BIODIVERSITY DAY MARKED

22.05.2004 [22:47]
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UNDP secretariat, OSCE Baku office and non-governmental organization “Ecomed” have conducted a workshop at the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources devoted to the 22nd of May - International Biodiversity Day.

The workshop attended by the Milli Majlis deputies, Ministers of Education, Culture, Agriculture, Ecology and Natural Resources, Youth, Sports and Tourism, as well as representatives of UNDP, SOCAR, NGOs was opened by head of the Biological sciences department of the National Academy of Sciences, Director of the project “Strategy and Plan of Actions for Biodiversity”, Academician Musa Musayev. He noted that conservation and stable utilization of natural resources is one of the important problems of the century. Biodiversity is a high, rich but mostly not fully evaluated source of reserves. Combining all the forms, beginning from microorganisms up to biggest animals and higher plants, and ecosystems they belong is the basis of the life itself. Human intervention subjected the ecosystems to degradation resulted in extinction of lots of species. Today, 15 million species exist in the world and some hundred of them die every day without any hope for further revival. Biodiversity can be saved only through international cooperation. Convention “On Biodiversity” was approved at the Nairobi conference. By now, 180 countries and one regional organization for economic integration joined this convention. Milli Majlis ratified this convention in March 2000. 22 May is widely marked by the UN as the International Biodiversity Day.

Biodiversity Convention coordinator, director of the ANAS Institute of Genetic Resources Zeynal Akbarov told of the goals of the Convention and work done in this respect. He noted that the main purpose of the document is to protect biodiversity, its stable utilization and fair and equal application of jointly gained profits. To fulfill obligations undertaken by Azerbaijan the State Commission on Biodiversity was founded by the Presidential Decree. To ensure the biodiversity conservation and its stable utilization the commission formed a working group to develop a 5-year project “National report, strategy and plan of actions on biodiversity”

Head of the Center of Ecological Education of the Ministry of Education Fuzuli Ahmadov, consultant of the department of biological resources and specially protected territories of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources Faig Sadigov, director of BP on health, safety measures and environment protection Faig Asgarov delivered reports at the workshop.

BIODIVERSITY DAY MARKED

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