UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) – Actor Edward Norton on Thursday was named United Nations (UN) Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Norton, who is also known for his conservation activism, as Goodwill Ambassador, and with his new post, the actor said he hopes to be able to channel the attention he receives for his work in Hollywood towards raising awareness of the UN’s ideals and activities.

“I think that [Goodwill] Ambassadors in many ways can play a role in highlighting the models of success that the UN is promoting around the world,” Norton said.

The twice nominated Academy Award actor said he will work with the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to highlight the “crisis of biodiversity” and ensure world leaders take appropriate measures to protect the environment, adding that he will prioritize people’s increase of “focus on the fact that human well-being is intertwined fundamentally with biodiversity.”

It is important that “people realize that they are not separate from the web of life,” he added. “Our ability to thrive as a species and as a civilization totally depends on that web of life,” Norton said, stating that biodiversity is an issue that “transcends national boundaries,” with people “having lost sight” of the need for environmental protection.

Norton also serves as a board member of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust and takes part in launching an innovative social networking platform called Crowdrise to increase participation in charitable work. But his active social participation is not a surprise, as his family has been long involved in sustainable development issues. Norton’s father is a conservation advocate and his maternal grandparents founded an organization to help provide affordable housing in the U.S.

Last year, Norton ran in the New York City Marathon, helping to raise more than $1 million for local communities in Kenya.

This appointment comes as the UN marks 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity, with heads of State set to discuss the issue at a high-level meeting at UN Headquarters in New York at the start of the General Assembly’s 65th annual General Debate in September.