“Biodiversity is life. Biodiversity is our life,” was the United Nations’ slogan for the International Year of Biological Diversity 2010. Key themes of that year were the economic benefits of biodiversity and the consequences of the rapid extinction of species.

Commissioned by the Federal Ministries for the Environment and for Development, GeoMedia and GEO magazine conceived of and co-ordinated a global Action Day: Scientists, students, politicians and journalists in 38 countries on all continents gathered with the broader public to experience nature and discuss its significance for human development.

The results were published in national media all over the world, and presented to international audiences at a wide range of events – such as the official ceremony for the International Year of Biodiversity in Nairobi, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 10) in Nagoya, Japan.

At the time, GeoMedia created and maintained a website for the Global Biodiversity Action Day 2010, where we gathered resources for and compiled detailed reports from all participating countries. The site is no longer directly accessible. However, it has been captured by the internet archive and can be viewed via this link.

GeoMedia also produced a video compilation, based on filmed contributions that had been shared by project partners in the different countries. You can watch the English version by clicking on the image below. For other language versions on Youtube, please click here: Français, Español, Deutsch.

Information about International Biodiversity Action Days in earlier and later years is available via this link.

The two commissioning German Ministries published a brochure – also prepared by GeoMedia – with background information, summary reports of all 38 national Action Days, and numerous photographs from the events. To download the English and German versions, please click on the cover images.