International Day for Biological Diversity: 22nd May 2019

Life as we know it, takes many forms and biological diversity is vital for human well-being.  On the World Day for Biological Diversity, the IAI Directorate celebrates over two decades of regional cooperation for interdisciplinary research on all aspects of global changes that are impacting all ecosystems and biodiversity in the Americas. Research on global issues requires cooperation among research institutes, among states and with regional and international global change research programs. 

The Global Assessment report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released earlier this month, presents overwhelming evidence from a wide range of different fields of knowledge that nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history. Compiled by 145 expert authors from more than 50 countries, the report provides a comprehensive picture of the relationship between economic development pathways and their impacts on nature and offers possible scenarios for the coming decades.

In the latest IAI Interview, the lead review editor for the IPBES Global Assessment and former member of the IAI Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) Prof. Harold A. Mooney speaks on the critical loss of biological resources and the consequences of this loss to our planet. Read the interview here.