Biodiversity Sri Lanka to commemorate International Biodiversity Day

Biodiversity Sri Lanka will celebrate the International Day for Biological Diversity which falls on 22 May each year, with an evening session on the UN designated theme for 2016:  ‘Mainstreaming Biodiversity: Sustaining People and their Livelihoods’. This session will be led by a keynote speech delivered by Dr. Donald Macintosh, Senior Advisor, Mangroves for the Future and Former Professor in Environment and Development of the University Aarhus in Denmark. 

This event will be held on 19 May from 5 p.m. onwards at the Auditorium of the Hatton National Bank, 22nd Floor, HNB Towers, No. 479 T.B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10, sponsored by Hatton National Bank and Dilmah Conservation and is open to the general public.

The fate of humanity is tightly linked with biological diversity – the variety of life on earth. Biodiversity is essential for sustainable development and human well-being. It is crucial to the reduction of poverty, due to the basic goods and ecosystem services it provides. As a country with a primarily agriculture-based economy, this year’s theme is very closely aligned with Sri Lanka’s national development priorities. 

The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 22 May as The International Day for Biological Diversity, to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. The theme for this year reflects the importance of efforts made at all levels to establish a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of the United Nations Post-2015 Development Agenda for the period of 2015-2030 and the relevance of biodiversity for the achievement of sustainable development.

Biodiversity Sri Lanka (BSL) is an entirely private sector owned and driven not- for-profit platform established to promote strong engagement of the corporate sector in Biodiversity and environmental conservation issues in Sri Lanka. BSL actively promotes strong leadership of the private sector in these areas through active learning, providing technical support, sharing information, knowledge and experience, promoting best practices and dialogue with state and civil society partners. 

Its overall mandate is to help raise awareness of biodiversity and sustainability issues amongst the Sri Lankan business community. Working to assist companies in understanding and mainstreaming biodiversity, the Platform has the ultimate aim of ensuring that a majority of companies will eventually be on a sustainable ecological footing with a vastly reduced negative impact upon biodiversity.

Currently, 57 leading corporates – all with high standards of environmental custodianship have backed the Platform by becoming its members. Membership of BSL brings in a wide array of benefits to its members, in the arena of biodiversity conservation and environmental protection. As a part of the services offered, BSL has developed a comprehensive technical database, carrying information on expertise available in diverse and relevant subject areas. 

Conservation-related requirements of businesses are channelled to the intellectual mainstream and academia through this database. Knowledge of current best practices is disseminated through workshops and learning events, recognising outstanding corporate contributions to biodiversity conservation. An Online Project Bank (http://biodiversitysrilanka.org/project-bank/) focuses on projects supporting national biodiversity priorities.