies and to discover the pollinators providing us with these foods. The loss of these pollinators, both in the South and the North, can have severe consequences for our daily meals.

In addition to informing and engaging the public, the Belgian IYB2010 programme is a fine example of team work, as every department of the Institute is involved in the activities. More so, the IYB is uniting organisations and movements throughout the entire country in the fight against biodiversity loss.

• Read more about the programme and the Institute’s biodiversity research on
  www.biodiv2010.be.
• You can find more information on these events on the Biodiversity Year Schedule of Events 2010.