The Biodiversity Ball

Celebrate biodiversity at the permaculture convergence at the Biodiversity Ball! Get fancy and dress up as another creature on Saturday night at the convergence! Prize for the best costume, and most unusual creature. If you are feeling bashful make a badge or get creative with an old T-shirt. Bring a poem, song or dance to share or perform during the cabaret with a biodiversity theme. Find out about the creature you come as so we can swap stories about their habits, habitats and wonderful life cycles and stories. The wikipedia link below lists some 150 species and is a good place to start if you want some inspiration. Biodiversity The variety of life on Earth. It is essential for sustaining the natural living systems or ecosystems that provide us with food, fuel, health, wealth, and other vital services. The central permaculture ethic of 'Earth Care' reminds us how crucially important biodiversity is to us as permaculture designers and practitioners. Other permaculture principles apply: -Use and Value Diversity -Use and Value Renewable Resources -Use biological resources -Work with nature rather than against Humans are part of this biodiversity too and have the power to protect or destroy it. Currently, our activities are destroying biodiversity at alarming rates. These losses are irreversible, impoverish us all and damage the life support systems we rely on. But we can prevent them. More about biodiversity Biodiversity is Life – UK International Year of Biodiversity Partnership - http://www.biodiversityislife.net/ UK Biodiversity Action Plan - http://www.ukbap.org.uk/ National Biodiversity Network - http://www.nbn.org.uk/ Royal Horticultural Society, some useful things to do in the garden - http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/Sustainable-gardening/Biodiversity-and-the-gardener Garden Organic's Heritage Seed Library - http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/hsl/index.php Rare Breeds Trust lists rare and endangered domesticated animals – Cattle, Pigs, Sheep, Goats, Horses and Ponies, Poultry - http://www.rbst.org.uk Self-willed-land – Mark Fisher's website packed full of thought provoking articles on permaculture and the re-wilding approach (as distinct from traditional conservation) - http://www.self-willed-land.org.uk UK Biodiversity Action Plan website - http://www.ukbap.org.uk/ Which species are endangered in the British Isles? List of endangered species in the British Isles on Wikipedia UK Biodiversity Action Plan website - Species List Lots of pictures at ARKive - www.arkive.org