ECO-UNESCO's Spring will be a busy one. After a long winter of ice, snow and freezing fog we are looking forward to getting the bounce back in our step. And 2010 is the UN International Year of Biodiversity, which is a great opportunity to get out and about and discover the wonders of our natural world. Biodiversity refers to the diverse range of life on our planet earth including people, animals and plants and with our biodiversity under threat with 1 in every 4 mammals threatened with extinction it is time for us to think a bit more about the other organisms we share the planet with.

ECO-UNESCO will be running activities for International Year of Biodiversity so check out our website. There will also be numerous activities being run with special events for Biodiversity day in May.

Biodiversity is also under threat from Climate Change and many of us are only too aware of how this will affect animals such as the polar bear. I visited a Young Environmentalist Awards project at the beginning of January which highlighted the effects Climate Change will have on the planet and provided simple steps that we can take to help combat Climate Change. The project is helping raise awareness with everyone in the school and local community. If you have an interesting environmental project that you have been working on then why not enter our Young Environmentalist Awards programme. The closing date for receipt of projects is February 26th - so there is still time to get involved!

ECO-UNESCO has now moved to the Greenhouse on 17 St. Andrew Street in Dublin 2. The Greenhouse has many facilities including a public space on the ground floor, an eco-shop run by Cultivate, information facility, an exhibition space and more. ECO-UNESCO will be running environmental workshops, youth programmes, training courses from the Greenhouse and all our popular publications are available also. We'll keep you posted as the venue develops.

And remember we always have lots of great environmental programmes and training courses for you to choose from. This February we will be running a new intensive FETAC level 5 Introduction to Sustainable Development over two weekends in February and March so if you have an interest in sustainable development and want to know a bit more then why not take part.

At ECO-UNESCO we also provide volunteering and internship opportunities for those who want to gain some environmental education and youth experience.

Until next time, take care and remember if you would like to help us in our work you can become an ECO-UNESCO member or volunteer.

Elaine Nevin, National Director, ECO-UNESCO
director@ecounesco.ie