May 22nd was International Biodiversity Day. The FU Berlin invited people to celebrate this day in the Botanic Garden to mark the start of the proclaimed Year of Biodiversity. After a welcoming address by Ina Czyborra, Senator for Science, Health and Care of the State of Berlin, and the presentation of the FU Berlin's new biodiversity strategy, there was a panel discussion on the challenges of overcoming the biodiversity crisis and the importance of research and teaching in this regard. Prof. Partzsch took part in this discussion together with Prof. Thomas Borsch, Director of the Botanical Garden Berlin and Jörg-Andreas Krüger, President of the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) Germany. This was followed by a picnic, as well as short presentations and guided tours by researchers from the FU Berlin. In the afternoon, Dr. Albert Denk also presented research insights into the UN negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goal for the conservation of biodiversity (SDG 15). In this keynote speech, the predominantly negative mid-term review of the goals and the contradictions between the goals were discussed. The presentation is available here (in German).