The 8th annual Half-Earth Day event was held at La Casa Humboldt in Santiago de Cali, Colombia on October 22 alongside the 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16).
Taking place in one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, COP16 was the first meeting since the landmark 2022 adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Half-Earth Day 2024 responded to COP16’s theme Peace with Nature by emphasizing the role of knowledge in global species conservation. The program, Knowledge for Life, focused on lands and waters critical to protecting biodiversity—from Indigenous and local areas to urban and human-modified environments—and provided participants opportunities to learn about how knowledge, data, and experiences are creating innovative environmental management solutions, expanding private-sector collaboration and leadership, and leading to scientific advances that are transforming biodiversity conservation.
Half-Earth Day 2024 Highlights
Experience Half-Earth Day 2024
Watch: Opening Remarks
Welcome message and a short film
- Paula J. Ehrlich, President and CEO, E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, Co-Founder, Half-Earth Project
- Short Film, Listening to the Quiet with Harrison Ford
Watch: Session 1: Sharing Knowledge and Insights
What does it mean to collect, integrate, and steward knowledge? These processes often vary when working with communities vs policy makers or the general public. Our speakers shared their perspectives and experiences related to championing access, inclusion, representation, equity, and respect while working to share knowledge.
- Moderator: Sara Inés Lara, President Women for Conservation, Executive Director Fundación ProAves
- Speaker: Lucila Castro, Executive Director, Natura Argentina
- Speaker: Martha Cecilia Rosero Peña, Social Inclusion Director (Afro Descendants Fellow), Conservation International
- Speaker: Chadiz Valentina, Resguardo Indígena, Urada Jiguamiando
Watch: Session 2: Applying Knowledge to Advance Species Conservation
How can we apply knowledge to most effectively and equitably drive species conservation? We heard three examples that capture a variety of ways in which species data can be used to support conservation around the world. Our speakers highlighted the types of knowledge and collaborations necessary to help communities, civil society, and governments to achieve 30×30 goals and a Half-Earth future.
- Moderator: Katie Reytar, Senior Research Associate, World Resources Institute
- Speaker: Matt Clark, President and Executive Director, Nature & Culture International
- Speaker: Walter Jetz, Jack and Laura Dangermond Scientific Chair, E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation
- Speaker: Doucette Kayombo Useni, Partnerships Liaison Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN)
Watch: Keynote Conversation: What it Means to be Human – Our Relationship with Nature
As E.O. Wilson says in Half-Earth, “The biosphere does not belong to us; we belong to it.” In this Keynote Conversation, moderated by María Cecilia Londoño Murcia, Wade Davis, Carmen Guerra, and Cristián Samper discussed how Colombia has uniquely nurtured their connection with nature and how that knowledge can inform our lives and livelihoods aligned with the COP16 theme of Peace with Nature.
- Moderator: María Cecilia Londoño Murcia, Senior Information Manager, Humboldt Institute
- Speaker: Wade Davis, Professor Emeritus, Anthropology, University of British Columbia
- Speaker: Carmen Guerra, Policy Manager, Nia Tero
- Speaker: Cristián Samper, Managing Director and Leader for Nature Solutions, Bezos Earth Fund
Watch: Closing Remarks
Thank you to our speakers, sponsors and supporters
- Paula J. Ehrlich, President and CEO, E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, Co-Founder, Half-Earth Project
Watch: Musical Performance from Ensamble Pacífico
Featured Moments
Additional Half-Earth Day Events
Education Workshop
This hands-on workshop promoted international collaboration among teachers and educators through the sharing of knowledge, resources, and tools that can be used in and out of the classroom to celebrate Colombian conservation education efforts while engaging students in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math) practices to promote biodiversity conservation. Activities included a design challenge, access to authentic scientific data, and activities to promote communication through data visualization.
Science Workshop
This workshop brought together senior practitioners in agricultural sourcing with global biodiversity information producers to further the understanding of decision-relevant biodiversity measurement and its effective use by the industry. The workshop was interactive and aimed at collaboratively delineating the information needs for agricultural sourcing businesses to effectively monitor, report, and make decisions around rare and threatened biodiversity.
Half-Earth Day 2024 Sponsors
Half-Earth Day 2024 was made possible with generous support from our sponsors.
