Nations agree historic deal to save nature

Representatives to a U.N. conference on biodiversity agreed early on Saturday to expand protected areas on land and at sea in the hopes of slowing the rate of extinction of the world’s animals and plants and preventing further damage to its ecosystems.

After marathon negotiations that stretched hours past the designated time, delegates also managed to overcome divisions between rich and poor countries to agree to share access to and the benefits of genetic resources such as plants whose extracts have been developed into medicines - a key sticking point that had threatened to doom the entire two-week meeting in Nagoya, southwest of Tokyo.

Environment ministers from around the globe also agreed on rules for sharing the benefits from genetic resources from nature between governments and companies, a trade and intellectual property issue that could be worth billions of dollars in new funds for developing nations.

Agreement on parts of the deal has taken years of at times heated negotiations, and talks in the Japanese city of Nagoya were deadlocked until the early hours of Saturday after two weeks of talks.

Delegates agreed goals to protect oceans, forests and rivers as the world faces the worst extinction rate since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago.

They also agreed to take steps to put a price on the value of benefits such as clean water from watersheds and coastal protection by mangroves by including such "natural capital" into national accounts.

Services provided by nature to economies were worth trillions of dollars a year, the head of the U.N. Environment Program, Achim Steiner, said in a statement, adding businesses from banks to miners were key in halting rapid loss of ecosystems.

"These goals recognize and value the irreplaceable benefits that nature provides to people in the form of food, fuel, fiber, fodder and freshwater that everyone depends on," Andrew Deutz, director of international government relations for U.S.-based The Nature Conservancy, stated.

Delegates and greens said the outcome would send a positive signal to troubled U.N. climate negotiations that have been become bogged down by a split between rich and poor nations over how to share the burden in curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

U.N. climate talks resume in Mexico in a month.

"TORTUROUS NEGOTIATIONS"

"We're delighted there's been a successful outcome to these long and torturous negotiations and I think it shows that these multilateral negotiations can deliver a good result," said Peter Cochrane, head of Australia's delegation in Nagoya.

Delegates agreed to a 20-point strategic plan to protect fish stocks, fight the loss and degradation of natural habitats and to conserve larger land and marine areas.

They also set a broader 2020 "mission" to take urgent action to halt the loss of biodiversity.

Nations agreed to protect 17 percent of land and inland waters and 10 percent of coastal and marine areas by 2020. Currently, 13 percent of land and 1 percent of oceans are protected for conservation.

The third part of the deal, the Nagoya Protocol on genetic resources, has taken nearly 20 years to agree and sets rules governing how nations manage and share benefits derived from forests and seas to create new drugs, crops or cosmetics.

The protocol could unlock billions of dollars for developing countries, where much of the world's natural riches remain.

"The protocol is really, really a victory," Brazil's Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira (right) told reporters.

It will also mean changes for businesses.

"This isn't a boring protocol. It will regulate billions of dollars for the pharmaceutical industry," said Tove Ryding, policy adviser for biodiversity and climate change for Greenpeace.

Karl Falkenberg, (below right) head of the European Commission's environment department, said it would also fight poverty.

"We finally have something that is going to give great results for the environment, for the poor people," who will be able to earn money in exchange for access to genetic materials, he said after the talks ended.

Delegates and greens had feared the ill-feeling that pervaded climate negotiations after last December's acrimonious meeting in Copenhagen would derail the talks in Nagoya.

"There's been a mood of change. I think the failure of the Copenhagen meeting last year perhaps has meant a new realization that we need to more flexible in negotiations," said Jane Smart, director of conservation policy for the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Historic Deal to save Nature

Source:
Reuters, "Nations agree historic deal to save nature", accessed November 1, 2010

World examines "impossible" goal to halt extinctions

World leaders will next week consider a target for halting extinctions of animals and plants by 2020 that many experts rate impossibly ambitious given mounting threats such as climate change and loss of habitats.

"Biodiversity losses are accelerating," said Anne Larigauderie, executive director of the Paris-based Diversitas Secretariat (at right), which groups international scientists and reckons the goal laid out in a draft U.N. plan is out of reach for 2020.

Experts say that at least half of the world’s current species will be completely gone by the end of the century. Wild plant-life is also disappearing. Of the 45,000 species evaluated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2008, 17,000 faced at least a high risk of extinction in the wild. The list of species in trouble is extensive and includes orangutans, rhinos, tigers, bees, polar bears, chimpanzees, blue-finned tuna, etc. Some scientists are predicting that half of all species will go extinct in this century.

At the United Nations headquarters in New York on September 22, nations will discuss how to protect the diversity of plants and animals -- vital to everything from food to fresh water -- after failing to reach a goal set in 2002 of a "significant reduction" in losses by 2010.

The world has made some progress since 2002, such as in expanding protected areas for wildlife. But U.N. studies say extinction rates are running up to 1,000 times higher than those inferred from fossil records in the worst crisis since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago.

Larigauderie said scientists had been largely left out of defining new goals. "Until we have an organized process we will continue to have these sort of feel-good objectives that we are going to miss again," she said of halting losses by 2020.

A draft U.N. strategic plan for 2020, to be formally adopted at U.N. talks in Japan in October, calls for "effective and urgent action" either "to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2020" or "toward halting the loss of biodiversity" with no deadline.

IMMENSE STRUGGLE

"Our goal has to be to halt the loss of biodiversity," said Achim Steiner (at left), head of the U.N. Environment Program.

"Can we already agree on targets and time-lines that lead us to that over the course of a decade? It will be an immense struggle," he stated while urging tough goals.

Apart from the overall target for 2020, some targets in a draft strategic plan are more measurable -- such as an option of "ending overfishing" or "halving" deforestation by 2020.

A rising human population, spread of cities, pollution and global warming are adding to problems that are damaging nature and vital free services ranging from insect pollination of crops to coral reefs that are nurseries for fish stocks.

Environmental group Greenpeace said the world should set the strictest possible goals for 2020.

"We favor halting the loss of biodiversity by 2020," said Nathalie Rey of Greenpeace. "We are at a crossroads where we are at a point of no return. You have to stay ambitious."

A U.N. study this year said the world risked "tipping points" of no return such as a drying out of the Amazon rainforest, a build-up of fertilizers that bring dead zones in the oceans or ocean acidification linked to climate change.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature, which groups governments, scientists and environmentalists, believes it is too ambitious to set a goal of halting losses by 2020.

It has argued for a vaguer target of "putting in place by 2020 all the necessary policies and actions to prevent further biodiversity loss." Beyond that, it wants a 2050 deadline for conserving and restoring biodiversity.

Source:
Reuters,"World examines "impossible" goal to halt extinctions", accessed September 18, 2010

From the Inbox: New Discovery - World's smallest wallaby

Dear Friend, A team of scientists on a Conservation International led Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) expedition have discovered an array of species new to science in Indonesia’s Foja Mountains on the island of New Guinea. This wilderness once dubbed “The Lost World” by the west is teeming with a stunning new diversity of spectacular species. Your gift today will support our many programs discovering and protecting species and their habitats. Dr. Ucok holds this 1.4 kg wolly rat - a species new to science. Foja Mts, western New Guinea, Indonesia. Image © CI/photo by Bruce Beehler The collaborative team of international and Indonesian scientists endured torrential rainstorms and life-threatening flash floods as they tracked species from the low foothills to the top of the Range, reporting notable discoveries including: a bizarre spike-nosed tree frog; an oversized but notably tame new woolly rat; a gargoyle-like bent-toed gecko with yellow eyes; a remarkable imperial pigeon; and, a tiny forest wallaby, which represents the smallest member of the kangaroo family documented in the world.> The discovery of these absolutely incredible forms of life is much needed positive news. Make a gift to support our work to protect species like these and their habitats around the world. CI is working with the government of Indonesia hoping that the documentation of such unique species will encourage them to bolster long-term protection of the area. Further, with 20 years of RAP surveys to its credit, CI is now embarking on an ambitious project – to double or even triple the number of species discoveries over the next few years. Many of the still undiscovered species may be beneficial to people’s health, food, and fresh-water security, and therefore important for conservation. Thank you for your support. Sincerely, Beth Wallace VP, Marketing Communications + Membership P.S. 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity. In October, the international community will gather in Japan to discuss how to reduce the rate of species and plant loss. Your gift today will support CI’s efforts to hold nations accountable for slowed progress and fight for a stronger future commitment.

Header photo © CI/photo by Haroldo Castro

List of endangered species growing longer

Far too many of the world's plants and animals - and the wild places that support them - are at risk of collapse, a U.N. report finds, despite a global goal set in 2002 for major improvement by this year.

Frogs and other amphibians are most at risk of extinction, coral reefs are deteriorating most rapidly and the survival of nearly a quarter of all plant species is threatened, the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity said Monday in a report issued every four years.

The outlook on the planet's ecological diversity and health is produced under a 1993 treaty since joined by most of the world's nations. It says the planet is falling short of its goal to achieve by this year "a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national levels."

Pollution, climate change, drought, deforestation, illegal poaching and overfishing are among the many culprits named.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warns in the report that the consequences of "this collective failure" will be severe for everyone on the planet if it is not quickly corrected.

"We must give it higher priority in all areas of decision making and in all economic sectors," he says. "Conserving biodiversity cannot be an afterthought once other objectives are addressed - it is the foundation on which many of these objectives are built."

The U.N. had declared 2010 would be the "International Year of Biodiversity," seeking to raise awareness.

But the report provides extremely dire projections of the state of biodiversity globally, such as the loss of huge areas of the Amazon rain forest and many fresh water lakes.

The report is based on a survey of some 500 peer-reviewed scientific articles and intergovernmental assessments, and was financed by Canada, the European Union, Germany, Japan, Spain and Britain, along with the U.N. Environment Program.

Among the biggest problems is that species are being lost even before scientists can properly study them.

"That's the tragedy of biodiversity loss," said Delfin Ganapin, a senior manager for the U.N. Environment Program's Global Environment Facility that provides financing for the treaty's goals. "Before you've read the book in a library, you've already lost the books."

Competition for jobs and economic growth, rather than lack of planning, is seen as the biggest hindrance, particularly in the least developed nations of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where many of the world's most impoverished people live.

Africa, for example, is home to a quarter of the world's mammal species and a fifth of all bird species. Forty-nine of the African Union's 53 nations have strategies for saving imperiled species.

But none of the 110 nations that submitted reports to the treaty claimed to have met their individual targets for improving biodiversity.

Still, many of these problems "could be solved with urgent action," Ganapin told a news conference at U.N. headquarters.

"If we can only summon even a fraction of the money that was put in to solve the financial crisis, we would have been able to avoid very much more serious and fundamental breakdowns in the Earth's life-support ecosystems," he said.

The report does contain a few slivers of hope: It says, for example, that measures to control the spread of so-called alien invasive species have resulted in the rescue of at least 31 bird species during the past century.

Source:
San Francisco Chronicle, "List of endangered species growing longer", accessed May 16, 2010