22/05/2005 - The theme
of this year's International Biological Diversity
Day promoted by The United Nations was "Biodiversity:
Life Insurance for a Changing World".
To celebrate this occasion, the Agency teamed
up with the Danish Zoological Museum, the
Global Biodiversity Information Facility and
the Danish Biodiversity Information Facility
in an open-day with guided tours at the Museum.
The European Environment Agency introduced
visitors to the EEA website and made available
material on biodiversity with reports, videos
and information - all available on the EEA
website.
On the occasion of International Biological
Diversity Day, the European Topic Centre on
Biological Diversity launched a much improved
database called EUNIS, European Nature Information
System. This database focuses on key biodiversity
elements such as species, habitat types, etc
and will be improved further during this year
with major features such as spatial tools
and enhanced data sets.
These on-line information systems will help
to assess and understand biodiversity in a
wider context. The EUNIS database development
was initiated by the Agency in 1997, and the
data was made available on the web within
European Community clearing House Mechanism
process in 2002.
Events were arranged worldwide to celebrate
this day and improve awareness of biodiversity
and its relevance to human well-being. A synthesis
report of the biodiversity part of the UN-driven
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was launched
in Montreal, London, Cambridge and Beijing
as part of these celebrations.
