Hungary
Hungary's National Focal Point informs that the celebration of International day for Biological Diversity in that country was focused on a press conference held by the Minister of Environment and Water, in order to " raise public awareness on biodiversity issues and to introduce the goals of the Convention in Hungary." The press conference was held in front of a beautiful stalagtite-rich cave in Budapest, which is the second longest cave in Hungary.
As the topic of Biodiversity Day 2004 was "Food, Water and Health for All" and in order to show the diversity of Hungarian culture and cuisine participants in the Press Conference were offered several traditional foods made of local ingredients and wines representing the wine regions of Hungary which were donated by each national park of Hungary.
There was also an open-air drawing exhibition about nature and environment to demonstrate cultural values. Finally, those present at the celebration had the possibility to visit the cave and gain valuable information from spealeologists.
The participants of the celebration enjoyed the programmes a lot. We were lucky to have some animals from the ZOO of Budapest (horses of a Hungarian variety called "Hucul" and a tamed Eagle Owl), which gave a pleasant and informal atmosphere.
In addition to the press conference, a day-long competition was held at the ZOO of Budapest, where families and children could join an adventurous game and learn about nature, endangered species and protected animals.
