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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Defying Nature's End: A Blueprint for Saving the Planet

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Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org

http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Archives

http://forests.org/web/ -- Discuss Forest Conservation

09/01/00

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY

Think Big. One of my biggest frustrations in working to conserve

forests and biodiversity for over a decade has been that most effort

goes towards putting out the brush fires-campaigning to stop specific

instances of unsustainable development of biological resources.

There has been relatively less systematic, comprehensive effort put

out by the forest movement to develop a grand blueprint for "defying

nature's end." Until now. Think Big. Below is coverage of

Conservation International's efforts to convene scientific experts to

develop and implement an end game for saving the planet. What I like

particularly is the emphasis upon multiple scales of conservation-

targeting both regional wildernesses and local hotspots, emphasis

upon the critical role of protected areas, and putting a relatively

modest price tag on what it would take to save significant expanses

of forests and their biodiversity. Good work CI! Thank you for

making it clear that it is "not too late for humans to choose to save

the natural world, and themselves," and for Thinking Big.

g.b.

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Title: Defying Nature's End: A Blueprint for Saving the Planet

Source: c Environment News Service (ENS) 2000. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.ens.lycos.com/

Date: August 31, 2000

By: Cat Lazaroff

PASADENA, California, August 31, 2000 (ENS) - The Earth is in

trouble. Ecosystems are fragmented, species are vanishing, the

climate is changing. But it is not too late for humans to choose to

save the natural world, and themselves. That was the premise behind

an extraordinary conference held last week in Pasadena, in which

scientists, environmentalists and business leaders worked to draft a

blueprint for saving the planet.

The multi-billion dollar plan includes saving vast tracts of tropical

rainforest and establishing a Center for Biodiversity Conservation in

each of the world's 25 most threatened hotspots. Donations from the

private sector will be needed to make the blueprint workable,

conference organizers concluded.

Last year, Conservation International's Center for Applied

Biodiversity Science (CABS) developed the idea of assembling a

diverse group of people to discuss the status of biodiversity on

Earth, and devise practical ways of addressing the most urgent

conservation needs.

The international conference, "Defying Nature's End: A Practical

Agenda for Saving the Planet," drew participants from around the

globe. Over five days, the group tackled the enormous problems facing

the planet's land, freshwater and marine ecosystems, and came up with

a list of strategies to start solving these problems.

They even attached price tags to some of their solutions.

"I think we forged a consensus, a blueprint for action to protect

biodiversity on a global scale," said CABS executive director Gustavo

Fonseca in a telephone press conference today. "We came up with

practical approaches with a good chance of being funded."

The consensus began forming months ago, when 30 scientists were

invited by the California based environmental group Conservation

International and its partners to form working groups to study six

major areas of concern, covering many of the worst ecological crises

on the planet.

First is the protection of major tropical forest wilderness areas in

the Amazon, the Congo, Papua New Guinea and associated areas. These

regions support much of the world's biodiversity - thousands of plant

and animal species sharing increasing fragmented forests.

The second theme involved so called "hot spots" - places where large

numbers of unique species, found nowhere else on Earth, are

concentrated into small areas. Human actions are now threatening the

existence of many hot spot areas.

Two more themes covered land and fresh water environments. A fifth

team looked at the social driving forces behind environmental change.

The sixth group was charged with examining ecosystem services -

values like air and water filtration offered by intact ecosystems but

jeopardized by environmental degradation.

The scientists wrote working papers summarizing their understanding

of biodiversity problems, and cataloguing 50 suggestions for actions

to protect global biodiversity.

At last week's conference, groups were added to consider creating

"local biodiversity facilitation centers," increasing global

environmental awareness through the media and publicity, and

addressing economic incentives and disincentives to environmental

protection.

All agreed that protecting more of the planet should be the top

conservation priority - using parks, wilderness areas, and other

means to set aside crucial ecosystems.

"The number one finding of the conference was the absolutely critical

role of protected areas," said Russell Mittermeier, president of

Conservation International. New types of protected areas like

indigenous reserves and community managed areas, used in concert with

traditional refuges, are "absolutely fundamental," Mittermeier said.

"Without them, biodiversity conservation is simply impossible."

Importantly, conference participants agreed that this goal is not

impossible, or even impractical.

"What happened at the meeting was the conservation community realized

it now has the expertise and ability to really make an enormous

difference," said Stuart Pimm, a professor of conservation biology at

Columbia University's Center for Environmental Research and

Conservation. Pimm organized the scientific agenda for the

conference.

"We now have skills that I think probably a decade ago we did not

have," said Pimm. "And the private sector is also realizing that we

are facing environmental problems of unusual magnitude - and

realizing they have the resources to do something about it. The

conference was about people with knowledge of environmental problems

meeting with people with the practical skills to do something about

it."

To achieve the broad goal of conserving more of the planet,

conference participants concluded that they must build local networks

devoted to protecting regional biodiversity.

As a concrete example of how this could be achieved, the groups

propose building a Center for Biodiversity Conservation in each of

the world's 25 prime hotspots, as identified by Conservation

International.

The Centers would support field teams to study regional ecosystems,

and train a new generation of local scientists to tackle local

problems. At an estimated cost of about $1 million per location per

year, this goal alone could cost $25 million a year.

That price tag pales in comparison to the amount the conference

recommends be spent on preserving huge chunks of tropical forests -

up to an additional two million square kilometers, or 25 percent of

the remaining intact extent of forests in the Amazon and other

tropical regions.

This project could cost $2 billion over the next 10 years, the groups

estimated.

Unrealistic? Not according to Mittermeier.

"If we continue to invest in biodiversity at our current rate, we

won't be successful," said Mittermeier. "We need an order of

magnitude more investment and commitment to biodiversity."

That commitment will come largely from the private sector, argued

Mittermeier. "It's happening right now," he said. "We're working with

the private sector at a scale far beyond anything that's been done

before."

For example, Conservation International's CABS program was started

with a $35 million donation by Gordon Moore, cofounder and chair

emeritus of Intel Corporation. Another $5 million anonymous donation

started the group's Tropical Wilderness Protection Fund, to be used

to purchase intact land.

"We're seeing the emergence of a major new wave of philanthropy in

this country," particularly from the high tech sectors, Mittermeier

said. "I think a large chunk of this will be directed toward the

environment."

Private money "can come in very rapidly," said Fonseca. Until

recently, conservation groups "have lacked resources to act quickly

enough to make a difference. We tend to enter into situations after

the damage has been done or after the cost of making a difference has

increased dramatically."

Using private funds as "seed" donations, Conservation International

and other groups can move fast enough to preserve ecosystems before

they are destroyed. Once a project gets off the ground, groups can

leverage large sums from government agencies and corporate resources

like the World Bank, the conference participants concluded.

Another important strategy identified at the conference will be

convincing governments of the economic value of intact ecosystems.

Research projects to identify ecosystem services such as water

filtration, greenhouse gas regulation and disease prevention will be

a crucial step, the conference participants concluded.

Because tropical rainforests can absorb carbon dioxide - a greenhouse

gas - from the atmosphere, Conservation International argues that

governments can put a price on acres of forest, just as many now put

a price on trading carbon dioxide emissions credits to combat global

warming.

"If we can get governments to capture the value of those ecosystems,

then I think we can protect those ecosystems," said Professor Pimm.

A great deal of money that could be used for biodiversity

conservation is now wasted on "perverse subsidies," the conference

participants concluded. Pimm noted that the world's fisheries bring

in about $50 billion a year in economic benefits - yet cost taxpayers

some $100 billion a year in subsidies "to keep fishing fleets

afloat."

By "removing the economically damaging impacts that are also

environmentally damaging," Pimm argued, governments could spend

billions more each year on protecting renewable resources like

fisheries.

"If we could do way with some of the perverse subsidies that exist

out there, we'd go along way toward achieving our goals," agreed

Mittermeier.

The cost of not achieving the goals identified at the conference

could be very high, in species both known and unknown. Mittermeier

noted that most scientists estimate that about half the species on

the planet are not yet known to science.

"We don't know within one or possibly two orders of magnitude how

many other species are on this planet," said Mittermeier, "and that's

keeping us from getting a handle on biodiversity."

But time is running out. The blueprint created at last week's

conference does include long term plans for studying biodiversity and

ecosystems, but concentrates on setting aside as much land and sea as

possible, to prevent the loss of what is left.

"If we don't do these things ... within the next decade," said

Mittermeier, "chances are we're going to lose a very significant

portion of life on Earth within the early part of this century."

The conference's preliminary blueprint for saving the planet is

available at: http://www.defyingnaturesend.com/

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