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CILIFO CELEBRATES WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY

05.06.2020. World Environment Day is the most important date in the official United Nations calendar for promoting environmental action. “Since 1974, 5 June has become a global public platform that brings together governments, businesses, celebrities and citizens around a pressing environmental issue,” according to the Wold Environment Day website.

The Iberian Centre for Research and Fight against Forest Fires (CILIFO) joins the celebration of this day that this year revolves around biodiversity – a matter of both urgent and existential concern.

“Recent events, such as the unprecedented forest fires in Brazil, California and Australia, the locust invasion in the Horn of Africa and now the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrate the inextricable relationship between humans and the networks of life in which we live. Nature is sending us a message” (Wold Environment Day).

The CILIFO project focuses on the fight against forest fires and their consequences for the adaptation and mitigation of climate change; within a framework of cross-border cooperation for the prevention of risks and the improvement of the management of natural resources in Spain and Portugal in the area of the Euroregion Alentejo – Algarve – Andalusia.

With a duration of three years (2019 to 2021), it aims, through the results expected from its activities, to establish itself as a permanent centre for the promotion and development of training, awareness, development and innovation, and interregional cooperation in the fight against forest fires.

About World Environment Day: World Environment Day is, above all, a global platform to inspire positive change, and is based on the precept that global change requires a global community. The Day encourages people to think about how they consume; businesses to develop greener models; farmers and manufacturers to produce more sustainably; governments to safeguard wilderness; educators to inspire students to live in harmony with the Earth; and young people to become bold stewards of a green future. It requires all of us (Wold Environment Day).

The Host: Each year a different host country hosts the official celebrations of World Environment Day. The host for 2020 is Colombia, with the support of Germany (Wold Enviroment Day)v

Video: Biodiversidad y salud ¿Cómo nos protege la naturaleza?

For more information: https://www.un.org/es/observances/environment-day

Contact: Beatriz Martinez (EU Project Manager at Fundación Finnova) beatria.martinez@finnova.eu

 

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Forest protection, biodiversity and artificial intelligence: what challenges ahead?

29.05.2020. Forest Protection, Biodiversity and Artificial Intelligence: What Challenges Ahead? is an event that will consist of a debate on future challenges regarding forest protection in the European Union and globally; as well as the use of artificial intelligence to counteract biodiversity loss and improve environmental sustainability (#Tech4Forests).

The speakers and details of the event will be announced in the coming days. Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, this event will be streamed.

ABOUT THE DEBATE

As recognized by both the UN and the European Commission, forests are rapidly disappearing as a result of deforestation and degradation. Furthermore, global deforestation and forest degradation also negatively affects many objectives, both of Europe and of the international community; and in several other important aspects of life on Earth, such as ensuring peace and good governance or promoting the rule of law as highlighted in the objectives of the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.

#Tech4Forests: The issue of forest protection continues to be a crucial feature of the global public debate on climate change, as forests are not only an important aspect of the fight to protect the climate, but also a decisive aspect of the success of the actions being taken by European and international institutions.

When: 24 June 2020

Time: 6 p.m.

Where: online

The audience will be able to ask questions during the discussion and afterward in the question and answer round.

Registration: https://bit.ly/2yIBnmZ

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CILIFO joins International Biodiversity Day 2020 celebrations

22.05.2020. The loss of biodiversity is a loss for humanity, that is why every 22nd of May since 1993 is celebrated as the International Day for Biological Diversity. This day aims to increase understanding and awareness of issues related to biological diversity (the variability of living organisms, including diversity within species (genetics), between species and of ecosystems.

One of the key pillars of the Iberian Centre for Research and Fight against Forest Fires (CILIFO) is awareness, since prevention is one of the main actions in the fight against forest fires, and it includes both preventive forestry on forest fuel, and other actions aimed at raising public awareness of the problem of fires: “social prevention”.

Environmental education and awareness is a complement to environmental policies and actions, since without the active and committed involvement of all members of society, the environmental strategies carried out by public and private bodies would not be sufficient to meet the challenges presented by sustainable development. For this reason, knowing the mechanisms of fire, the way in which the extinguishing devices and the harmful consequences of these, is a fundamental link in the chain that leads us to its prevention.

The biological diversity is a global good of great value for the present and future generations, the number of species diminishes at an accelerated rate, due to the human activity, according to the Web of the United Nations. Given the importance of education and public awareness about this threat, CILIFO joins the celebration of the International Day of Biodiversity 2020.

About biological diversity:

As the United Nations explains on its website: “Biodiversity is understood to mean the wide variety of plants, animals and microorganisms that exist, but it also includes the genetic differences within each species – for example, between varieties of crops and breeds of livestock – as well as the variety of ecosystems (lakes, forests, deserts, agricultural fields,…) that host multiple interactions between their members (humans, plants, animals) and their environment (water, air, soil…)”.

In addition, biological resources “are the pillars that support civilizations. Fish provide 20% of animal protein to some 3 billion people. More than 80% of the human diet is composed of plants. Approximately 80% of people living in rural areas in developing countries depend on traditional plant-based medicines for basic health care.

Finally, the United Nations reports on its website that 2020 is a year “of reflection, opportunity and solutions. 2020 is the year when, more than ever, we must express our will to “flatten and reduce the curve” of biodiversity loss for the benefit of humans and all life on Earth. 2020 will see the final period of the 2011-2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and the Aichi Targets, as well as the Decade of Biodiversity, which will usher in new biodiversity decades for the period 2021-2030: the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration; and the Biodiversity Summit, to emphasize the need for high-level action in support of a post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

For more information on International Biodiversity Day: https://www.un.org/es/observances/biological-diversity-day

Contact: Beatriz Martínez (EU Project Officer at Fundación Finnova) beatriz.martinez@finnova.eu