A Global Dialogue On -
"Learning From Community Action: Biodiversity and the Millennium Development Goals"

Wednesday, 19 May 2004, 3:00 p.m.
Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations
Second Floor, 871 UN Plaza, New York City
(on 1st Avenue between 48th and 49th Street)

As a follow up to the Equator Prize 2004 awards process, the Equator Initiative commemorated the International Biodiversity Day (officially marked on Saturday, 22 May) on Wednesday, 19 May 2004 with an event at the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations. This exciting event honored the winners of the Equator Prize 2004 and was focused on a half-day global dialogue on biodiversity conservation and the MDGs. Entitled “Learning from Community Action,” the event was followed by a well-attended reception in the roof-top lounge of the German Mission.

The Equator Initiative – together with the governments of Germany and Canada, GEO Magazine, and Imwent – invited three Equator Prize-winning communities to New York City to participate in the global dialogue and to receive their awards from the Administrator of UNDP. The three invited Equator Prize winning communities are: GREEN Foundation of India, Torra Conservancy of Namibia, and Proyecto Nasa of Colombia.

Speakers and High-Level Participants at the dialogue included:

• His Excellency Dr. Gunter Pleuger, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations
• Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator, UNDP
• Martin Meister, Managing Editor Science/GEO TV GEO Magazine
• Dr. Tom Lovejoy (Moderator) President of Heinz Center
• Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan
• Prof. Manfred Niekisch, University of Greifswald and First Vice-President of the German League for Nature and the Environment
• His Excellency Mr. Luis Guillermo Giraldo, Ambassador of Colombia
• His Excellency Mr. Martin Andjaba, Ambassador of Namibia
• Equator Prize 2004 Awards Winners from Colombia, Namibia, and India
• Key Leaders from the 3rd Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Speeches and Other Key Materials:

Speech by Mark Malloch Brown – Administrator of UNDP
Speech by Ambassador Gunter Pleuger – Permanent Representative of Germany to the UN
Photo Gallery
Quotes and Notable Excerpts
Communities' Work
Link to GTZ Official Website for the event

In parallel with the New York dialogue, the other Equator Prize-winning communities were honoured in local ceremonies to be held at UNDP country offices on or near the date of 19 May 2004. Further details on these national ceremonies can be found on the Equator Initiative website.

To view the official invitation for this event, please click here.

For more information on the event, please contact:
Michael Hooper
Equator Initiative
United Nations Development Programme
The Chrysler Building, 4 th Floor, 405 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10174
Phone: (212) 457-1077
Email: michael.hooper@undp.org