Photo Championship 2010 organised by Naturefriends International

Theme: Countdown 2010 – Biodiversity
Naturefriends International (NFI) and its member federations actively champion the conservation of bio- diversity and of intact ecosystems as a basic prerequisite of sustainable development.

Naturefriends‘ efforts to offer people a live experience of biological diversity constitutes a major contribution to the international “Countdown 2010” initiative. In compliance with the UN Biodiversity Convention, this intiative seeks to markedly reduce the biodiversity loss by 2010 – the Interna- tional Year of Biodiversity.

Biodiversity is the variety of life, from individual genes via animals and plants to complex ecosystems and ecological processes. It accounts for the uniqueness of our planet while providing the basis for our existence. To this day, approximately 1.75 million species of plants, animals and microorganisms have been discovered, but the estimated number of undisco- vered species is many times this figure (13 million).

NFI is the international umbrella organisation of the Naturefriends movement boasting over 500,000 members in 50 member and partner organisations throughout the world. Founded in Vienna in 1895, it aids the cause of sustaina- ble development in line with its image as an environmental and social organisation. Naturefriends organise leisure time activities for members, run a network of over 1,000 Naturefriends houses and launch international campaigns featuring environmental issues.