BIOCITY: Saving the web of life - Why biodiversity matters
published in the Japanese magazine BioCity, No.38, December 2007 (Japanese Version)
By Annika Vogt and Sebastian Winkler
If you ask people what they associate with biodiversity most of them will tell you that they don’t know exactly what it is but that it sounds like a rather complicated issue. Well, it certainly has a lot of facets, but in the end it is about something as simple as essential: the variety of life on Earth. Biodiversity – or biological diversity – stands for the variety of species, genes and ecosystems. Unfortunately, it is exactly this variety that we are about to loose at an unprecedented speed: the current extinction rate is 100 to 1000 times higher than the natural extinction rate used to be for billions of years.
The problem became obvious since the 1970’s, but it took the international community some time to realize two things: once the dependency on biodiversity and the right means to tackle biodiversity loss – and time and life kept ticking away for many years. Finally, in 2001, Heads of State of the European Union agreed upon a target that is so far unique in its concreteness and level of ambition: the so-called 2010 biodiversity target. According to this target “biodiversity decline should be halted with the aim of reaching this objective by the year 2010” – the clear signal for the need of significantly improved, intensified and joint biodiversity action had been given. It was one year later that the target was as well adopted worldwide by 190 Heads of State. Similar to its European equivalent, the target expressed at the global level aims “to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss”.
In order to remind Governments of their promise, communicate biodiversity issues, measure progress towards the target, and motivate more and more partners to contribute to it, the Countdown 2010 initiative was created in 2004. Within less than 3 years, this global initiative hosted by The World Conservation Union (IUCN), has been joined by more than 350 partners, ranging from national to local governments, from non-governmental organizations to businesses and academic institutions. Partners of Countdown 2010 become part of the network by committing to the 2010 biodiversity target, and they all follow the same basic goal: to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010 in order to save the web of life.
Why care?
The biodiversity around us has been shaped by billions of years of evolution and natural processes. So far, some 1.75 million species have been identified scientifically. However, estimations of the total number of species range from 5 to 100 million. But biological diversity is not only about species, it includes as well the variety of ecosystems such as mountains, deserts, lakes, forests, agricultural landscapes wetlands, and rivers. In each ecological system, living creatures – including humans – create a community that interacts with one another and with the water, soil, and air around it. It is this diversity that forms the web of life of which we are part and upon which we depend more than most of us realize.
The significance of biodiversity to humankind is hard to overestimate. Ecosystems provide food, medical resources, timber and all kind of raw material. Ecosystems play a crucial role in providing clean, breathable air, stabilizing climates and coastal areas. These goods and benefits – or ‘ecosystem services’ – are essential for human beings and form the basis of lots of industries, ranging from agriculture and fisheries to ecotourism and biotechnology. Approximately 40 per cent of the global economy depends on biological products and processes. In 2005 the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) – a scientific and comprehensive study under UN leadership and involving more than 1300 experts from 95 countries – clearly showed the immense and irreplaceable contributions of ecosystems to people and their well-being. It also revealed that ecosystem services in general are heavily undervalued. Unfortunately people tend to care less about what they take for granted – which seems to hold particularly true for public goods such as ecosystem services. Overexploitation, contamination and destruction of natural resources lead, in addition to other problems, to biodiversity loss. Those who are the most exposed to the consequences are the poor and people who are living in areas of low agricultural productivity: they depend on functioning ecosystems and are often unable to access or afford substitutes when e.g. grasslands become degraded. The loss of species has a far-reaching impact on people’s lives. For instance, the reduction of available freshwater fish might deprive a rural community not only of its major source of food, but also of its livelihoods.
Human activities have taken the planet to the edge of a massive wave of species extinctions, further threatening our own well-being. Biological diversity can be seen as the Earth’s overall immune system, and continuing loss of biodiversity makes ecosystems more vulnerable to disturbances like climate change, less resilient, and finally less able to supply people with the needed services.
As the MA showed, two thirds of ecosystem services are in decline. These include e.g. the provision of drinkable water, fishery production, the capacity of the atmosphere to cleanse itself of pollutants, the regulation of natural hazards, pollination, and the capacity of agricultural ecosystems to cope with pests and diseases. Experiments with controlled environments have shown that humans cannot easily copy ecological services. For instance, insect pollination can not be implemented with man-made methods, and already this activity represents a value of tens of billions of dollars to mankind. But even besides the obvious usefulness and benefits nature represents for humankind, many would agree that each life form has an intrinsic right to exist, and deserves protection.
On the move to 2010
The problems caused by biodiversity loss have, in the meantime, widely been recognized by the international community, and there have been quite some efforts at the global level to find international consensus on how to mitigate the ongoing loss of biodiversity. The most important outcome is the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a global treaty which was adopted in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and has so far been ratified by 190 States. The convention aims at three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from the use of genetic resources.
In 2002, the signatory parties of the CBD made a crucial step towards halting the loss of biodiversity when they adopted a Strategic Plan with the mission “to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national levels as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on earth”. The groundbreaking ‘2010 biodiversity target’ was subsequently endorsed by the Heads of State and Government at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the subject of several key international agreements.
Japan will in particular play a crucial role regarding the 2010 biodiversity target. Every two years, delegations of the currently 190 CBD parties meet at the so-called “Conference of the Parties” (COP) in order to discuss and agree upon biodiversity actions and decisions. The crucial COP that will take place in 2010 – the year national governments will have to report back on what they have been doing and achieved in view of the 2010 biodiversity target – will take place in the city of Nagoya, Japan.
From words to action: Countdown 2010
International treaties alone won’t save biodiversity. The Countdown 2010 initiative helps to overcome the implementation gap by triggering appropriate action at all levels: States, local and regional authorities, civil society and businesses. The overall goal of Countdown 2010 is therefore to assure and help that all governments and members of civil society, at every level, have taken the necessary actions to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010. The initiative has managed to create real momentum around the 2010 biodiversity target and to turn into the shape of a movement for biodiversity action. To join Countdown 2010, interested institutions and governments are requested to undersign the Countdown 2010 declaration which asks for three steps:
- to support the 2010 biodiversity target;
- to encourage decision makers to take action;
- to take the necessary steps to reduce biodiversity loss.
Countdown 2010 partners in general agree that the target won’t be reached if we go on with the business as usual model. They therefore define their own contributions to it: to get closer to the target, States for instance, might focus on creating funds for biodiversity projects, organizing conferences on specific issues such as marine biodiversity, or increasing the number of protected areas. Local and regional governments (regions, cities, municipalities) often focus on raising awareness of biodiversity issues among citizens, start cross-sectoral trainings on biodiversity for civil servants or create proper biodiversity action strategies. Business partners declare not to harm natural resources but to consider biodiversity concerns at work. In case it is unavoidable to do some damage, Countdown 2010 business partners commit themselves to offset these damages. The civil society, organized in non-governmental organizations (NGOs), is working on a very broad range of topics, but most Countdown 2010 NGO partners commit to focussing more specifically on biodiversity issues and communicating the 2010 biodiversity target.
Incentives and benefits that institutions experience by joining Countdown 2010 are:
- The usage of a persuasive communications platform (website, newsletter, information material), useful for not only spreading knowledge of the 2010 biodiversity target, but also for the efforts of Countdown 2010 partners.
- Links to and information about Countdown 2010 partner initiatives in other countries, regions and cities.
- The benefits of the many projects that the Countdown 2010 Secretariat is undertaking, such as the ‘LARA 2010’ project, focusing on a stronger involvement of local and regional authorities, or the ‘Business and Biodiversity’ project.
- The support and usage of the Countdown 2010 Assessment Tools. The tools measure the achievements and remaining challenges towards the 2010 biodiversity target.
- Access and support to other Countdown 2010 products, including best practice examples.
Once a year all partners are invited to meet at the Countdown 2010 Partners Assembly in order to exchange best practices, information and solutions, build up new partnerships and get to know the network. One specific need among Countdown 2010 partners became more and more obvious within the initiative’s past: to further engage local and regional authorities into nature conservation by taking into account their specific conditions.
The role of regions, cities and municipalities: global problems – local solutions?
As of 2007, the Earth’s population is mostly urban. It is the first year that, globally, there are more people living in cities than in rural areas. Because of the high population density in metropolitan areas, high pressure is being put on biodiversity; cities increasingly influence the environment through ecosystems damages, coastal pollution, and climate change. For instance, experts estimate that up to 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, causing climate change, are produced in cities.
At the same time, people’s wellbeing in cities depend to a great extend on the availability of ecosystem services such as recreation options and water supply through parks and healthy rivers. Cities provide unique opportunities to promote biodiversity and sustainable development, and thereby fplay a key role in addressing environmental issues from local to global level. Thanks to the close contact of local governments to citizens, urban areas are of crucial importance: this is where biodiversity issues can be most effectively communicated and translated into concrete action – therefore this is where behavioural change and understanding can take place and develop. The other reason why Countdown 2010 focuses more and more on engaging the local and regional level in the 2010 biodiversity target is very simple: regional governments, cities and municipalities owe and manage huge areas of land – and biodiversity! We need to make sure that local and regional authorities apply effective and successful measures to address biodiversity loss and have the opportunity to exchange best practices. Countdown 2010, supported by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, is therefore implementing a project that aims at two things: getting urban biodiversity on the political agenda, and building up a network of committed model regions within Europe that have joint forces to work towards the 2010 biodiversity target. Special communication tools and exchange mechanism such as regular meetings help to assure a coherent approach and ongoing engagement from the local and regional level. Via the LARA 2010 project (‘Local and Regional Authorities for Biodiversity 2010’) more than 50 local and regional governments have so far joined the Countdown 2010 initiative – including regions such as Île-de-France and cities like Madrid and Amsterdam. By the time parties of the Convention of Biological Diversity will meet in Nagoya in 2010, this network will hopefully have been expanded to far more cities and regions in order to help saving the web of life.
Continued efforts and actions are necessary – and will be made and taken by the Countdown 2010 Secretariat and its partners! – in order to keep the momentum going and help reaching the 2010 biodiversity target. If you want to find out what you can do to help conserving nature and contribute to the target, there are many ways to do so. One very good step is the following: contact the Countdown 2010 at the address below or log on to www.countdown2010.net.
Countdown 2010 Secretariat
IUCN – The World Conservation Union
Regional Office for Europe (ROfE)
Boulevard Louis Schmidt 64
1040 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 739 03 20
Fax: +32 2 732 94 99
www.countdown2010.net
