Biodiversity Alliance
Biodiversity Alliance is a conservation collaborative involving Cleveland Botanical Garden, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo/Cleveland Zoological Society, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History and The Holden Arboretum. Biodiversity Alliance’s mission is to conserve biodiversity and natural environments. 
One of the greatest challenges facing the world today is finding an appropriate balance between the conservation of biodiversity and meeting the needs of a growing human population.
Biodiversity Alliance recognizes that ex situ conservation centers — botanical gardens, arboreta, natural history museums, and zoological parks — are uniquely positioned to conduct research necessary to conserve biodiversity and to educate a large audience about their role in the environment. By bringing together the resources of four Cleveland organizations with overlapping conservation, research, and educational goals, Biodiversity Alliance will provide a coordinated approach to research and education.
Northeast Ohio Environmental Awards
Dominion Foundation and Biodiversity Alliance are proud to announce the Northeast Ohio Environmental Awards. The awards program recognizes and honors the outstanding achievements of organizations, businesses and individuals in a wide range of environmental initiatives throughout the region and pays tribute to those that have demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence, leadership and accomplishment in their respective fields.
Awards will be offered in the following categories:
- Community
- Business
- Primary/Secondary Education
- Higher Education
For information and nomination materials for the 2009 Northeast Ohio Environmental Awards, please visit www.biodiversityalliance.org.
Northeast Ohio Envirnmental Awards Ceremony
We are very honored this year to have Dr. Marcus Eriksen as our guest speaker for the 2009 Northeast Ohio Environmental Awards Ceremony. Marcus is the Director of Research and Education at the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. You may have heard about Marcus' adventure last summer as he sailed across the Pacific Ocean on a raft made of 15,000 plastic bottles. Marcus' talk entitled "Plastic Debris: Lakes to Sea" will focus on the impact of plastic on our environment and actions we can all take to minimize this impact.
The Awards ceremony will be held on Friday, October 2nd at 7:30 p.m. in The Cleveland Museum of Natural History's Murch Auditorium.
The cost for the evening is $8 for adult members of the Museum and $10 for nonmembers. Tickets may be purchased at the door, online at www.cmnh.org, or by calling the Museum box office at (216) 231-1177. Pre-registration is encouraged.
The Awards are sponsored by Dominion Foundation and Biodiversity Alliance.
In 2003, Marcus Eriksen sailed down the Mississippi River on a plastic raft called Bottle Rocket. In 2008, he sailed across the Pacific Ocean on a raft made of 15,000 plastic bottles called JUNK. In 2009, he will sail Lake Erie on a raft made of bottles called The Cola-hoga!
Build and float your own plastic boat in The Great Lake Erie Boat Float! The Boat Float will be held on Saturday, October 3rd at the Lower Edgewater State Park Beach. The boat launch is scheduled for 9 a.m.
Don't want to sail in the Lake? Then create your own tabletop boat for the Mini-Boat Float-illa. Registration is also required for the Float-illa.
Registration information can be found at lakeerieboatfloat.org.
Questions? Contact Cathi Lehn, Conservation Program Coordinator for Biodiversity Alliance: phone: (216) 707-2826 or email: clehn@cbgarden.org
