August 2011: The official launch of the UN Decade on Biodiversity for Europe was held on 18 August 2011, in Geneva, Switzerland, in conjunction with the 61st meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The launch was hosted by the Government of Switzerland, in partnership with the Japanese presidency of the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), with the participation of the secretariats of CITES, CBD and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands [CBD Communiqué]