Welcome to our November bulletin celebrating the International Year of Biodiversity (IYOB).

October saw the launch of the crocheted coral reef, the discovery of science, policy, leadership and action in Wellington, New Zealand, and discussion of the politics of biodiversity in Canberra.

Here’s a taster of what’s on in November:

• The Melbourne performance collective ‘The Masters of Space and Time’ are performing at the Australian Museum: Swamped is a razor-sharp black comedy demonstrating how the universe twists good intentions into disastrous consequences.
• There are more than 25 events taking place around the country over the month including asparagus fern eradication in NSW; biodiversity photography in the Murray Darling; the Dunstan dialogues in SA, discovering Victoria’s marine sanctuaries; and butterfly study in WA.
• And have you visited the biodiversity website lately? You can find out what would you look like as a snail, fish or bat with Monkey Me! www.biodiversity2010.org.au/?monkeyme.
• Next month The Ecological Society of Australia will be holding their annual conference ‘Sustaining biodiversity: the next 50 years’. [continue reading…]

Welcome to our October bulletin celebrating the International Year of Biodiversity (IYOB).

This month Biodiversity Year gets serious, and fun.

• Two weeks ago the UN General Assembly debated the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Secretary General announced that the world isn’t meeting the 2010 targets.
• Later this month all 193 parties to the Convention are scheduled to meet in Nagoya, Japan, to adopt a strategic plan on biodiversity and a 2050 biodiversity vision.
• And the Sydney Moring Herald reports that the Australian government’s biodiversity plan will be released later this month – more on this below in ‘News’.
• Meanwhile, back at the grass roots…there are more than 45 events taking place around the country over the month.
• And what would you look like as a snail, fish or bat? Try Monkey Me and find discover your inner animal. [continue reading…]

We’ve identified 135 Science Week events around Australia with a biodiversity connection. So we thought we’d share them with you in this special Science Week edition of our Biodiversity Year bulletin.

You can learn how to keep bugs alive, immerse yourself in flora and fauna on a walk through the forest, hear about the unique environment of Barrow Island in Western Australia and discover how a genetic disease in the Royal Family relates to biodiversity.

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Biodiversity events happening during National Science Week in South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory

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Welcome to the August bulletin celebrating the International Year of Biodiversity (IYOB) – from the Year’s coordinators. [continue reading…]

Welcome to July’s biodiversity bulletin with news and events throughout Australia—and also to Mr Blobby (see right, more details below). 

In the next few weeks you can contribute to a sculpture serpent in Sydney, meet Adelaide’s river dolphins; follow Burke and Wills to Castlemaine; build a bat box in Perth; come face to face with a supercrocodilian in Darwin; and build environmental resilience at the Caloundra Gallery—all as part of the International Year of Biodiversity.

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Over the next few weeks you can investigate the biodiversity of suburban Western Australia, see rarely-displayed historical specimens at the Australian Museum in Sydney, experience farmland conservation in action in regional New South Wales and attend an eco-action festival in Queensland.

These are just some of the events occurring in the International Year of Biodiversity. We are also supporting twelve projects around the country, and a new funding round has just opened! [continue reading…]

The United Nations has declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity.

Get involved debating life without humans in Sydney, meeting Adelaide’s river dolphins, discovering Tasmania’s unique biodiversity; revealing climate change through fossils in Perth; or running your own event.

Over the course of last year I wrote to you regarding celebrations of Darwin and evolution. I’m writing now to introduce you to plans to mark the International Year of Biodiversity.

I’m writing to brief you on plans to celebrate and promote the Year, and to explore and discuss biodiversity across Australia. [continue reading…]