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International Day of Rural Women – 15 October 2024

Rural Women Sustaining Nature for Our Collective Future

Achieving gender equality and empowering women is not only the right thing to do but is a critical ingredient in the fight against extreme poverty, hunger and climate change.

Women are responsible for half of the world’s food production while working as environmental and biodiversity stewards. As farmers, women have learned how to cope with and adapt to climate change, for example, by practicing sustainable agriculture in harmony with nature, switching to drought-resistant seeds, employing low-impact or organic soil management techniques, or leading community-based reforestation and restoration efforts

Indigenous women have been at the forefront of environmental conservation by bringing invaluable ancestral knowledge and practices, and rural women have been leading global and national climate movements that have spotlighted the need for action for the sake of this and future generations..

Given their position on the frontlines of the climate crisis, women are uniquely situated to be agents of change — to help find ways to mitigate the causes of global warming and adapt to its impacts on the ground.

However, reports prove that climate change has a more pronounced impact on women, primarily indigenous and peasant women, whose agricultural dependence, living conditions, and marginalization expose them to a greater degree of changes due to climate, loss of diversity, and pollution.

This International Day of Rural Women’s theme is “Rural Women Sustaining Nature for Our Collective Future: Building climate resilience, conserving biodiversity, and caring for land towards gender equality and empowerment of women and girls.” 

Let’s promote their work as food providers and protectors of the environment. Let’s demand their participation in decision-making within their communities. Let’s promote rural areas where women can have the same opportunities as men.

Did you know?

  • Rural women have less access to a range of resources, from land rights and credit to education and technology. If women had the same access to productive resources as men, farm yields could increase by 20–30 per cent, feeding an additional 100 to 150 million people.
  • Every year, female-headed households experience income losses of 8 percent due to heat stress, and 3 percent due to floods, relative to male-headed households.
  • A 1° C increase in long-term average temperatures is associated with a 34 percent reduction in the total incomes of female-headed households, relative to those of male-headed households.

 

Source: Text: https://www.un.org/en/observances/rural-women-day     Image: 

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples – 9 August 2024

Protecting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact

Around 200 groups of Indigenous Peoples currently live in voluntary isolation and initial contact. They reside in remote forests rich in natural resources in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Peru and Venezuela. They choose to live detached from the rest of the world and their mobility pattern allows them to engage in gathering and hunting, thereby preserving their cultures and languages. These peoples have a strict dependency on their ecological environment. Any changes to their natural habitat can harm both the survival of individual members and the group as a whole.

Despite their right to autonomy as enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact face unique challenges often overlooked by the surrounding world. Developments for agriculture, mining, tourism and natural resources in their territories is resulting in the deforestation of swathes of Indigenous Peoples’ forests, disrupting their way of life and destroying the natural environment that they have protected for generations.

For Indigenous Peoples living in voluntary isolation and initial contact, one of the most serious threats from external contact is the exposure to diseases. Due to their isolation, they do not have the immunological defenses to relatively common diseases. As such, forced contact with the outside world can lead to devastating consequences, and can destroy whole societies.

This International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2024 is focusing on ‘Protecting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact’. Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact are the best protectors of the forest. Where their collective rights to lands and territories are protected, the forests thrive, alongside their societies. And not only is their survival crucial to the protection of our planet, but it is crucial to the protection of cultural and linguistic diversity. In today’s hyper-connected world, the existence of Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact is a testament to the rich and complex tapestry of humanity, and it is a huge loss to our world if they cease to exist.

Did you know?

  • Indigenous Peoples make up less than 6% of the global population, but they represent at least 15% of the extremely poor.
  • Indigenous Peoples’ territories encompass 28% of the surface of the globe and contain 11% of the world’s forests. They are guardians of most of the world’s remaining biodiversity.
  • Indigenous Peoples’ food systems have high levels of self-sufficiency, ranging from 50% to 80% in food and resource generation.

 

Source: Text & Image: https://www.un.org/en/observances/indigenous-day

International Biodiversity Day – 22 May 2024

What is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity describes the wide range of life forms on Earth, spanning from genes to entire ecosystems. It encompasses the processes that maintain life, including evolution, ecology, and cultural practices. Biodiversity encompasses not only rare, threatened, or endangered species but all living beings, from well-known organisms like humans to lesser-known ones such as microbes, fungi, and invertebrates. 

Why is Biodiversity Important? 

Biodiversity plays a vital role in multiple aspects of our lives. Its importance lies in the numerous benefits humans derive from it, including essential needs like food, fuel, shelter, and medicine. Additionally, ecosystems offer critical services like pollination, seed dispersal, climate regulation, water purification, nutrient cycling, and pest control. Moreover, biodiversity holds value beyond known benefits, potentially offering new medicines and other services yet to be discovered. 

We are all #PartofThePlan.

IDB 2024 is expected to increase the visibility momentum in the lead-up to the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16), to be held in Colombia from 21 October to 1 November 2024.

 

Source: Text & Image: https://www.undp.org/biodiversity-day-2024

International Day of the Tropics – 29 June

Each year on June 29th, the International Day of the Tropics raises awareness about various challenges that tropical nations face. It’s also a day to celebrate the extraordinary diversity of the Tropics.

#InternationalDayOfTheTropics

The regions of the Earth that lie in the middle of the planet are called the Tropics. The Tropics account for 36 percent of the Earth’s landmass. It includes the Equator and parts of North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. This region is warm all year round. The temperature in the Tropics ranges from 77 to 82 degrees F. The Tropics get a lot of sun and only have two seasons: the wet season and dry season.

Some parts of the Tropics, like the Amazon Basin, get nearly 9 feet of rain per year. Other areas, such as the Sahara Desert, get only 2 to 10 centimeters of rain a year. This difference in precipitation affects which plants and animals live in the different parts of the Tropics. The Tropics are important because of the number of economic exports come from these regions. Also, about 40 percent of the world’s population lives within the tropical zone.

Biodiversity

While biodiversity is greater in the Tropics, the loss of biodiversity is also greater here than in the rest of the world. This loss of biodiversity is partly attributed to human activity, such as:

  • Destruction of forests and marine ecosystems
  • Overexploitation of industrial fishing fleets and commercial hunters
  • Spread of diseases and invasive species
  • Growing impacts of climate change

Because of these issues, many species of plants and animals in the Tropics face the loss of their habitats. They are also vulnerable to becoming endangered.
Humans living in the Tropics face many challenges as well. More people experience undernourishment in the Tropics than anywhere in the world. This is consistent with the higher levels of poverty in these regions.

Also, more people live in slums in the Tropics than in the rest of the world.

 

Source: Text & Image: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/international-day-of-the-tropics-june-29/

World Oceans Day – 8 June 2024

Planet Ocean: tides are changing

The ocean covers over 70% of the planet. It is our life source, supporting humanity’s sustenance and that of every other organism on earth.

The ocean produces at least 50% of the planet’s oxygen, it is home to most of earth’s biodiversity, and is the main source of protein for more than a billion people around the world. Not to mention, the ocean is key to our economy with an estimated 40 million people being employed by ocean-based industries by 2030.

Even though all its benefits, the ocean is now in need of support.

With 90% of big fish populations depleted, and 50% of coral reefs destroyed, we are taking more from the ocean than can be replenished. We need to work together to create a new balance with the ocean that no longer depletes its bounty but instead restores its vibrancy and brings it new life.

“Awaken New Depths” is the theme for World Oceans Day 2024.  The UN is joining forces with decision-makers, indigenous leaders, scientists, private sector executives, civil society, celebrities, and youth activist to put the ocean first.

Did you know?

  • The ocean produces at least 50% of the planet’s oxygen.
  • The ocean is key to our economy with an estimated 40 million people being employed by ocean-based industries by 2030.
  • Oceans absorb about 30% of carbon dioxide produced by humans, buffering the impacts of global warming.

World Oceans Day reminds every one of the major role the oceans have in everyday life. They are the lungs of our Planet and a major source of food and medicine and a critical part of the biosphere.

 

Source: Text & Image: https://www.un.org/en/observances/oceans-day

World Bee Day – 20 May

We all depend on the survival of bees

Bees and other pollinators, such as butterflies, bats and hummingbirds, are increasingly under threat from human activities.

Pollination is, however, a fundamental process for the survival of our ecosystems. Nearly 90% of the world’s wild flowering plant species depend, entirely, or at least in part, on animal pollination, along with more than 75% of the world’s food crops and 35% of global agricultural land. Not only do pollinators contribute directly to food security, but they are key to conserving biodiversity.

To raise awareness of the importance of pollinators, the threats they face and their contribution to sustainable development, the UN designated 20 May as World Bee Day.

The goal is to strengthen measures aimed at protecting bees and other pollinators, which would significantly contribute to solving problems related to the global food supply and eliminate hunger in developing countries.

We all depend on pollinators and it is, therefore, crucial to monitor their decline and halt the loss of biodiversity.

 

Source: Text & Image: https://www.un.org/en/observances/bee-day

World Wildlife Day – 3 March

World Wildlife 2021 poster

On 20 December 2013, the Sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly decided to proclaim 3 March as World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild fauna and flora. The date is the day of the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973, which plays an important role in ensuring that international trade does not threaten the species’ survival.

Previously, 3 March had been designated as World Wildlife Day in a resolution made at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP16) held in Bangkok from 3 to 14 March 2013. The CITES resolution was sponsored by the Kingdom of Thailand, the Host of CITES CoP16, which transmitted the outcomes of CITES CoP16 to the UN General Assembly.

The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in collaboration with other relevant United Nations organizations, facilitates the implementation of World Wildlife Day.

With 183 Member States, CITES remains one of the world’s most powerful tools for biodiversity conservation through the regulation of trade in wild fauna and flora.

 

Source: Text & Image: https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-wildlife-day/

World Wetlands Day – 2 February

World Wetlands Day is annually held on February 2 to celebrate how wetlands, which are lands saturated by water, help maintain biodiversity on Earth.

Wetlands play an important role in maintaining the ecosystem.

About World Wetlands Day

Wetlands are found near the sea or inland and can be seasonal – they are water logged only during parts of the year, or perennial. They play a crucial role in the ecosystem by:

  • Preventing flooding by absorbing water.
  • Ensuring that the soil provides a unique breeding ground for vegetation that feeds fish.
  • Giving shelter to animals.
  • Purifying water by removing sediment.

World Wetlands Day has been observed since February 2, 1997. The day commemorates the anniversary of the signing of the Ramsar Convention in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971. The convention is a treaty on the preservation and sustainable use of wetlands.

 

Source: Text: https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/world/world-wetlands-day    Image: Unsplash

Palace Day – 19 July 2022

For the seventh year in a row, the Network of European Royal Residences invites its members, cultural and political institutions, historic houses and their audiences to celebrate heritage on social media on July 19, 2022!

THE 2022 PALACE DAY WILL BE DEDICATED TO BIODIVERSITY!

This year, let’s talk about biodiversity !! When you talk about royal residences, we generally think to a big palace full of gold, paintings, sculptures, etc. But we often forget the wonderful biodiversity that we can admire in the parks and in the gardens of the royal residences. Exotic trees, thousands of bird species, wild animals, Royal Residences are home of an rich and various fauna and flora. And it’s not something recent!

Fauna and flora are often represented in the sculptures, the paintings, the artworks in the royal residences. Kings and Queens of Europe brought exotic plants for their gardens and wild animals for their “menagerie” and have contributed to the diversity of species. And today, professionals of palace-museums raise awareness and preserve this incredible biodiversity which is totally part of the richness of Palace-museums and the natural heritage!

 

Source: Text: www.palaceday.com    Image: unsplash.com

International Biodiversity Day – 22 May

Celebrate 25 years of action on International Biodiversity Day – 22 May

Around the world, people are organizing celebrations on 22 May 2018, the International Day for Biodiversity. The celebrations highlight 25 years of action to implement the Convention on Biological Diversity and build a future of live in harmony with nature.

Source: Text: www.lucn.org   Image: https://www.cbd.int