Last night, more than 400 people traipsed through a blizzard to the American Museum of Natural History for the North American launch of the International Year of Biodiversity. Ambassadors, Museum Trustees, and other invited guests gathered under the Museum's famous blue whale which hangs in the Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life. According to Olav Kjørven, assistant secretary-general and director of the Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP, the whale is a spectacular monument to Earth's life and animals endangered by human activities.
The U.N. designated 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity to raise global awareness of the immense variety of life on Earth and to invite action to safeguard the essential networks on which all life, including humans, depends.
"We need to refocus the world on biodiversity-the complex tapestry of interconnections at every level that supports life on Earth," said Eleanor Sterling, director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the Museum. "We've lost sight of the biodiversity crisis because of other global challenges like climate change. But now we need to step back, understand the causes and consequences of our continued impact on life on the planet, and develop realistic and comprehensive strategies that allow dynamic human communities, economies, and life to thrive."
The partners for this event, which include Conservation International, Fordham University, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Foundation, and Wildlife Conservation Society, agree that stronger commitments need to be secured for biodiversity and the vital ecosystems that sustain life.
The evening opened with comments by Michael Novacek, provost of Science at the Museum, who introduced Mr. Kjørven and Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity. A special preview of the premier world television event LIFE, a co-production of BBC and Discovery Channel, was introduced by Marjorie Kaplan, the president and general manager of Animal Planet Media at Discovery Communications Inc. A panel discussion including Charles McNeill, UNDP senior policy advisor, Veerle Vandeweerd, UNDP director of the Environment and Energy Group, Tran Triet, representative of the Phu My Leporinia Project, Paolo Galizzi, Fordham University School of Law, Morten Wetland, Norway's Permanent Representative to the U.N., and Dr. Sterling followed.
A podcast of the event is available: www.amnh.org/news/category/podcast/
The American Museum of Natural History in New York City (amnh.org) is one of the largest and most respected museums in the world. Since its founding in 1869, the Museum has collected more than 32 million specimens relating to the natural world and human cultures. The Museum showcases its amazing treasures in the exhibit halls, and behind the scenes more than 200 scientists are at work making new discoveries. The Museum's Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (cbc.amnh.org) works to sustain biological and cultural diversity in areas of the world where biodiversity is richest and most threatened.
