Accra, May 20, GNA - Ms Christine Churcher, Minister of Environment and Science, on Friday asked the media to make science education a core issue in their activities and to educate the public about its relevance to their lives and the need to protect and preserve it. She said since science was basically about the environment, it should also be given a national attention and made a priority in all issues of governance.

Ms Churcher said this when she launched the International Biodiversity Day on the global theme: "Biodiversity: Life Insurance for our Changing World".

Biodiversity Day, which falls on Sunday, May 22, was launched on a working day to enable all stakeholders to participate fully in its activities.

Alongside Biodiversity Day, Ms Churcher also launched three other events on the international calendar, namely, World Environment Day, World Day to Combat Drought and Desertification and the Day of Scientific Renaissance in Africa, scheduled to be observed on June 5, June 17 and June 30 respectively.

Biodiversity, comprising the different forms of living things, including animals and all microorganisms on and within the surface of the earth, face neglect with little care and respect for the services it provides for human existence.

Ms Churcher said activities of biodiversity that were aimed at promoting the conservation of biological resources must be supported by all Ghanaians, urging them to join hands in preserving the environment. "If we fail to take good care of our biodiversity, our survival and indeed the future could be disastrous. We therefore need to preserve the fragile web of life on our planet, the earth." The Minister said the government on its part was determined and committed to the sustainable exploitation of the country's forest and other natural resources.

Professor Alfred Oteng-Yeboah, Chairman, Ghana National Biodiversity Committee, said the biodiversity status in Ghana must be changed to ensure that it services were not compromised with global changes.

He said with the increase in the world's population that continued to grow by some 80 million each year, biodiversity life insurance, as the theme reflected, was what was needed to help save dwindling world resources.

He stressed the need to create awareness and present a better perception of biodiversity and its components into the national psyche. Prof. Oteng-Yeboah suggested that the second phase of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) should use the national biodiversity strategy and action plans in an effort to ensure that all sectors of the Ghanaian economy were bought into the biodiversity strategy.