Press Release

Board View

Celebration Ceremony of World Biodiversity Day under Theme of "Nature is a solution, It's Time to Join Our Efforts"

Date:
2021-05-20
View:
3,067

▷ Hosting a celebration ceremony for 2021 World Biodiversity Day (World Wetlands/Migratory Bird Day) on the 21st of May at the Honam National Institute of Biological Resources in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province 

▷ Encouraging Korean people to take action for biodiversity improvement and carbon neutrality


The Ministry of Environment (M.E. Han Jeoung-ae) and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF, Moon Seong-hyeok) will host a celebration ceremony for f "2021 World Biodiversity Day (World Wetlands/Migratory Bird Day)" on the 21st of May at the newly-opened Honam National Institute of Biological Resources (located in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province).


The ceremony will be joined by Hong Jeong-kee, Vice Minister of Environment, Song Sang-geun, Director-general for Marine Policy Bureau of Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and Kim Jong-sik, Mayor of Mokpo city, as well as will have the award ceremony for people of biodiversity merits and our promise for biodiversity actions (performance), and others.


This year's ceremony will be live-streamed on the Environment Ministry's YouTube page (www.youtube.com/c/mevnewsroom) and Biodiversity Day website (www.생물다양성의날.kr) from 10 AM on the day to encourage people to join the event from various places while minimizing in-person participation considering the COVID-19 situation.


World Biodiversity Day was created by the UN General Assembly in 1993 for the promotion of biodiversity issues and engagement in conservation activities. The Korean government has been celebrating the day since 2010.


The theme for this year's ceremony is "Nature is a solution, It's Time to Join Our Efforts" was decided considering a slogan* chosen by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the importance of taking actions to conserve biodiversity.

* 2021 theme of Convention on Biological Diversity: "We're part of the solution"


In his congratulatory remarks, Vice Minister Hong will introduce the value of biodiversity, major conservation policies, a virtuous relation between biodiversity conservation and carbon-neutral society while underlining the necessity of participation in conservation activities.


This year's event is also designed to raise awareness of the important elements in ecosystems of wetlands, wild animals such as migratory birds, and their organic relations as a part of the celebration ceremony of "World Wetlands Day" and "World Migratory Birds Day."

* The Korean government has been hosting the celebration ceremony of World Wetlands Day (Feb. 2nd) and World Migratory Birds Day (2nd Saturday in May and October) along with the World Biodiversity Day in May when the wetlands are in vibrant vitality.


The Ministry of Environment designated May as a "Month of Biodiversity" and has been hosting various events in cooperation with related departments, local governments, affiliated agencies to introduce the celebration ceremony and encourage public participation.


The representative example of the events is the Restoration Event for Parnassius Bremeri (26th of May, Geum River Basin Environmental Office), Wetland Forum (27th of May, Wetland Center), Experiencing Biodiversity Program (13th to 22nd of May, Seoul Grand Park).   


The Ministry created and distributed a promotional video highlighting the value of biodiversity and wetlands along with classical music, Korean initial quiz, biodiversity conservation campaign (Me too, You too, We too event, 19th of May), crafting kits (500 kits) for an indoor light of endangered species with children.  


The celebration ceremony will be held at the Honam National Institute of Biological Resources (President, Ryu Tae-chul), a research institute specialized in biological resources in the island and coastal areas with preservation/ research facilities (3,982m2), exhibition/ education facilities (972m2), and outdoor experience facilities (52,020m2).


Following the biodiversity celebration event, the opening ceremony of the institute will begin. Along with the National Institute of Biological Resources (Incheon) and the Nakdonggang National Institute of Biological Resources (Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province), the Honam National Institute of Biological Resources will play a pivotal role in securing Korea's sovereign rights over national biological resources and developing biological industry.


Vice Minister Hong said, "Efforts to conserve biodiversity contributes to carbon neutrality by increasing carbon sinks while recovering the resilience of the ecosystem." He added, "celebrating World Biodiversity Day, I'd like to request everyone to take actions to build an ecosystem on Earth where humans and the environment are in harmony."