It’s International Day of Biodiversity today

Today is the International Day of Biodiversity (IDB).  Proclaimed by the United Nations to raise awareness of the value of life on Earth, the day serves as a global reminder of the need to safeguard biodiversity and protect the ecosystems that support human well-being.  The day is coordinated by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the international legal instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources.

The 2026 edition of the IDB has the theme “Acting locally for global impact, Des actions locales à l’impact mondial, Acción local para un impacto mundial”. This fits well with Albatross and Petrel Agreement’s theme for World Albatross Day on 19 June 2026 of “Habitat Restoration”, exemplified by civil society, non-profit organizations and national, regional and local government bodies combining their resources to eradicate alien predators on islands, such as the current projects directed at New Zealand’s Auckland Island and South Africa’s Marion Island.  A second example of the WAD2026 theme are the activities of NGOs working with government authorities to create new breeding colonies of albatrosses and petrels, often protected by predator-proof fences, on inhabited Hawaiian Islands and on Mexico’s Guadalupe Island.

A translocated Black-footed Albatross chick close to fledging gets in some exercise next to a guano-splattered adult decoy on Mexico’s Guadalupe Island, photograph by J.A. Soriano, Conservación de Islas

These, and other activities related to the conservation if albatrosses and petrels will be held will be featured over the next two week’s 15th Meeting of ACAP’s Advisory Committee and its Population & Conservation Status and Seabird Bycatch Working Groups in Swakopmund, Namibia.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 22 May 2026