Join our iNaturalist challenge on May 20-27th for International Day for Biological Diversity!

May 22nd is International Day for Biological Diversity! Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the term used to describe the variety of living things on earth and can refer to variability within species (genetic diversity), between species (species diversity), and between ecosystems (ecosystem diversity). This variety and variability is necessary to sustain the vital services that biologically-diverse ecological systems provide. These systems don’t just include plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms, but humans too!

International Day for Biological Diversity was created by the United Nations to celebrate the magnificent diversity of life on earth and highlight the importance of public education, awareness and actions to protect it. This year’s theme is “From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity”, which builds on the results of the recent COP 15 (the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties for biodiversity) and the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which includes includes four goals and 23 targets to be achieved by 2030. As humans are a part of biodiversity, and not separate from it, the loss of biodiversity threatens all life on earth. Learn more about the 22 actions you can take for biodiversity here.

Celebrate this day and raise awareness of local biodiversity by participating in our week-long iNaturalist challenge! Each observation submitted to our iNaturalist project from May 20th to 27th will get you one entry to win a biodiversity-themed prize pack. The more observations you submit, the better your chances of winning!

Participation is easy:
1) Join the Georgian Bay Biosphere iNaturalist Project (https://inaturalist.ca/projects/georgian-bay-biosphere)
2) Trust our project with your coordinates (option can be found under ‘Your Membership’ on desktop)
3) Submit your plant, animal and fungi observations within the Biosphere's boundary between May 20th and 27th.

Posted on May 19, 2023 08:09 PM by gbaybiosphere