Tomorrow (Saturday 22 May) is International Day for Biological Diveristy – a 24-hour focus of the wider International Year of Diversity. (One wonders if there’s an International Hour of Diversity, in which things get intensely and uproariously diverse.)

There are few places in the world more suited to celebrating this event than London’s Natural History Museum, which is home to tens of millions of biological specimens and workplace of world-class esearchers.

This weekend, they’ve put together a special programme to bang the drum for our planet’s multifarious fauna and flora. Many of the museum’s scientists will be on hand to answer questions about their work. Meanwhile a new award known as the Young Darwin Prize will be launched. The prize will reward young people (7-14 year-olds) who create impressive videos about local biodiversity projects. Various talks and activities run throughout the day.

Elsewhere in London, the special day is celebrated at Lambeth Palace, which will open its extensive gardens (2-5.30pm), taking visitors on a biodiversity trail. The Grant Museum of Zoology is hosting a day of family activities among its eclectic collection of animal parts. And don’t forget that the RHS Chelsea Flower Show begins on Monday.