THE United Nations has designated May 22nd as the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. This year’s theme, ‘Biodiversity for Sustainable Development’, signals the importance of efforts made, at all levels, to establish a set of Sustainable Development Goals, as part of the United Nations Post-2015 Development Agenda. This Agenda, for the period 2015-2030, highlights the relevance of biodiversity for the achievement of sustainable development.Biodiversity, sustainable development and human well being
Biodiversity provides essential goods and services for people and enables sustainable development. It is tightly linked to human survival by providing goods and services that aid in:
Poverty Reduction
Economic Growth
Food Production
Purification and/Recycling:
o Water
o Air
o Soil Nutrients
Pest and Diseases Control
Climate Stability

Modernisation through Biotechnology:
o Agriculture
o Medicine
Formation of human settlements
Sustainable Development Goals
There are seventeen (17) Sustainable Development Goals:
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Let’s celebrate life, let’s celebrate our biodiversity.

You can share your ideas and questions by sending letters to: ‘Our Earth, Our Environment’, C/O EIT Division, Environmental Protection Agency, Ganges Street, Sophia, GEORGETOWN, or email us at: eit.epaguyana@gmail.com

Sources:
https://www.cbd.int/idb/2015/
http://www.un.org/en/events/biodiversityday/