United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Scotland

Scottish National Heritage is coordinating a week-long series of events during Scottish Biodiversity Week from 19 to 25 May 2008. The week will include a wide range of activities taking place around the country and a photo competition. For more information click here and visit the Scottish Biodiversity Week website.

Wales

Wales Biodiversity Week
Wales Biodiversity Week is an annual week of events that takes place all over Wales in June; this year’s events run from the 7th to 15th June. Events are free; delivering a positive message for biodiversity, raising awareness, enthusiasm and inspiration among the public. The events range from small and personal guided walks in nature reserves and towns to large fairs where thousands of people can learn about biodiversity and the environment. Events are organised in partnership, bringing together the knowledge and enthusiasm of Local Biodiversity Partnerships and environmental organisations and coordinated centrally by the Wales Biodiversity Partnership. For a full listing of events visit the Wales Biodiversity Partnership website.

Jersey

On the International Day for Biological Diversity the Environment Department carried out their Countryside Renewal Scheme awards judging for 2007.

In response to the need to protect and enhance Jersey's biodiversity and to secure a prosperous future for Jersey's agriculture and the rural economy, the States of Jersey introduced the Countryside Renewal Scheme in 2005. The aim of the scheme is to provide support to farmers and landowners to increase biodiversity, protect wildlife, reduce pollution and enhance the visual attractiveness of the countryside and implement practical environmental initiatives.

To celebrate the scheme, applicants are judged on their achievements every year and this year selected judges carried out site visits to the short listed applicants for the Countryside Renewal Awards on 22 May.

Senator Freddie Cohen, the Minister for Planning and the Environment says "This Scheme is of fundamental importance to conserving and enhancing the environment and landscape of Jersey. I am delighted that interest in the Scheme continues to grow year on year and this shows the success of the Scheme and the real commitment from farmers and landowners to Jersey's environment and landscape".

Find out more about the Scheme on the States of Jersey website.

Non-governmental Organisations

The Mass Extinction Memorial Observatory (MEMO)

A new project and UK charity, MEMO – the Mass Extinction Memorial Observatory, has been launched to establish a monument to extinct species. The monument will include a bell to be tolled for extinct species each year on the International Day for Biological Diversity.

The monument is planned to be built on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, which is sited on the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Jurassic Coast. MEMO has been provided an extraordinary site there on the eastern cliffs, overlooking both the waters where the 2012 Olympic sailing events will take place and the 17th century quarry site for the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire. The monument will be a circular enclosure, the walls of which will bear the carved images of all those creatures known to have gone extinct since the Dodo. It will be both a scientific record of known extinct species and a celebration of the unique liveliness of each of them. The space enclosed will be a classroom, theatre and forum, both symbolic and literal, in which to explore the nature and significance of the Earth's 6th mass extinction event and our relationship with other lifeforms on Earth. It is intended that the bulk of these carvings be executed at a series of international carving festivals to be held on Portland in the years 2009-2012, around the time of International Day of Biodiversity.

This year, a forerunner "micro-festival" took place on the island, including stone carving by professionals and volunteers, lectures on geology and ecology, and a play about the architect and scientist Robert Hooke who, in the 17th century, first put forward the idea that species could go extinct. The culmination of the festival was the casting, and then on 22 May 2008, the tolling, of a bell for extinct species.

For more information, visit the MEMO website, read a report of the 2008 “micro-festival” received from the organizers and view photos of the event.