Window on Wildlife (10): Biodiversity Countdown 2010

I only discovered very late in the day that NRAS has designated 2009 as 'The Year of Rheumatoid Arthritis'. It is a shame that so many months have gone by, but good nonetheless that there is this opportunity for heightened awareness and for the sharing of new initiatives.

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On quite a different note, but still on the subject of special years, I see from the RSPB/RSPB Cymru that the countdown has already begun for 2010, the UN International Year of Biodiversity.

If this all seems a bit far removed from the average person in the street, or even the birder in the hide, I wonder what ideas we could come up with to increase the impact of the initiative at a local level - or in a way that has relevance for those we encounter via the virtual world of the web.

• British Ecological Society
• Rare beetle found in North Wales