The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Ana Leiva, took part in the presentation of the Guide for Journalists on biodiversity and international negotiation on 13 October at La Casa Encendida.

The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Ana Leiva, took part in the presentation of the Guide for Journalists on biodiversity and international negotiation on 13 October at La Casa Encendida.

She was accompanied by the Director General of the Natural Environment and Forest Policy of the Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, José Jiménez; the president of the Association of Environmental Information Journalists (APIA), Luis Guijarro, and the journalist Javier Rico, coordinator of the book.

With this publication, which analyses the keys to the current situation of biodiversity, the operation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the treatment given to these issues by the media, the Biodiversity Foundation wants to offer information professionals a tool for their daily work.

Two important events endorse the timeliness of this launch: 2010 has been declared by the UN as the International Year of Biodiversity and the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the CBD will be held in Nagoya, Japan, from 18 to 29 October.

The Guide for Journalists on Biodiversity and International Negotiation is produced by about twenty communication professionals specialized in the environment, which have been coordinated by APIA. It aims to guide both seasoned professionals and newcomers to specialization on the basic principles that explain biodiversity, the importance of this information and the network of agreements, meetings and organizations that operate within the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Neither the term nor the CBD have taken centre stage in the press on climate change and its convention. However, the loss of biodiversity is as transcendental as the phenomenon of global warming, to which it is also associated. On the other hand, biodiversity is almost always linked to species and natural spaces. This is important, but it is also important to know that it is the basis of services and products that concern agriculture, livestock, medicine, energy, tourism, etc.

The CBD also has a body equivalent to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and, as with climate change, the consequences of not taking action or doing so late also have a major negative economic impact.