Seeds of Hope Take Root in Kenya - Biodiversity Day Article

[Stephen Leahy]

Seeds of Hope Take Root in Kenya
By Stephen Leahy

NAIROBI, May 22, 2010 (IPS) - Countries have paid too little attention to the importance of biodiversity, and as result, species and ecosystems are in sharp decline and the public does not understand the concept.

That was the reason the first International Day of Biodiversity was established 18 years ago on May 22, and there is still a long way to go, according to Angela Cropper, deputy secretary general of the U.N. Environment Programme.

"Biodiversity is an abstract concept, invisible to most people even though it underpins all life on the planet," Cropper told IPS at the celebration of this year's International Day of Biodiversity here in Nairobi's National Museums [stet] of Kenya.

As the first executive secretary of the Convention on Biodiversity, established to stem the decline in the loss of species and ecosystems, Cropper said awareness of the problem is key to the convention's success. "It's taken long, but we are seeing progress in education," she said.

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