Editorial: Protecting global biodiversity
Published in The Hindu on May 19, 2006
Over the past few decades, human activity in the name of development has adversely affected global biodiversity in an unprecedented way. The absence of satisfactory measures to check or reverse this trend has been brought out by the recently released Global Biodiversity Outlook 2 report of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. The fact that extinction rates for species are shooting up by as much as 1,000 times the background rates, and that 12-52 per cent of species belonging to certain higher groups face the threat of extinction, highlights the role of human activities in the destruction of biodiversity. Also, the ability of biological resources to renew themselves to match human demand for resources has been reduced by 20 per cent. If the current extinction rates continue, planet earth will witness the first mass extinction induced by human activity. Against this backdrop, the Convention on Biological Diversity, a global treaty created in 1992 and strengthened by the Conference of Parties in 2002, set 2010 as the target to achieve significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss at all levels and ensure that the resultant benefits lead to poverty alleviation and help all life forms. According to the report, the success achieved in translating the various provisions of the Convention into policies and practices is far from satisfactory.
Reasonable progress has been made in promoting international cooperation for supporting the Convention and the report makes special mention of initiatives by the scientific community to put the policies to work. Yet much needs to be done to involve and enlist the support of international and national organisations. The report calls for increased awareness of biodiversity and its value for human well-being at all levels. It highlights the lack of involvement of indigenous and local communities across the country in the endeavour to achieve the target. Participation by local communities is vital especially because poverty alleviation, one of the guidelines of the Convention, can be achieved only with their active involvement. This becomes clear from the fact that the poor and marginalised sections of society, which depend on local ecosystems for their livelihood, bear the brunt of human exploitation and the consequences of biodiversity destruction. While sustainable agricultural practices will help everyone, the compelling need for preventing overexploitation of resources and restoring critical ecosystems that will benefit the poor cannot be overlooked. Even as the needs of development cannot be ignored, encouraging ecosystem conservation, and putting it to sustainable use should be the watchword. Meeting the 2010 target is “by no means… impossible”, but the biodiversity report, cautioning that there is no room for complacency, concurs with the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report on the need for “unprecedented additional efforts” at all levels to meet the target.
