World Biodiversity Day 2013 opportunity to raise awareness of freshwater biodiversity

May 16, 2013

tags: Biodiversity, biodiversity and water, Convention on Biological Diversity, Ecosystems, Freshwater, International Biodiversity Day, International Day for Biological Diversity, Social Media, Water, World Biodiversity Day

by freshwaterblog

Water and biodiversity is the theme for the International Day for Biological Diversity and provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the crucial role that water plays in sustaining life on Earth, as well the highlighting the abundance of life found within freshwaters.

It’s a big year for water! The theme of this year’s international day of biodiversity (or world biodiversity day) is ‘water and biodiversity’, which has been chosen to coincide with the designation of 2013 as the International Year of Water Co-operation. The date of the international day of biodiversity (22 May) marks the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity. 2005-2015 is also the UN decade of ‘Water for Life’. See here for some key messages.

World biodiversity day provides a key opportunity for the freshwater biodiversity community to raise the profile of freshwater biodiversity and highlight both the importance of it and the threats it faces. Please get involved and help us raise awareness of the vital role that freshwater biodiversity plays in our lives and the world around us.

We encourage you to take to twitter and other social media to create some buzz around the issue. You can follow us on twitter: @biofreshproject. Below are some example tweets that you can tweet yourself or use for inspiration. We would also like to encourage the freshwater scientists among us to tweet key findings from any relevant papers you’ve written. And don’t forget to hashtag your tweets (e.g. #water #biodiversity #BiodiversityDay)

Example tweets:

Did you know: #freshwater covers just 1% of Earth’s surface, but harbours 10% of all animals! #water #biodiversity #BiodiversityDay

#Water is not only a vital resource, but a medium for life – 35% of all invertebrates found in #freshwater! #biodiversity #BiodiversityDay

Should awe and wonder be taken seriously as an #ecosystem service? #water #biodiversity #BiodiversityDay

Millions of people around the world depend on freshwater ecosystems & the #biodiversity in them for their livelihood #water #BiodiversityDay

A shared knowledge base on #biodiversity needed for effective policy & conservation of freshwater ecosystems #water #BiodiversityDay

#Water is life: it underpins human well-being, as well ecosystem health & #biodiversity #BiodiversityDay

Freshwater #ecosystems & #biodiversity play crucial role for #water #security by regulating availability & quality of water #BiodiversityDay

Freshwater #ecosystems are natural #water infrastructure that can serve same purpose as dams or treatment plants #BiodiversityDay

Without #ecosystems, the #water cycle, & dependent carbon & nutrient cycles, would be significantly altered #biodiversity #BiodiversityDay

Conserving #wetlands can help regulate #water but can also support significant fisheries #biodiversity #BiodiversityDay

… or why not tweet one of John Barlow’s beautiful Haiku’s from our art-science animation Water Lives

waterush

the slow song

of a dipper