Countdown 2010

2 September 2010, Murcia (Spain). A total of 40 volunteers from various backgrounds participated in a banding activity organized by the Environmental Volunteer Program in Protected Areas last June at the Regional Park of San Pedro del Pinatar (Murcia). This pioneering and important activity by the Hydrobates Voluntary Action Project had a special collaboration with the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Murcia, the Naturalistic Association of Southeast Spain, the Spanish Salt Works Limited, technicians and staff of the Natural Protected Area, and the General Directorate of Natural Heritage and Biodiversity. Thanks to the cooperation of all volunteers organized in ... Read more »

27 August 2010. WWF Austria is currently working to ensure long-ranging protection of the Morava-Dyje floodplains – the “Green Heart” between Vienna and Bratislava, one the most species-rich river basins in Austria. The action by WWF promotes a future-oriented development of the region. The Morava-Dyje floodplains are situated in the trilateral area of Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic and were declared Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar site) in 2007. They cover an area of approximately 60,000 hectares of extraordinary beauty, forming an unmatched mosaic of extended floodplain forest, lush grasslands and a narrow network of floodplain waters. These are ideal ... Read more »

25 August 2010. The Guardian – a leading UK newspaper – has launched a new campaign to put pressure on governments to act for biodiversity at the 10th Conference for the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP10). They are compiling a list of 100 specific tasks of which each will be targeted at a particular government. Leaders will be asked to sign up to this before the meeting in Nagoya. The campaign is called Biodiversity100. The newspaper as it claims is asking governments to supplement the current treaty-making process with something real and specific, in such a way ... Read more »

18 August 2010. The University of St Andrews and international integrated energy company ConocoPhillips have announced the call for entries for the St Andrews Prize for the Environment 2011. Applications are invited from individuals, multi-disciplinary teams or community groups for the 2011 annual prize of $75,000 USD for the winner and $25,000 USD for each of the two runners-up. The primary objective of the prize is to find innovative solutions to environmental challenges. The solutions should be practical, combining good science, economic reality and political acceptability. The prize offers people from all backgrounds around the world the chance to help transform ... Read more »

17 August 2010. The Facebook page of the Countdown 2010 initiative now has more than 2,000 fans. In just a few months from its launch, the initiative’s Facebook page has gathered lots of interested fans. The Countdown 2010 Secretariat invites you to join the page and contribute to it with your news and information which you would like to share with more than 2,000 like-minded people. Visit the Countdown 2010 Facebook page. Be the first of your friends to join! Read more »

6 August 2010, Luxembourg. In the framework of the International Year of Biodiversity, the National Museum of Natural History of Luxembourg launched a biodiversity recording online tool aimed to the general public. You can see the tool here:http://data.mnhn.lu/maach_mat. The project aims to sensitize the general public on the surrounding nature, and to collect data about animals and plants which are easy to detect and determine. The online tool will also help to gather information about common species, which often are not considered by scientific monitoring programmes. Citizens are invited to contribute to the recording of data on the following topics: Recording Luxembourg’s vertebrates What’s flowering where? Insects The online ... Read more »

From February 2010 the Countdown 2010 newsletter has a new layout! Click below to see the July issue and click here to sign on. July 2010 Feature: EU Overseas Entities: havens of biodiversity Protecting biodiversity in EU OEs Regional Cooperation in the Caribbean What should the EU do? A perspective from OCTA Do it yourself: Bring biodiversity to the table State of biodiversity: A baseline for measuring progress Focus on…Youth guidebook on sustainability by AEGEE Towards a new biodiversity target: Investing in biodiversity is not a luxury LARA: TEEB for local and regional policy: give your input Read the Newsletter Check previous issues of Countdown 2010 Newsletter Read more »

28 July 2010. The 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (2010 BIP), which was launched in July 2007, brings together over 40 organizations and a suite of biodiversity indicators, allowing for a more comprehensive and consistent monitoring and assessment of global biodiversity, with a view to measuring progress towards the CBD’s target to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. The Partnership coordinates and supports the regular delivery of biodiversity indicators into a range of decision-making processes, with a particular focus on this 2010 target. In addition, the Partnership links biodiversity initiatives at national, regional, and global scales, and will contribute ... Read more »

23 July 2010, Brussels (Belgium). “Halting biodiversity loss constitutes the absolute minimum level of ambition to be realised by 2020”, MEPs stated in an own-initiative report adopted on July 14. Noting that several factors – such as the incomplete implementation of legislation, poor integration into sectoral policies, insufficient scientific knowledge and data gaps, and insufficient funding – have prevented the EU from achieving its 2010 biodiversity target, the Committee presented its priorities for future EU policy in this field. The report urges member states to take prompt action to achieve full implementation of the Birds and Habitat Directives, calls for a coordinated ... Read more »

20 July 2010, Brussels (Belgium). On 14 July the Environment Committee of the European Parliament backed the 2020 biodiversity target which was endorsed by the Council in March. According to this target, Europe will have to halt biodiversity loss and the degradation of ecosystems services by 2020, as well as to restore them wherever feasible. The Members of the Environment Committee “deeply regret” that the EU aim of halting biodiversity loss by 2010 has not been met, and qualify this failure as ethically, ecologically and economically unacceptable. According to a Commission’s assessment of 2008, 50% of species and up to 80% of ... Read more »