When
Most of the carvings for the monument will be produced at a series of carving festivals to be held in the years running up to the Olympics in 2012. Like the pilot ‘Micro Festival’ held in 2008, these festivals will take place around the time of International Day of Biodiversity on 22nd May, and will dovetail with the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival, just down the Jurassic Coast. 2010 and 2012 will be especially important years.
2010 is the ‘deadline’ of the Countdown 2010 international biodiversity pledge. As a result it has been declared International Year of Biodiversity by the United Nations General Assembly. 2010 is also the 350th anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Society after a lecture by Christopher Wren.
2012 is the 20th anniversary of the Convention on Biological Diversity which was formed in the aftermath of the Rio Earth summit in 1992. It will also see the sailing events of the London Olympics hosted by the National Sailing Academy on Portland. 2012 also represents 350 years since Dodos were last seen alive on Mauritius.
