United Nations A/RES/61/203 General Assembly Distr.: General 19 January 2007 Sixty-first session Agenda item 53 (f) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 20 December 2006 [on the report of the Second Committee (A/61/422/Add.6)] 61/203. International Year of Biodiversity, 2010 The General Assembly, Recalling chapter 15 of Agenda 21 1 on the conservation of biological diversity adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Recalling also the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2 which was ratified by one hundred and eighty-eight States and one regional economic integration organization, and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity, 3 Recalling the commitment of the World Summit on Sustainable Development to a more effective and coherent implementation of the three objectives of the Convention, and the target to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction in the current rate of loss of biodiversity, Recalling also the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (“Johannesburg Plan of Implementation”), 4 Recalling further the 2005 World Summit Outcome, 5 Recalling the need to expedite the implementation of the Global Initiative on Communication, Education and Public Awareness of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Concerned by the continued loss of biological diversity, and acknowledging that an unprecedented effort would be needed to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction in the rate of loss of biological diversity, _______________ 1 Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992, vol. I, Resolutions Adopted by the Conference (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.93.I.8 and corrigendum), resolution 1, annex II. 2 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1760, No. 30619. 3 See UNEP/CBD/ExCOP/1/3 and Corr.1, part two, annex. 4 Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South Africa, 26 August-4 September 2002 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.03.II.A.1 and corrigendum), chap. I, resolution 2, annex. 5 See resolution 60/1. 06-50655