Global: International Day for Biological Diversity

The United Nations has proclaimed 2010 to be the International year of Biodiversity. The theme of the International Day for Biological Diversity 2010, on 22 May, is Biodiversity, Development and Poverty Alleviation. Biodiversity is the sum of all existing species, their interactions and the ecosystems they form. According to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), human beings share the planet with as many as 13 million living species, including plants, animals and bacteria – of which only 1.75 million have been named and recorded.