International Day for Biological Diversity | May 22

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International Day for Biological Diversity

Credit: Mandarin fish by Luc Viatour [CC BY-SA 2.0] via @Trodel Flickr

Teachers: Visit the free MY HERO Lesson Plan for International Day for Biodiversity. Includes discussion guide and learning outcomes.

Biodiversity is the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

2023 Theme:

To mark this incredible and historic achievement, the proposal for this year’s theme is “From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity" which builds on the results of COP 15. Now that the world has the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (agreement), the focus must quickly shift to its implementation (action).

Enjoy the following content about heroes from all over the world fighting for biodiversity. Consider how one person can have a lasting impact on the future, and think about how you too can make a change.

Film

A Walk Through The Land of A Thousand Hills

Chema Domenech

Claver Ntoyinkima, a native park ranger, shares the secrets of Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda as he guides us through the forest.

Tiger Talk

Produced by:Ravi Prakash, Ashutosh Joshi

Animated documentary celebrating those who fight to save the tiger population in India. The story is told through the eyes of a tiger. Made for the WWF-India.

Looking After Our Environment: James Price Point

Produced by:Mark Pearce

Mark Jones speaks out against a gas development complex that spells doomsday for some species living around James Price Point.

Tuy Sereivathana | Cambodia

Producer: Tom Dusenbery

Tuy Sereivathana works to mitigate elephant mistreatment in Cambodia by introducing innovative low-cost solutions.

Protecting the Amazon by Advancing Indigenous Rights

PAUL PAZ Y MINO

Since 1996, Amazon Watch has protected the rainforest and advanced the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. We partner with indigenous and environmental organizations in campaigns for human rights, corporate accountability, and the preservation of the Amazon's ecological systems.

Rainforest Action

Will Parrinello

In 2020 Nemonte received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize and was named to Time Magazine’s Top 100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

The Goldman Environmental Prize

2021 MEDIA AWARD WINNER - The Goldman Environmental Prize is the world's foremost award honoring grassroots environmental activists

Last Stand - The Vanishing Caribou Rainforest (Trailer)

Produced by:David Moskowitz

The forthcoming documentary “Last Stand” puts the Caribou Rainforest on the map before it’s too late.

The Arctic Garden

Produced by:Will Parinello/Tom Dusenberry

Caroline Cannon, an Inupiat indigenous leader, takes aim at offshore oil drilling that threatens her people and the biodiversity in the Arctic Sea.

Climate change and indigenous knowledge: An unknown asset

Produced by:CTA

The Story We Want - Episode 1 - Coal and Climate

Dayna Reggero

SPECIAL HERO AWARD - 2021 --Dayna Reggero traveled across America to listen to ordinary women who are confronting fossil fuel industries, climate change impacts, and a culture of extraction.

Interview with Youth Activist Sophie Healy-Thow

Kitty Richardson

MY HERO recommends this excellent essay by Harold Wood, Jr. about his hero, John Muir. Muir was a famous California conservationist with a radically non-anthropocentric view of nature.

John Muir

By: Harold W. Wood, Jr.

This is an excellent essay about John Muir, the famous California conservationist, and his radically non-anthropocentric view of nature.

Stories

Nancy Caruso

By: Anabelle Vo

Nancy Caruso is a marine biologist who helped bring kelp forests back to the California coast.

Chico Mendes

By: Jeff Trussell

Chico Mendes died a martyr defending the rainforests.

Chibeze Ezekiel : Award Winning Climate Activist

By: Deborah Neff, MY HERO Staff writer

Dorcas Lukwesa’s Mobile, Sustainable Farms

By: Abigail Richardson

Help Mary Save Coral

By: Amanda Molinaro from Irvine

Help Mary Save Coral works to repopulate the world's coral.

Dayna Reggero Wins Special Award for THE STORY WE WANT

By: Deborah Neff, MY HERO Staff writer

Two grassroots environmental activists--moms address fracking and coal ash dumping in Walnut Grove and the state of North Carolina.

Thomas Lovejoy is called the "grandfather of biodiversity." Read about him in this exciting newswire story told from the "lungs of the earth"-- the Amazon.

Camp Amazon: Inside the 'lungs of the Earth'

By: Amanda Paulson - CSM Staff writer

Dr. Lovejoy, the "godfather of biodiversity," brings celebrities and scientists to the Amazon to sleep in hammocks and see our biggest environmental crises: climate change and biodiversity loss.

Vanda Shivah protects the biodiversity of farmers' crops by preserving original seeds.

Dr. Vandana Shiva

By: David Kemker

Dr. Vandana Shiva works to preserve biodiversity for the planet.

Art

This Eco-Visionaries mural was created at the request of the Endangered Planet Foundation to celebrate conservation heroes

By: Students working with Endangered Planet Foundation

Rachel Carson raised awareness of the environmental and health risks associated with the proliferating use of chemicals

By: Robert Shetterly

John Muir, Naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness areas painted by Robert Shetterly

By: Robert Shetterly

Jane Goodall 's efforts to save the chimpanzees and her global conservation foundation are celebrated in this artwork by a student

By: Samantha Gamble from the United States (Age 11)

These short films feature a variety of styles with a consistency of substance in that these heroes are prioritizing the importance of biodiversity.

My Hero suggested viewing

TED Ed | Why is Biodiversity Important?

An excellent introduction video which explains the three components of biodiversity: ecosystem, genetic and species. Learn about the Amazon rainforest, one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world; coral reefs.

Goldman Environmental Prize Wins MY HERO Media Award

By: Deborah Neff, MY HERO Staff writer

Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded Media Award at the MY HERO 17th Annual Film Festival

Will Parrinello Wins 2021 Best in Fest

By: Deborah Neff, MY HERO Staff writer

Links

National Geographic

Indigenous peoples defend Earth's biodiversity—but they're in danger. Comprising less than 5% of the world's population, indigenous people protect 80% of global biodiversity.