13 March 2014: The Secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) announced the release of the logo for the 2014 International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB), which will focus on the theme ‘Island Biodiversity.’

This theme was selected to coincide with the designation by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) of 2014 as the International Year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The theme was also chosen to reflect decision XI/15, paragraph 1 in which the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the CBD “urges Parties, and invites other Governments, financial institutions and other relevant organizations to strengthen the implementation of the programme of work on island biodiversity.”

The Secretariat also invited parties that have already initiated plans to celebrate IDB to keep it informed of such plans, including activities organized by NGOs and other organizations for inclusion in the IDB 2014 webpage. [CBD Notification, 13 March 2014] [IDB Website]