Human Population Threatens World's Biological Diversity

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org

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2/9/00

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY

It is a no-brainer. To have any chance of success, serious efforts

to conserve biological diversity and operable ecological systems will

require controlling human population. There are known and proven

policies, investments and incentives that can bring about declines in

growth and stabilization in population. Perhaps the perfect example

is the effect upon fertility of educating young women. What is

needed, as with rainforest conservation, is the political will and

resources to pursue required policies necessary to sustain ecosystems

and their human, plant and animal communities.

g.b.

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Title: Environment: Humans Threaten WORLD'S most Vulnerable Areas

Source: InterPress Service

Date: February 8, 2000

WASHINGTON, (Feb. 8) IPS - Human population density and growth

occurring in the planet's most biologically diverse and threatened

areas further endanger species in these vulnerable zones, warned a new

report released here yesterday.

While these species-rich regions cover less than an eighth of the

Earth's land surface, they are now home to one-fifth of the world's

population, according to a new report by Population Action

International (PAI), an advocacy group here.

More than 1.1 billion people live within the 25 most species-rich and

environmentally threatened areas of the world, said the report,

entitled "Nature's Place."

So-called "biodiversity hotspots" cover some 12 percent of the

planet's land surface and contain at least half of the world's land-

based species, while being home to about 20 percent of the world's

human population, according to the 80-page report.

All but one of the 25 hotspots -- a concept developed by

conservationists referring to regions where biological diversity is

most concentrated and the threat of loss most severe -- are still

experiencing net population growth.

"We found that human population density levels and growth rates in the

hotspots' significantly exceed those of the world as a whole, a

potentially alarming finding for environmental conservation," said

Richard Cincotta, a senior researcher for PAI and the main author of

the report.

Most biologists believe that a mass extinction is currently underway

and the planet is being transformed into a world that is genetically

poorer, said the report.

One-fifth of all living species could disappear within the next 30

years because of the greater demand for land and resources by one

single species -- human beings, according to PAI.

"In all of the hotspots, fully intact natural ecosystems have already

been reduced to 30 percent or less of their original land surface

area," said Nature's Place.

And in nine hotspots -- including the Philippines, Madagascar, and

Brazil's Atlantic forest region -- intact natural habitats are down to

less than 10 percent of their original size.

According to the new report, in 19 of the 25 biodiversity hotspots,

population is growing faster than in the world as a whole. Population

is growing fastest in western Ecuador, the tropical Andes and

Madagascar hotspots.

In 16 of the 25 hotspots, population density is at or above the

planet's average density. The reports said density is highest in Sri

Lanka, the Philippines, and the Caribbean.

By 1995, an additional 75 million people were already living within

the three major tropical wilderness areas, the last great expanses of

tropical forests located in the Amazon, the Congo Basin and New Guinea

and Melanesian Islands.

"Population growth in these regions has been proceeding at two and

half times the rate of the world's population as a whole," said the

report.

If present deforestation rates continue unabated, warned PAI, these

vast biologically rich forests could be reduced to a handful of

isolated woodlands in the coming decades.

Slower population growth rates, said the report, could ease the

challenge of conserving these threatened areas.

Despite the report's grim nature, Cincotta said he was hopeful since

recent population research suggests that couples worldwide, and

especially younger women, desire later childbirth and fewer children.

Both desires, if put into effect, contribute powerfully to the slowing

of population growth, now averaging 1.6 percent annually for

developing regions and 0.3 percent for industrialized nations.

"The current slowing of world population growth offers hope for easing

the pressure of human activities on these ecologically valuable, yet

fragile areas," said Cincotta.

To insure the survival of the hotspots regions, the report recommended

bolstering conservation efforts focusing on protected areas combined

with increased financial support of international family planning

programs.

"The conservation of biological diversity should be elevated to a high

priority in donor agencies, nations and communities," said the report.

Maintaining and insuring existing protected areas and reserves is key,

said Russel Mittermeier, president of Conservation International, the

first organization to fully develop the hotspots concept.

A recent report released by the World Bank and World Wildlife Fund

found that the vast majority of protected areas in 10 key developing

countries were not receiving sufficient protection from local or

national authorities.

"The impact of human population within the biodiversity hotspots is

another powerful example of why we must strive to protect each and

every piece of what still remains within these incredibly important

fragments of biodiversity rich real estate," said Mittermeier.

Conservation efforts, though, must be integrated with development,

land reform, and anti-poverty programs, he added.

"There's no question we need more investment in conservation, but it

can't be conservation in a vacuum," he said.

Amy Coen, president of PAI, praised Pres. Clinton's new budget request

which included both $542 million for international family planning

programs and $150 million to preserve the world's tropical forests, in

fiscal year 2001.

"The surest way to preserve our natural heritage is to invest in

meeting the needs of people," she said. "It's an investment we can't

afford not to make."

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