UN establishes International Day of Tropics

The UN General Assembly on Tuesday decided to designate June 29 as the International Day of the Tropics.

In a resolution adopted by the 193 UN members, the General Assembly recognized that "tropical nations have made significant progress, but face a variety of challenges that demand focused attention across a range of development indicators and data in order to achieve sustainable development."

The tropics, as a region, account for 40 percent of the world's total surface area and are host to approximately 80 percent of the world's biodiversity and much of its language and cultural diversity, the resolution noted.

The resolution invited all member states, organizations of the United Nations system, other international and regional organizations and civil society, including non-governmental organizations, to observe the International Day of the Tropics in an appropriate manner and in accordance with national priorities, in order to raise awareness of the tropics, the specific challenges that they face and the emerging opportunities that they present. Endit