World Environment Day:
Biodiversity, Climate Change and Community Actions: A Message for Our Future

Museum für Naturkunde
Berlin, Germans / 5 June 2007

Opening of the Photo Exhibition “Nature—Our Precious Web”
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
Museum of Natural History, Berlin, Germany

It has been duly noted by international environmentalists that the conservation of biodiversity is essential for the sustainability of all mankind and planet earth. The exhibition “Nature - Our Precious Web” communicates the challenges of achieving the 2010 biodiversity target and reveals the interdependence between biological diversity and the well-being of humans around the world.

The colorful photo exhibition was created to raise awareness of biodiversity among a broad audience nationally and internationally and to prepare for the 9th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-9) to be held in Bonn, Germany in 2008.

The exhibition features 80 impressive pictures and eight accompanying text panels that illustrate the human dependence on nature and provide an explanation for the necessity of conserving ecosystem integrity, while allowing for sustainable levels of resource use. The causes of biological diversity loss are displayed as well as the need for cross-sectoral action and the protection of local knowledge and community-based resource management in order to address biodiversity conservation more effectively on a global, regional and local level.

Nature – Our Precious Web serves as a means to communicate with onlookers from different backgrounds about the dangers of ignoring the intricate web of life that sustains life on Earth. Ultimately, only a sense of common responsibility can help us achieve the 2010 biodiversity target. All our actions, big and small, have an impact and each individual has the power to change our present course.

Partners

The “Nature – Our Precious Web” exhibition is a collaborative venture between:

• GEO, the feature magazine, Hamburg, Germany
• Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal, Canada
• IUCN, The World Conservation Union, Countdown 2010 Initiative, Gland, Switzerland
• GTZ, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit GmbH – German Technical Cooperation, Eschborn, Germany, commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Berlin, Germany
• United Nations Development Programme, Equator Initiative
  

Planned exhibition venues

• Opening on 5th of June in the Natural History Museum of Humboldt University in Berlin
• Tour through Germany and Natural History Museums in 2007 and early 2008
• Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-9) in Bonn, May 2008
• World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, October 2008
• International Year of Biodiversity and COP-10 in 2010

The “Nature – Our Precious Web” exhibition can be exhibited free of charge in other venues. For offer of service, additional information, as well as updated exhibition venues please visit: http://www.countdown2010.net/preciousweb/exhibition.html