The UN International Day of Biodiversity 2011 is on 22 May, themed on forests to tie in with the UN year of forests this year. A useful outreach booklet is available, but not much information on national activities on the CBD website.
The UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology has produced new policy-oriented briefings on Ecosystem Approach and Natural Capital Accounting
A UK Defra survey on public attitudes to biodiversity published in 2009 showed a slight improvement over the years in the number of people who thought that they knew a little about biodiversity. A new 2011 statistical release last month gives a fuller picture. This is one of a range of surveys and studies /...more
.../ from Europe and more widely that show the complexity of public understanding in this area and the difficulty of using policy and science jargon in a public context.
One point that the 2009 Defra summary makes is that the term "biodiversity" may not have sufficient meaning for quite a number of people - the supplementary questions suggest that a much higher proportion of people are concerned about species loss and support certain measures in support of conservation.
The 2011 paper shows still significant gaps in understanding of the term and apparently marginally better understanding of the term "ecosystem services". It's possible that the term is more self-explanatory.
Another source of interest is ALTER-NET which has continued from its EU FP6 funded foundation, publishing a report on public attitudes in various parts of Europe (including small cities), together with other resources. A useful US summary and discussion came out in PNAS a couple of years ago from Mike Novacek.
In preparation for the Rio +20 meeting in 2012, the Danish Board for Technology is developing an initative on World-wide attitudes to biodiversity, to follow a similar exercise for climate change.
In short, it looks as though the public is aware of many of the issues, but not necessarily in the same language as used in policy and science. Are we trying too hard to encourage public understanding of jargon, rather than changing the language to encourage understanding? Probably needs both approaches.
And one final resource that has emerged recently: EO Wilson's biodiversity foundation
The Royal Society has called for evidence for a new study on Science as a Public Enterprise - looking at, among other issues, the implications of open data policies on science.
A new position statement from Birdlife International on conservation and rights of communities - ties in with broader IUCN initiatives.
