Biodiversity is a term intended to describe all of nature's variety. It refers to all aspects of variety in the living world, including the variety of species on the planet; the amount of genetic variation that exists within a species; the diversity of communities in an ecosystem; and the rich variety of landscapes that occur on the planet. Biodiversity comes under threat through Habitat Destruction, Invasive Species, Pollution, and Overharvesting of Natural Resources.
|
|
 |
The Convention on Biodiversity was signed by over 150 governments in 1992, at the Earth Summit, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This was the first global agreement on the conservation and suatainable use of biodiversity. The Convention refers to the ecological, genetic, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational, and aesthetic values of biological diversity. Ireland ratified the Convention in 1996 and it was translated into an Irish context through the publication of the National Biodiversity Plan in 2002. One of the actions of the National Biodiversity Plan is for each Local Authority to prepare a Local Area Biodiversity Plan in consultation with relevant stakeholders. Under this Convention, we in Ireland are committed to halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010 (Countdown 2010).
Read more about Ireland's Biodiversity Clearing House Mechanism
