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REPORT: 25 PERCENT OF ANIMAL SPECIES HAVE DISAPPEARED SINCE 1970
(English IPS News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)
BONN, Germany, May 21, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- A new report has
suggested that many industrialized countries are not complying with
their declared goal of "substantially reducing the loss of
biological diversity."
According to the study, "2010 and beyond: Rising to the
Biodiversity Challenge," by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), more
than a quarter of all animal species have disappeared since 1970
as a consequence of human action.
The report was presented in Bonn, Germany, ahead of the U.N.
conference on biodiversity that opened there this week.
"Between 1970 and 2005, the Living Planet Index declined by 27
percent overall," the study said. According to the study, this
decline has been even stronger in the European Union: 35 percent
between 1990 and 2005.
The WWF study affirms that the decimation of biodiversity has
stopped temporarily and some species are recuperating, but "all
evidence indicates that we have not reached a turning point toward
a better conservation of species," said Christoph Heinrich,
director of environmental protection at WWF Germany. "The global
dying of species continues."
The Living Planet Index, an internationally agreed upon standard
to measure progress toward the global target of reducing the loss
of biological diversity by 2010, uses population trends in species
from around the world to assess the state of global biodiversity.
The index tracks a population of nearly 4,000 of 241 fish, 83
amphibian, 40 reptile, 811 bird and 302 mammal species. Indices for
marine, terrestrial and freshwater species are calculated
separately and then averaged to create an aggregated index.
James Leape, the WWF International director-general, said,
"biodiversity underpins the health of the planet and has a direct
impact on all our lives.
"Put simply, reduced biodiversity means millions of people face
a future where food supplies are more vulnerable to pests and
disease and where water is in irregular or short supply," he added.
"No one can escape the impact of biodiversity loss because
reduced global diversity translates quite clearly into fewer new
medicines, greater vulnerability to natural disasters and greater
effects from global warming," Leape said.
The WWF report follows the release of several studies saying
there is no sign of slowdown of biodiversity loss. Furthermore,
direct drivers of such loss, such as the change of land use and
climate change, are expected to increase further.
Heinrich said multiple human economic activities -- from fishing
on an industrial scale to the demand for energy sources,
deforestation, desertification and the consequent greenhouse gas
emissions that provoke global warming -- continue to kill flora and
fauna around the world.
"This continuous death of species means that future generations
will face hunger, thirst, disease and disaster," Heinrich said.
In addition, the loss of biodiversity is a self-multiplying
process. The disappearance of one species disturbs the fragile
equilibrium of nature by breaking the chain food within biological
habitats, thus putting other species' existence at risk, forcing
them to emigrate, adapt or die.
The U.N. conference on biodiversity aims at reviewing compliance
with the targets adopted in 2002 to significantly reduce the rate
of decimation of species at the global and national level by 2010.
The U.N. conference in Bonn takes place in the framework of the
U.N. Convention on Biological diversity, the international treaty
adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio in June 1992 to protect
biodiversity.
The convention's three main goals are conservation of biological
diversity, sustainable economic use of flora and fauna, and the
equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources among
all countries.
In 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg endorsed the target of achieving by 2010 "a
significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at
the global, regional and national level as a contribution to
poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on earth."
That year EU countries agreed to a more ambitious target -- to
halt biodiversity loss by 2010. Neither objective will be reached,
according to environmental groups.
The U.N. defines biodiversity as "the variability among living
organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine and other
aquatic ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of which they are
part."
Biological diversity provides humankind with a wide range of
benefits, including important goods such as timber and medicinal
products, and essential support services such as carbon cycling and
storage, the provision of clean water and natural hazards
mitigation.
The U.N. conference in Bonn is also looking at the need to renew
agriculture and restore biological diversity in it.
Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the Convention on
Biological Diversity, said, "Agriculture is a prime example of how
human activities profoundly impact the ecological functioning of
the planet."
"During the past 50 years, humans have altered ecosystems more
rapidly and extensively than in any other period in human history,"
Djoghlaf added. "Indeed, more land was converted to cropland during
the last 50 years than in the previous two centuries. This is why
the issue of biodiversity and agriculture is on the agenda of the
Bonn conference."
The meeting in Bonn, with some 5,000 delegates from 191
countries in attendance, takes place at a time when the
international community is faced with a severe food crisis.
The price of basic staples such as wheat, maize and rice have
reached record highs, and global food stocks are at historical
lows. One of the most important challenges facing mankind is to
feed a growing population in an increasingly urbanized world
confronted with the combined impacts of climate change and the
unprecedented loss of biodiversity.
Djoghlaf spoke of how modern agriculture has contributed to
destroying biological diversity. "Since the dawn of history, humans
have used more than 7,000 plant species to satisfy their needs,"
he said. "During the last 100 years, 75 percent of the food crop
varieties we once grew are no longer cultivated. Today, we rely on
just three -- wheat, rice and maize -- for over two-thirds of our
calories."
Copyright ? 2008 Global Information Network
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