EUFORGEN becomes official supporter of European Commission Global Coalition for Biodiversity
EUFORGEN is delighted to announce that it has become the 21st official supporter of the European Commission’s Global Coalition “United for Biodiversity”, launched by EU Commissioner for the Environment Virginijus Sinkevicius on World Wildlife Day 2020. The Coalition calls on all world botanic gardens, zoos, aquariums, national parks, museums and research centers to join forces for nature and adopt a common pledge, citing the IPBES Global Assessment finding that 1 million species are at risk of extinction.
The signatories of the Coalition support the call by the European Commission for decisive global action to halt biodiversity loss and urge all governments to agree on ambitious policies to restore and protect ecosystems, ahead of the crucial CoP15 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to be hosted by China this year.
With 25 years of pan-European collaboration, and experience of dynamic conservation of forest genetic resources in Europe, EUFORGEN brings the perspective of genetic diversity, an invisible level of forest biodiversity.
Michele Bozzano, the coordinator of EUFORGEN, said:
The genetic level of biodiversity conservation needs careful and precise actions. We need scientific knowledge to drive management and a global vision to guide local actions. In some places, we can conserve the genetic diversity of forest trees by not interfering with the environment, whereas in other places we need to intervene to support the evolution of forest landscapes. Conservationists and foresters should be able to choose among all possible management options to make sure that no genetic diversity is lost, because decreasing genetic diversity means fewer options for the future. Each species in the landscape has different demands and we should identify the best approach to allow the populations to evolve and adapt to a changing environment.
With its specific expertise in forest genetic diversity, EUFORGEN is proud to join the many organizations that share the coalition’s aims and are ambassadors of the diversity of life, such as the scientific consortiums Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative (GSBI) and Global Initiative of Crop Microbiome and Sustainable Agriculture (GICMSA) and also TRAFFIC, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) and Botanic Gardens Conservation International.
With this announcement, we invite all our members and partners to join the movement and add their voice for world forests. All participating institutions are warmly encouraged to share the message and biodiversity-related activities through their social media channels using the hashtags #UnitedforBiodiversity and #CoP15.
