There are only 680 days left in the count-down to halt biodiversity loss, and Ecologistas en Acción has launched the campaign “2010: Save our Biodiversity”. This campaign will convey the importance of biodiversity, denounce the breach of the agreement by the Heads of Government of the EU to halt biodiversity loss by 2010, and will call up the government authorities to take urgent and essential measures to stop the destruction of our biodiversity.

In June 2001, José Maria Aznar, the former Prime Minister of the Spanish Government, committed himself, along with the rest of the Heads of State of the European Union at the European Council of Gothenburg, to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010. During the seven and a half years that have elapsed since then, the measures taken to achieve this objective in the Spanish State and the rest of the European Union have been few and insufficient, in which respect it is evident that this objective will not be achieved unless urgent and forceful measures are taken.

For this reason, over the 680 days left until the end of the established term, Ecologistas en Acción will launch the campaign “2010: Save our Biodiversity”. The aim of this campaign is to raise awareness within society of the importance of preserving nature, as well as all the environmental services it generates and on which we depend for a living. In addition, it will call on all the authorities, ranging from the town and city councils to the Spanish Central Government, to implement effective initiatives, at least, to begin to halt the process of destruction of the biodiversity.

Ecologistas en Acción will start up diverse initiatives to raise awareness throughout the entire Spanish State, centred on highlighting the strong dependency that our species present on environmental services. Thus, the environment provides most of our food, the materials we use to clothe ourselves and the medicines that we use to take care of ourselves or to recover our health. In addition it provides essential services to ensure our quality of life. In this sense, Ecologistas en Acción will analyze the measures adopted by the Spanish authorities between 2001 and the present day, verifying whether they have fulfilled the commitments established by the European Union to halt the loss of biodiversity.

One of the first initiatives of the campaign will be to present different motions at town and city councils, Regional Governments, and Central Government, urging to the authorities to adopt special and urgent measures that are able to halt the process of destruction that is affecting biodiversity today.