The Countdown 2010 biodiversity initiative

Biodiversity can be defined as a sumtotal of all life forms and natural processes on Earth, including the diversities of species and ecosystems. The loss of biodiversity affects in negative sense the human needs, such as healthy food, energy resources and access to fresh water. At the same time human health is affected, whereas the social relationships also suffer. Therefore it is of prime importance to preserve the number of species and ecosystems.

Through a strong network of partners, the Countdown 2010 initiative ensures allocating enough resources for building a sustainable development. This network aspires toward gaining maximum public attention for the challenge of saving biodiversity by 2010. It encourages and supports the full implementation of all the existing binding international commitments and necessary actions to save biodiversity and demonstrate clearly what progress the world makes in meeting the 2010 biodiversity target.

Year 2010 is approaching with increased speed, offering us the chance to analyse the achieved and plan the future moves.