The magazine of the World Conservation Union January 2008 ...cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/00_world_conservation_2008_01.pdf · The magazine of the World Conservation Union January 2008

WORLDCONSERVATIONThe magazine of the World Conservation Union January 2008

A world withoutbiodiversity?

Food heroes Sacred speciesLessons from landslides

Volume 38, No. 1

January 2008

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© 2008 International Union for Conservation ofNature and Natural Resources

Contents

OUR WELLBEING

ART AND CULTURE

Spice of life………...........................................................................................................4Why we’re talking about diversity

Doctor Nature..................................................................................................................6Human health depends on the health of biodiversity, says Eric Chivian

A taste of paradise..........................................................................................................8Sara Scherr explains how food production and biodiversity conservationcan go hand in hand

Food heroes....................................................................................................................9M.S. Swaminathan on biodiversity and food security

Lessons from landslides...............................................................................................10Let ecosystems protect us against natural disasters, urges Karen Sudmeier-Rieux

Keeping the peace........................................................................................................12Why the links between conflict and natural resources are gaining attention

Talking diversity………………………………………………………........………..............13Luisa Maffi explains how cultural, linguistic and biological diversity are interlinked

Live culture……………………………………………………………………………………15Ken Wilson says we should better support the guardians of biocultural diversity

Winds of change……………………………………………………………………………..16The importance of sacred natural sites for biological and cultural diversity

Can sacredness help protect species?..………………………………………...............18Anna McIvor and Gloria Pungetti investigate

The big picture……………………………………………………..........………….............19How diversity inspires the art world

WORLDCONSERVATION

WORLDCONSERVATION January 2008

DOWN TO BUSINESS

ON THE GROUND

Natural capital………………………………………………………………………………..21Ecosystems should be viewed as an economic asset, says Sriyanie Miththapala

What’s next? ………………………………………………………………………………….23Financial institutions take on biodiversity as the next big challenge

Keeping it clean………………………………………………………………………………24Air New Zealand CEO relates how his company has a high stake in protecting theenvironment

Talking Heads…………………………………………………………………………………26Different perspectives on diversity

Bioprospecting: securing a piece of the pie………………………………………………28Sarah Laird and Rachel Wynberg explain why the commercial use of biodiversityis so contentious

Call of the wild…………………………………………………………………………………29Ronald Sanabria describes how to manage nature-based tourism sustainably

Clever wetlands……………………………………………………………………………….30Proving that wetlands can be managed to benefit both people and nature

Hidden wealth…………………………………………………………………………………31Surprising productivity of drylands

Amazing amphibians…………………………………………………………………………32How amphibians feature in our lives

Reaching the masses………………………………………………………………………..33Persuading China to conserve its biodiversity by 2010

Up front………………………………………………………………………………………..35What Species Survival Commission Chair Holly Dublin thinks about diversity

Reinventing the wheel……………………………………………………………………….36Biomimicry offers powerful arguments for why we should safeguard biodiversity

Connecting Catalonia………………………………………………………………………..37Efforts are underway to connect people and nature in Catalonia, home to the IUCNWorld Conservation Congress

The power of red……………………………………………………………………………..38IUCN Director General Julia Marton-Lefèvre outlines the importance of theRed List in biodiversity conservation

Spice of lifeWhy we're talking about diversity.

Take your pick: A world in which we alldress the same, speak the samelanguage, eat the same food and listen

to the same music. All our natural areas areploughed up for roads, buildings and cornplantations, and all that’s left of wildlife arebattery-farmed chickens and dairy cows—aworld without diversity.

Or, a world that is prosperous, peaceful,healthy, colourful, vibrant and resilient—inshort, a diverse and sustainable world.

There is growing recognition that diver-sity—biological as well as linguistic andcultural diversity—is the lifeblood of sustain-able development and human welfare. Diver-sity is key to resilience—the ability of naturaland social systems to adapt to change. Everyweek brings news of yet another devastatingflood, landslide or hurricane while theconservation community shakes its head indismay—protecting people from the fullforce of these disasters could be so simpleand so cheap if we let nature act as a buffer.

Mankind has drawn on diversitythroughout history, for basic needs such asfood and shelter, but also in much deepercultural and spiritual ways. People are drawnto the beauty of nature for recreation, relax-ation and inspiration. In recent years, we’reseeing diversity in increasingly practicalterms—as a source of cures to diseases andhelping us adapt to changing conditions suchas global warming.

But we are rapidly losing diversity,despite all the warnings. We know thatancient civilizations collapsed because ofenvironmental damage. We understand howmonocultures contributed to agriculturaldisasters like the Irish Potato Famine. Exces-sive development and consumerism aredestroying our natural systems, standardizinglandscapes and eroding cultures. Stress,

obesity and community breakdown areincreasing rapidly. We know current growthrates are not sustainable and are not leadingto the life we want. The world knows it hasto change and has the means to do so. Sowhat’s stopping us?

In the western world, we have becomeso far removed from biodiversity that we’veforgotten how much we use it in our dailylives and how seriously we’re affected by itsloss. When we eat a wild salmon steak, werarely think of the species that the salmondepends on to thrive. When we fell a maturetree to make a table, we lose a host of lichensand invertebrates; part of an entire web oflife is lost. Yet people in the developing worldknow exactly what’s at stake as they set outeach morning to gather fuelwood from adwindling forest, travel ever further to huntanimals for food and collect medicinal plantsto treat their sick children.

While many believe we’re on a fast-trackto self-destruction, many others refute thisapocalyptic world vision. They believe thebattle is alive in keeping the world’s myriadlandscapes, species, cultures and languagesintact. They say the mainstream media islargely to blame for peddling feelings ofdoom and gloom and, that with awareness ofenvironmental and social issues at an all-timehigh, the tide is finally turning. The world isconnecting as never before. As Paul Hawkenputs it in Blessed Unrest, the combined envi-ronmental and social movements have, likenature itself, organized from the bottom up,in every city, town and culture, from multi-million dollar NGOs to single-person causes,and are expressing people’s needs worldwide.We are starting to reconnect with our envi-ronment and with each other.

But this issue isn’t dedicated to how wesave diversity, it’s about why we need it in the

first place. Conservationists feel they arebanging their heads against a wall becausethe rest of the world doesn’t seem to belistening. Or, more likely, we’re not doingvery well at getting the message across. That’swhy, in the run-up to the IUCN BarcelonaCongress with its theme, A Diverse andSustainable World, we’re going back to basics,asking the question: How can we expect totackle poverty and climate change if we don’tlook after the natural wealth of animals,plants, microorganisms and ecosystems thatmake our planet inhabitable? By making thescientific, social, economic and cultural casefor keeping diversity, the articles highlightjust how much it supports nearly everyaspect of human life. But the arguments forconserving biological and cultural diversityshould not be all utilitarian. For manypeople, we should save it simply because itexists, and has done for millennia.

If we don’t hurry up and convincegovernments, politicians, business leadersand the public why we need diversity andhow urgent it is that they mobilize to save it,the world will move on and our fate will besealed. We need to do better at showing howmuch progress has been made and howmuch more can be done. It’s time to get ourcollective act together. In Barcelona theworld will be watching us.

OUR WELL-BEING

Biodiversity: the variability among living organisms fromall sources including terrestrial, marine and other aquat-ic ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of whichthey are part; this includes diversity within species,between species, and of ecosystems.

An ecosystem: a community of plants, animals andsmaller organisms that live, feed, reproduce and inter-act in the same area or environment.

An ecosystem service is a service people obtainfrom the environment. Ecosystem services are thetransformation of natural assets (soil, plants andanimals, air and water) into things that we value. They

can be viewed as provisioning such as food and water;regulating, for example, flood and disease control;cultural such as spiritual, recreational, and culturalbenefits; or supporting like nutrient cycling that main-tain the conditions for life on Earth. Ecosystem ‘goods’include food, medicinal plants, construction materials,tourism and recreation, and wild genes for domesticplants and animals.

What is?

6 WORLD CONSERVATION • JANUARY 2008

Doctor NatureCures for AIDS and some cancers could be at our fingertips if we did a better job of looking afterbiodiversity, says Eric Chivian.

We humans are an integral part ofnature, and our health depends ulti-mately on the health of its species

and ecosystems. Surely, the extinction crisiscould be stopped in its tracks if the worldbetter understood the critical role that biodi-versity plays in providing new medicines,clean water and protection from disease?

Over millions of years, species havedeveloped chemicals that protect themagainst infections and diseases and allowthem to capture prey and defend them-selves—chemicals that have become some oftoday’s most important pharmaceuticals.With the loss of plant, animal and microbialdiversity, we’re losing the chance to discovernew medicines that could end the sufferingof millions of people and save nationaleconomies billions of dollars each year.

Amphibians contribute to human medi-cine in many ways, from chemicals theycontain that may lead to new painkillers anddrugs to treat high blood pressure, to theirroles in biomedical research. They may helpus figure out ways to prevent bacteria fromdeveloping resistance to antibiotics, a

phenomenon causing great alarm amongdoctors as they struggle to keep one stepahead of their patients’ infections. The WaxyMonkey Frog from South America manufac-tures potent antibiotics in its skin that attackbacteria and fungi, including some that causeinfections in people with weakened immunesystems, such as those with HIV/AIDS.These compounds have worked for millionsof years, without their microbial targetsdeveloping effective resistance to them.

Tropical rainforest species have given usquinine, the first major treatment for malar-ia, quinidine from the Cinchona Tree, usedfor heart conditions, and cancer-fightingdrugs from the Rosy Periwinkle plant, whichhave revolutionized the treatment of acutechildhood leukemia and Hodgkin’sLymphoma. Temperate species have alsoyielded some of our most useful drugs—the‘wonder drug’ aspirin was originally derivedfrom salicin, extracted from the willow tree.

Species also provide medical researchmodels that help us understand human phys-iology and disease. Consider the polar bear.During its several month hibernation it islargely immobile and doesn’t eat, drink,urinate or defecate, yet it does not starve,become dehydrated, lose bone mass or diefrom the build-up of urinary wastes. If westop urinating for only a few days, we die.There is no cure for people with end-stagerenal disease, but if we understood how bearsrecycled their urinary wastes into newproteins, we could possibly treat renal failure.

We may be losing new medicines andclues for research before species have beenstudied for their medical potential, or evenbefore they have been discovered. Consid-ered commercially worthless, the Pacific Yewtree was routinely discarded during loggingoperations until it was found to contain thecompound Taxol, now considered one of themost effective chemotherapeutic agents forovarian, breast and other cancers. How manyspecies like the Pacific Yew are being lostwithout our ever knowing whether theycontain wonder drugs?

The story of gastric-brooding frogsfrom the rainforests of Australia provides atragic example of lost potential. The femalesof both species of these frogs swallowed theirfertilized eggs, which then hatched in theirstomachs and developed before being vomit-ed into the outside world as fully-formedtadpoles. In the mother’s stomach, thetadpoles secreted a substance that preventedtheir being digested. New insights abouttreating gastric ulcers might have been

uncovered by studying these frogs, but thesestudies are no longer possible, as both speciesare now considered extinct.

Species diversity has been shown to helpprotect people from Lyme disease, the mostcommon human vector borne disease in theUS. The disease is caused by bacteria carriedby a tick whose preferred host is the white-footed mouse. Having large numbers andtypes of vertebrates in Lyme areas ‘dilutes’the bacterial population, and makes it lesslikely for people to become infected. It alsomeans more predators for the mice, keepingtheir populations low, thereby reducing therisk of human exposure. Forest fragmenta-tion reduces vertebrate diversity, so aspeople move closer to forest edges and breakup forested areas with development, we maysee an increase in Lyme cases. This samemechanism of pathogen ‘dilution’ mayapply to other vector-borne diseases such asWest Nile virus disease.

To help stem the loss of species, scientistsfrom a range of disciplines, from industrial-ized and developing countries alike, are work-ing to catalogue the critical links betweenbiodiversity and human health. We hope ourefforts will guide policy makers in developinginnovative policies, based on sound science,that safeguard biodiversity. We’re convincedthat once people recognize how much is atstake with their health and lives, and with thehealth and lives of their children, they will doeverything in their power to protect the glob-al environment.

Eric Chivian, M.D. is Director of theCenter for Health and the Global Envi-ronment at Harvard Medical School. In1985 he shared the Nobel Peace Prizefor co-founding International Physi-cians for the Prevention of NuclearWar.

http://chge.med.harvard.edu/

IUCN is collaborating with the Centerfor Health and the Global Environmenton a book Sustaining Life: How HumanHealth Depends on Biodiversity whichwill be published in April 2008.

WORLD CONSERVATION • JANUARY 2008 7

SUPPLY & DEMAND

OUR WELL-BEING

Resilience—the capacity of a system to absorb distur-bance, undergo change and still retain essentially thesame function, structure and identity—is becoming abuzzword in ecological and business communities alike.

Ecosystem resilience is the capacity of an ecosys-tem to tolerate disturbance without collapsing into adifferent state. A resilient ecosystem can withstandshocks and rebuild itself when necessary. Resilience insocial systems means the added capacity of humans toanticipate and plan for the future. In business it can beviewed as the ability to rapidly adapt and respond torisks and opportunities, to maintain continuity and enable

growth. Natural systems are inherently resilient but justas their capacity to cope with disturbance can bedegraded, so can it be enhanced. The key to resilience insocial and ecological systems is diversity. For example, ina grassland ecosystem, several different species willcommonly perform nitrogen fixation, but each mayrespond differently to climatic events, thereby ensuringthat even though some species may be lost, the processof nitrogen fixation within the grassland ecosystem willcontinue.

www.resalliance.org

Bouncing back

Medicinal plants for life

More than 70,000 plant species are used medici-nally somewhere on Earth and it is likely that15,000 of them are threatened by over-harvestingor habitat loss. Capacity to monitor the conserva-tion status of medicinal plants, set sustainableharvest levels, and devise cost-effective alterna-tives is extremely limited. The scale of medicinalplant use has also outpaced the knowledge andtools needed to implement effective conservationactivities. IUCN’s Medicinal Plant Specialist Group,part of the Species Survival Commission, is work-ing to reverse the fortunes of this invaluable

resource by supporting efforts towards medicinalplant conservation and sustainable use. Membersprovide information, tools and policy advice,focusing on actions that reduce threats to endan-gered species and habitats. The Group is devel-oping an International Standard for SustainableWild-Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plantsand will soon publish updated global Guidelines onthe Conservation of Medicinal Plants with WHO,WWF and TRAFFIC.

www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/mpsg


Governments are beginning to paygreater attention to biodiversityconservation and are putting in

place policies to protect natural areas andpromote the sustainable use of biodiversity.As positive as these moves are, many peoplecontinue to overlook one of the mostimportant factors affecting biodiversity, notleast because it is often viewed as a primaryculprit in biodiversity loss: agriculture.

But agriculture is not always a threat.Farming and forest communities have longpracticed sustainable farming and play animportant role in the stewardship of impor-tant flora and fauna. Viewing agriculturesimply as a threat is counterproductive sincethe growing global population and incomeare expected to increase the demand forfood by 50–100% over the next fewdecades. A more constructive relationshipwith agricultural production is needed if weare to meet the multiple challenges ofproducing more food, protecting biodiversi-ty, providing sustainable incomes for theworld’s poor and restoring degraded lands.

‘Ecoagriculture’ is a new paradigm forunderstanding and managing biodiversity,agriculture and rural livelihoods togetherwithin a landscape. The term ecoagricultureis new, but the concept is not; for centuries,rural communities have found ways to inte-grate their food production with ecosystemstewardship and livelihood development.

Conservation of wild biodiversity andecosystem services is considered by many to

be an ethical imperative. But there is alsoconsiderable motivation for agriculturallandscape managers to conserve biodiversitysince it is fundamental to ecosystem func-tion, and therefore critical to maintainingcrop yields, farm inputs and raw material.Ecoagriculture is key to conserving biodi-versity in these landscapes. It can incorpo-rate the diversity of approaches, manage-ment practices and planning frameworksfound in the fields of agriculture, conserva-tion and rural development.

Broadly, ecoagriculture relies on sixbasic strategies of resource management,three focused on the agricultural parts ofthe landscape mosaic and three on naturalareas. In production areas, farmers cansustainably increase agricultural output andreduce costs using methods that enhancehabitat quality and ecosystem servicesthrough practices like organic agriculture,agroecology, conservation farming andagroforestry. These approaches minimizeagricultural waste and pollution, manageresources in ways that conserve species,water and soils, and use crop, grass and treecombinations that mimic the ecologicalstructure and function of natural habitats.

Farmers or other conservation managerscan protect and expand natural areas withactivities that also provide benefits for adja-cent farmers and communities, as well asreduce conflict with them. These includeminimizing or reversing conversion of natu-ral areas, often by increasing production in

farmed areas, and protecting larger patchesof high-quality natural habitat. Managerscan also develop ecological networks andcorridors linking natural areas.

The size and configuration of agricul-tural and natural components are importantlandscape design issues. Conservation ofwild species that are highly sensitive to habi-tat disturbance requires large, well-connectedpatches of natural habitat. But many wildspecies, including those that are threatened,can co-exist in compatibly-managed agricul-tural landscapes, even in high-yieldingsystems. Involving all stakeholders in evalu-ating the landscape, developing a vision offuture priorities, resolving conflicts anddeveloping work plans, is key to success. Theoutcomes of planning and negotiationsamong the multiple stakeholders in anylandscape depend on local cultures andphilosophies of land management.

Washington DC-based NGO, Ecoagri-culture Partners works with IUCN and otherorganizations to scale up implementation ofecoagriculture across the world. It is develop-ing a Landscape Measures Resource Centrethat will help multi-stakeholder groups inecoagriculture landscapes to evaluate, planand monitor their activities. Other projectsprovide useful resources for community-to-community knowledge-sharing, toolkits formarket development, leadership develop-ment courses and access to research. IUCN iscollaborating with Ecoagriculture Partners inEast Africa and Mesoamerica to supportlandscape projects in those regions and itsLivelihoods and Landscapes initiative whichhas many sites in agricultural landscapespromises to be a source of ideas and lessonsfor ecoagriculture.

Sara Scherr is President and CEO ofEcoagriculture Partners. She is amember of IUCN’s Commission onEnvironmental, Economic and SocialPolicy.

www.ecoagriculture.org

In Farming with Nature, published by IUCN andEcoagriculture Partners, researchers and practi-tioners around the world synthesise what is alreadyknown about managing ecoagriculture landscapes,and highlight key knowledge gaps.

A taste of paradiseIncreased food production and biodiversity conservation can be compatible. Sara Scherr ofEcoagriculture Partners explains.

OUR WELL-BEING

WORLD CONSERVATION • JULY 2007 9

Food heroesLocal communities have conserved the diversity of agricultural species for thousands of years.Supporting them is key to achieving global food security, says M.S. Swaminathan.

Global food security is entering a criti-cal phase. International prices ofwheat, rice, maize and other crops are

increasing due to escalating demand. Withoil prices reaching record levels, both farm-land and grains are being diverted for biofuelproduction. Climate change, resulting inmore frequent drought, floods and pestepidemics, is adding unprecedented stress.Against this backdrop, the conservation andsustainable use of biodiversity, particularlyagricultural biodiversity—the plants, animalsand micro-organisms used for food and agri-culture—should assume top priority.

Plant and animal breeding has beenpracticed for thousands of years by tribaland rural people who make a significantcontribution to food and health security,yet this remains largely unrecognized andunrewarded. They have spent hundreds ofyears observing, experimenting and select-ing species and genes for desirable qualitiessuch as drought-resistance, and haveamassed a vast knowledge bank. This factreceived little attention until the UN Foodand Agriculture Organization promotedthe concept of Farmers’ Rights and theConvention on Biological Diversity (CBD)recognized the conservation traditions oftribal and rural families. Biodiversity is thefeedstock for biotechnology. With everyspecies and gene lost, we are limiting ouroptions for future success, particularly inadapting to climate change.

The CBD calls on Parties to respect,preserve and maintain the knowledge, inno-vations and practices of indigenous and localcommunities engaged in traditional lifestylesas well as ensuring the equitable sharing ofbenefits arising from their use. The absenceof an internationally-agreed system for shar-ing economic benefits from the commercialuse of biodiversity with the primaryconservers and holders of traditional knowl-edge is leading to a growing number of accu-sations of biopiracy being committed bybusiness in developing countries.

Equity in benefit sharing is fundamentalto retaining the on-farm conservation tradi-tions of rural and tribal families. Institutionsbelonging to the Consultative Group onInternational Agricultural Research(CGIAR) are adopting a Material TransferAgreement procedure which will helpprevent the monopolistic exploitation ofpublic-funded research on plant geneticresources for commercial profit. But benefit-sharing procedures still need to be developedat the individual and community levels.

For individual farmers or innovators, thesame procedures for seeking recognition andreward as those available to professionalplant breeders can be used but help is neededin obtaining patents under national legisla-tion. The problem is more complex in thecase of benefit sharing with entire communi-ties. Procedures are available for identifyingthe area from which critical genes responsiblefor the commercial success of a new varietycame. Thanks to molecular techniques, thispossibility also extends to genes controllingquantitative traits like yield and quality.Appropriate reward can be given from theCommunity Biodiversity and Gene Fundsproposed to be established under Biodiversi-ty and Plant Variety Protection Acts in sever-al developing countries.

India is so far the only country that has alaw recognizing the rights of both breedersand farmers; it acknowledges the triple role ofa farmer, namely as a cultivator, conserver andbreeder. The Indian Plant Variety Protectionand Farmers’ Rights Act rewards farmers andfarm communities through the National GeneFund for their invaluable contributions to the

conservation and improvement of geneticresources. In areas rich in agrobiodiversity likethe Koraput region, tribal families havepreserved and improved rice genetic materialover many centuries. Tribal families who haveconserved important genetic material for thepublic good at personal cost were recentlyhonoured by the Indian Government with thefirst Genome Saviour Award.

Recent research breakthroughs haveopened up enormous opportunities for creat-ing new genetic combinations of great value tofood, health and livelihood security. Superwheats, capable of yielding about 8 t/ha arenow in the breeders’ ‘assembly line’. Theseplants have a complex pedigree and arederived from species from several countries.This illustrates the importance of geneticresources conservation and exchange and theneed for the multilateral system of access andbenefit sharing enshrined in the InternationalTreaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Foodand Agriculture.

Commercialization is leading to over-exploitation of habitats rich in biodiversitylike rainforests and coral reefs. It is important


Lessons from landslidesKaren Sudmeier-Rieux says it’s time we learned from past mistakes and let ecosystems play theirrole in protecting against natural disasters.

My nerves couldn’t take it anymore—Ihad to get out of the jeep. We were inexcellent hands with IUCN’s Islam-

abad driver Khalil but being stuck betweentwo trucks, Neelum River 100 metres belowme and loose boulders towering overhead wasmore than I could stomach.

Accompanied by a young geologist fromthe University of Lausanne, we had come toKashmir’s Neelum Valley to study landslidestriggered by the devastating 2005 earth-quake. Nevertheless, I wasn’t eager to witnessa ‘live’ landslide—especially not on NeelumValley road, wide enough at places for onlyone vehicle and blocked for 47 days follow-ing the 7.6 Richter scale tremor. This was theonly access road to a major valley just northof Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, and site of some ofthe worst earthquake destruction. NeelumValley is also one gateway to the Himalayas,home to Machiara National Park, snow leop-ards and the highly endangered WesternHorned Tragophan Pheasant.

Entering the steep valley, we clearly sawthe largely forested left bank and the rightbank that was almost cleared of trees to makeway for grasslands, terraces and houses. Thereason for this contrast is historic: the leftbank had remained under state forest protec-tion; the right bank was largely converted intoprivate landholdings, shamilat lands, orcommon areas under private management.Population density had squeezed houses ontoany available spot on the steep hills, seeminglyready to tumble at the slightest shake. This isexactly what occurred on 8 October 2005 whenmore than 1,000 landslides were triggered,sweeping away houses, schools and roads.

Our initial hunch was that road build-ing, grazing and poor terracing created frag-ile slopes that were vulnerable to landslides.These were bound to be more numerous onthe degraded right bank. After analysinghigh-resolution satellite images, modeling anumber of factors related to landslides, and60 days of field work, our hunch wasconfirmed. Deforestation combined with

grazing and poor road building had createdthe conditions for over half of the landslideswe surveyed. Our study, funded by theGeneva International Academic Network,included a survey of two villages that hadbeen exposed to landslides. Many of thevillagers had lost one family member, eitherduring the earthquake or through subse-quent rainfall-induced landslides, and theyall continued to live in fear. Few could recallexperiencing a landslide before October2005 and few measures had been taken tostabilize slopes or drain water away fromdangerous cracks.

Back home, a literature review revealednumerous studies pointing to an overall posi-tive correlation between vegetation cover andlandslides. Europe has for centuries devel-oped protection forests having previouslydeforested large tracts of mountainous areasand experienced subsequent disasters.Protection forests were not easily established:some people were heavily opposed as theyinfringed on grazing land but eventually,

Caring for the relatives

Plant species genetically related to those in

cultivation are called crop wild relatives and

their genes are used to boost the nutritional

value, disease resistance and productivity of

our food crops. However this genetic diver-

sity is at risk in the wild: more than one in 20

of the Poaceae species—crops such as

wheat, maize, barley and millet—are threat-

ened with extinction. Just last year the wild

apricot Armeniaca vulgaris, the origin of all

cultivated apricots, was classified as Endan-

gered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened

Species. IUCN’s Crop Wild Relatives Spe-

cialist Group (part of the Species Survival

Commission) is working to protect wild

plants with socio-economic value. The group

works to conserve these species through ex

situ and in situ projects, awareness raising,

and training for species assessments.

that we reverse the paradigm and create aneconomic stake in conservation. Conservation,cultivation, consumption and commerceshould be dealt with in an integrated manner.Public policies should promote the diversifica-tion of food habits resulting in the revitaliza-tion of former food traditions which involved awide range of food plants. Community levelgene, seed, grain and water banks should bepromoted to ensure local level food and watersecurity. The future of our food and healthsecurity systems will depend upon our success

in making biodiversity conservation every-body’s business.

Professor M.S. Swaminathan is Chair-man of the M.S. SwaminathanResearch Foundation and a formerIUCN President. He was acclaimed byTIME magazine as one of the 20 mostinfluential Asians of the 20th century.

www.mssrf.org

Future options

The world is losing its livestock breeds at an alarm-

ing rate, according to a 2007 report by the UN

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). About

20% of the world’s breeds of cattle, goats, pigs,

horses and poultry are currently at risk of extinc-

tion. At least one livestock breed a month has

become extinct over the past seven years, with

their genetic characteristics lost forever. The FAO

said modern agricultural methods had overlooked

the benefits of genetic traits that have evolved in

breeds found in developing countries. Features

such as resistance to disease or adaptation to cli-

matic extremes are being lost. Uganda’s indige-

nous ankole cattle, for example, could become

extinct within 20 years. They are being replaced by

Holstein-Friesian cows, which produce more milk,

but cannot walk the long distances required to

reach the nearest water supply. Genebanks need

to be established to ensure the long-term survival

of breeds from developing nations and safeguard

livestock diversity, according to FAO.

www.fao.org


OUR WELL-BEING

repeated flooding in the plains forced nation-al legislation and reforestation schemes.

In many ways, Europe in the 19th centu-ry mirrors the situation of many developingcountries today faced with increasing numbersof climate change-induced natural disasters.Climate change calls for adaptation, disasterrisk reduction calls for mitigation—are theynot the same calls for protection throughsound natural resource management? Aftereach disaster, we learn how poor managementof biodiversity has exacerbated the impact onvulnerable populations: Hurricane Katrinaand the destruction of wetlands, the 2004tsunami and the destruction of sand dunesand mangroves, landslides in Haiti following

Hurricane Jeanne and deforestation, and now,Kashmiri landslides and deforestation. Protec-tive ecosystems and biodiversity are naturalbarriers to natural disasters, especially criticalto vulnerable populations who depend onnatural resources for their livelihoods andsecurity. Improving community resilience tophysical hazards is also a question of equityand power—how often have the poor lostland in the wake of a disaster?

It is time we learned from past mistakesand work together with donors, developmentand humanitarian agencies, the insuranceindustry, and the climate change communityto adapt to and prevent new ‘natural’ disasters.One major lesson we learned from our land-

slide study is how little we really know aboutthe role of ecosystems in protecting peopleand their livelihoods from extreme events andhow important it is to fund research in thisfield.

Karen Sudmeier-Rieux is a member ofIUCN’s Commission for EcosystemManagement and co-author of Eco-systems, Livelihoods and Disasters: Anintegrated approach to disaster riskmanagement.

The Pakistan study is available at

www.iucn.pk/wp-content/uploads/

2007/10/GIAN_Study.pdf

Mangroves for the Future

IUCN plays a pivotal role in Mangroves for theFuture (MFF), an initiative that promotes invest-ment in natural ecosystems as essential infra-structure for coastal development. Ecosystemdegradation has serious social and economicconsequences from the local to global level,as was graphically shown in the aftermath ofthe 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The initiativeuses mangroves as its flagship species, butworks for the long-term conservation and sus-tainable management of all coastal ecosys-tems including coral reefs, wetlands, forests,lagoons, estuaries and beaches. MFF coverssix focal countries (those most affected by thetsunami) in South and Southeast Asia and theWestern Indian Ocean, but several othercountries will join the initiative as more fundingand other resources are mobilized. The MFFinvolves multi-partner collaboration betweengovernment agencies, UN agencies, NGOsand coastal communities. Universities, re-search institutions and the private sector arealso involved. National Coordinating Bodieshave already been established in each focalcountry and a series of preparatory studies isunderway, which will highlight priorities for thedevelopment of projects under the initiativeduring 2008.

www.iucn.org/tsunami


Keeping the peaceThe link between conflict and natural resources is attracting increasing attention in political andhumanitarian circles.

Mounting evidence shows that compe-tition for natural resources includ-ing fish, water, trees and wildlife,

contributes to violent conflicts in many areasaffected by inequities and ineffective gover-nance. These conflicts may foreshadow moreviolence in coming decades, particularlywhere shortages of water, forests and fertileland become more acute. The social effectsare cumulative: large-scale migration, politi-cal instability and economic disruptions thatin turn may lead to ethnic strife, civil warand different forms of social conflict.

Resource-rich tropical forests are oftena point of contention. Poor managementand a lack of equitable benefit sharing

among contending parties lead to shifts inresource access and control, with the vulner-able forest-dependent communities sufferingmost. The resulting tensions can lead toarmed conflict and even war.

Climate change could well exacerbateconflict over resources. Changing rainfallpatterns will make land that previously wasmost appropriate for pastoralism moreappropriate for agriculture, thereby pittingfarmers against herders for scarce landresources. Such conflicts are most likely tooccur in areas where farmers and herdershave had a long history of interaction suchas in the Sahel, Sudan, and parts of semi-arid Asia.

The link between national security andthe environment is drawing increasingpolitical attention, brought into even sharp-er focus by recent conflicts and social prob-lems such as the displacement of people.The strain on the United Nations and therelentless calls for humanitarian relief andpeace-keeping is a growing concern ofwealthier nations.

Human suffering experienced in refugeecamps can be overwhelming and at the sametime, these camps put immediate pressure onthe surrounding environment through thedemand for food, building material, woodfor cooking and fuel, and natural remediesfor sickness. Much can be done to benefitrefugees while protecting the local environ-ment. The use of fuel-efficient stoves forexample, can reduce the time people spendgathering firewood and reduce the risk ofattack when outside the camp.

Appropriate management of naturalresources can also help reduce the vulnerabil-ity of some communities to conflict, forexample, by providing reserves and a bufferfor times of stress. Investments to addressenvironmental scarcity can be seen as invest-ments now to avoid future humanitariancrises. When competition over land is thesource of conflict (as in Somalia and Kenya),development projects that address landproductivity may prevent bloodshed.

IUCN has had a long interest in thearea of environment and security as it isclosely linked to the Union’s core work onbiodiversity conservation and poverty reduc-tion. Considerable attention has been paid tothis issue through IUCN’s work in the Sahel.

IUCN is partnering with aid agencieslike the Red Cross, development organiza-tions such as CARE, and humanitarianorganizations such as the office of theUN High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) to raise awareness of the impor-tance of sound environmental managementin reducing conflict.

On the project level, IUCN is workingin East Africa with Irish Aid to developcommunity environmental managementplans to build local capacity in managingnatural resources. With UNHCR the focusof cooperation has been refugee hostingareas, involving both refugees and the localcommunity, to improve livelihoods throughsustainable resource management and landrestoration. Refugees acquire the skills tobetter manage and benefit from their envi-ronment when they return home.

Talking diversityThe diversity of life is biological, cultural and linguistic, says Luisa Maffi.


When they hear the expression‘diversity of life’, most peoplethink of biodiversity: diversity in

nature, at the genetic, species and ecosystemlevels. Since the concept of biodiversity wascoined two decades ago, biodiversity and thethreats it is facing have become an object ofconcern not only among conservationistsand academics, but also in the wider worldof policy, philanthropy, the media and thegeneral public. But in recent years, a newer,more complex and integrated understandingof the notion of diversity of life has beengaining ground—‘biocultural’ diversity:diversity in culture as well as nature. Fromthis perspective, the diversity of societies,cultures and languages that have developedthroughout human history is anotherexpression of life’s evolutionary potential.

Biodiversity and cultural diversity areintimately—some would say inextricably—related to each other. Humans have adaptedto life in particular environments, whiledrawing resources from those environmentsto sustain themselves. In so doing, they haveneeded to acquire in-depth knowledge ofspecies, their relationships, and ecosystemfunctions and to learn how to tailor theirpractices to suit their ecological niches. To alarge extent, this has meant learning aboutstewardship and responsibility: how to usenatural resources without depleting them,and often by enhancing them, to preserveoptions for the future—in a nutshell, the veryprinciple of sustainable development.

This knowledge, commonly describedas ‘traditional environmental knowledge’ hasbeen passed on through centuries of inter-generational transmission, via language andpractical teachings. It has shaped ways of lifeand world views, and served material as well aspsychological and spiritual needs. It has led tothe development of a strong ‘sense of place’.Through constant innovation, this knowledgehas remained alive and vibrant in those soci-eties that have maintained a close link with

and direct dependence on the local environ-ment, such as the indigenous and other tradi-tional rural communities that represent thelargest share of cultural diversity.

Environmental degradation poses anespecially severe threat for these people. Itdeprives them of their subsistence base andthe basis for their individual and social iden-tity. It undermines their societal structure,organization and resilience. At the sametime, the social, economic and political pres-sures that indigenous and local communitiesexperience worldwide contribute to hasten-ing environmental degradation. Such pres-sures often result in the displacement ofthese communities from their traditionalterritories, the introduction of alien valuesystems and ways of life, and the loss oftraditional knowledge and local languages.Radical changes of this nature can lead toincreasingly unsustainable relationshipswith the environment.

Supporting the resilience of indigenousand local communities is therefore both ahuman rights imperative and an environmen-tal one. It presents special challenges as well asopportunities for all those involved in envi-ronmental protection and social justice. Theindigenous movement has been leading theeffort to link these two realms in the quest forensuring their own rights.

Biocultural diversity research, originallyspearheaded by a handful of organizationsincluding Terralingua, and now activelypursued in academic and other fora, hascontributed to our understanding of thelinks between biological and cultural diver-sity. Global and regional mapping of theoverlaps between these diversities provideanalyses of the factors accounting for thesepatterns and for the persistence or loss ofbiocultural diversity. Indicators of the stateand trends of traditional environmentalknowledge and of linguistic diversity can beintegrated with biodiversity indicators togive us a picture of what is happening with

the world’s biocultural diversity. Hundredsof studies and applied projects are refiningour knowledge of the connections betweenlanguage, culture and the environment atthe local level.

At the same time, indigenous and localgroups on all continents have been involvedin remarkable efforts to restore the eco-cultural health of their landscapes andcommunities. Their activities include,among many others, revegetation, protectionor reintroduction of culturally-importantspecies, and conservation and promotion oflocal landraces (domesticated species adaptedto the local natural and cultural environ-ment). These efforts are de facto bioculturalin nature, as they often combine environ-mental action with cultural affirmation,knowledge transmission and languagerevitalization.

Research, advocacy and on-the-groundprojects have had a key role in promoting abiocultural perspective at international aswell as national levels. The BarcelonaCongress, with its theme ‘a diverse andsustainable world’, offers an ideal context forhelping to ensure that this perspective isincluded in conservation policy and imple-mentation. A pre-Congress symposium tobe held in April 2008, ‘Sustaining Culturaland Biological Diversity in a RapidlyChanging World: Lessons for Global Policy’,organized by the American Museum ofNatural History, IUCN and Terralingua,will provide a valuable opportunity forexploring how state-of-the-art knowledgecan be translated into guidelines forsupporting biocultural diversity and itsstewards worldwide.

Dr Luisa Maffi is co-founder andDirector of Terralingua.

www.terralingua.org


ART AND CULTURE

The idea that biological and culturaldiversity are unrelated phenomenabecause they have required different

western academic disciplines to study them isno longer tenable. A new sense of how to goabout conservation is arising from the real-ization that the future of biodiversity isinseparable from that of cultural and land-scape diversity.

This means going beyond doing “conser-vation with a human face,” or justifyingconservation by the benefits sustainablenatural resource management provideshuman societies. It means thinking in anintegrated fashion about a future for alldiversity. Most of the world’s remainingcultural and biological diversity is nowconcentrated in the very same places (name-ly the remaining indigenous territories) andfaces common threats of homogenization.Advocates for conservation, for indigenousrights and for development too often fightover the future of these places, usually withunequal access to power and money. Theresults are not pretty. Long-term success

instead requires conservation agencies to besufficiently nimble and humble to genuinelypartner with local and indigenous communi-ties and make “common cause” against theerosion of the uniqueness of these places.

The emerging “biocultural” philosophyfor sustaining diversity seeks interventionsthat strengthen both biological and culturaldiversity by valuing the connections betweenthem. This typically involves sustaining andadapting long-standing (often invisible)systems of landscape management that arerooted in deep cultural knowledge held bymarginalized peoples. In the Ngurnit Hills ofthe Northern Kenyan desert, for example,we’re supporting Ndorobo traditional honeygatherers in maintaining their co-evolutionaryrelationship with the honey guide, a bird thatleads them to wild bees’ nests in exchange forthe wax which it eats. They can then safe-guard the future of the bird, strengthentheir traditional livelihoods and protect theAcacia forests.

In Northern Australia we’re supportingthe return of West Arnhem Land Aboriginal

communities to their traditional lands wherethey re-establish fire mosaics essential tomarsupial and plant diversity. This greatlyreduces carbon emissions (so enabling a newsource of revenue) while caring for the coun-try by traditional means. In NorthwestMexico we’re supporting the transmission ofcultural and ecological knowledge of theComca’ac (Seri) about their coastal desertand island land and seascapes while enablinga younger generation to integrate indige-nous and western knowledge to maintaintheir integrity.

Adopting an integrated framework foraddressing the erosion of culture and naturewill be hard. It means overcoming divisionsfundamental to western culture, institutionaland academic tradition. It means valuing theknowledge of indigenous and traditionalpeople without romanticizing them. It meanshumbly asking to engage in their ways ratherthan having them turn up to our planningmeetings. It means quietly listening to theguardians of landscapes, understanding theirstories and songs, and combining this

Live cultureConservationists need to see the links between cultural and biological diversity, says Ken Wilson.


Winds of changeSacred natural sites are refuges of biological and cultural diversity but are facing a barrage of threats.

For hundreds of years, many sacrednatural sites—areas of special spiritualsignificance for people and communi-

ties—have helped protect the environment,providing valuable refuges for biodiversity.But their role in conservation is overlookedand undervalued. Unlike cultural sites suchas Peru’s iconic Mach Picchu, or Australia’sAyers Rock that are protected under theWorld Heritage Convention, there is nojurisdiction for sacred natural sites. And theneed for protection has never been greater,with these sites threatened on every front.

Sacred sites can be rivers, lakes, moun-tains, marine areas or forests recognized assacred by indigenous and traditional peoples,and as places of worship by institutionalizedreligions or faiths. Sacred natural sites areintegral to ethnic identity and play a key rolein traditional cultures and livelihoods.Although created for spiritual and culturalreasons and not for biodiversity conservationper se, the sacredness of nature within thesesites has led people to care for it.

As useful sources of genetic material,some sacred natural sites can be used torehabilitate degraded land and protectwatersheds—in Ghana they have been usedto revive degraded savannah ecosystems. TheKaya forests of Kenya are regarded as asource of cultural identity and strength bythe Mijikenda community. They alsoprovide firewood, herbal medicine, wildfruits, vegetables and fibre. Ponds andsprings within the forests are often the onlyaccessible source of clean water for neigh-bouring communities.

Interest in the role of India’s sacredgroves is increasing. Rich in biodiversity,these groves are dedicated to local deitiesor ancestral spirits and are cared for bylocal communities. In some cases, theyprovide a range of products used in ritualsby traditional priests or shamans, or inhealing, such as plants used in Ayurvedicmedicine. “People simply do not exploitthem, but strive to safeguard them,” saysRaghunandan Velankar from Research and

Action in Natural Wealth Administrationin India.

While community controls oncehelped protect sacred sites, rural peopleare increasingly vulnerable to political andeconomic pressures outside their control.Even when sites lie within official protect-ed areas such as national parks, communi-ties often lose rights over them. Withoutsecurity of land tenure and active partici-pation in decisions that affect them, it isimpossible for these communities toprotect their land and resources.

“Development mega-projects such asdams and port facilities are severely threat-ening the conservation of Jukulwa, asacred site that protects the health ofnature in our Ka’sankwa territory”, saysRogelio Mejia of Colombia’s GonawinduaTayrona indigenous organization, speak-ing about traditional lands within thefamous Sierra Nevada de Santa Martamountain. “There are also projectsproposed to bring mass tourism to our

understanding with scientific findings on thedynamics of complex systems, especiallyresilience. It means leaping from familiarlinear conservation approaches towards meth-ods that embrace complexity, uncertainty andlonger-term cycles.

This will be as exciting as it is difficult. Itwill liberate a huge amount of knowledge,creativity and talent that has been silencedbecause we were so excited by what we hadlearned in the past century that we didn’t carewhat others had learned over the last ten thou-sand years. By moving away from costly top-down technocratic approaches it will alsoenable a vast network of problem-solving localmanagers to tackle our global crisis andhonour the responsibilities inherent in theircultures to sustain creation’s renewal.

The Christensen Fund, along withmany other organizations, is investing inpartnerships with local stewards of land-scapes, lifestyles and cultural traditions that

sustain the biocultural diversity and integrityof the planet’s remaining ‘intact’ areas. Thismeans making grants to indigenous organi-zations and to partnerships between localstewards and their allies in the outsideworld—be they scientists, artists, publicservants or business leaders.

Hundreds if not thousands of efforts areunderway along these lines, often driven intu-itively and from practical experience, andinfluenced by the rise of indigenous organiza-tions and social movements like the SlowFood movement that demand an integratedperspective. And it is essential to complementsupport of the guardians of particular placeswith strengthening global networks of innova-tors, thinkers, artists and stewards. Thesenetworks enable the co-creation and flow ofknowledge, values and action. We need all theideas we can get; no single hero or mega-foundation is going to save the world for us.Maintaining diversity and resilience requires a

diversity of approaches and methods. Withoutworking to re-connect cultures with nature,and values with place, biodiversity interven-tions alone will never save the planet.

Dr Ken Wilson is Executive Director ofThe Christensen Fund.

www.christensenfund.org


SUPPLY & DEMAND

ART AND CULTURE

sacred mountain, which will lead to uslosing control of the area and resulting inimpacts on nature and our culture.”

IUCN, through its Task Force onCultural and Spiritual Values of ProtectedAreas (under the World Commission onProtected Areas), supports the protectionof sacred natural sites of indigenous andtraditional peoples, and of holy lands ofreligious and faith groups.

“We greatly appreciate the importantcontribution that faith communities aremaking to the planet through caring forlands and places they deem holy,” saysRob Wild, Task Force leader. “We’reconcerned however that some communi-ties are facing difficulties in continuingtheir stewardship of nature. So we supportimproved management of their sacred andholy lands, and promote better recogni-tion of their significance by the conserva-tion community, government authoritiesand intergovernmental bodies.”

Sacred natural sites are not only signifi-cant in the developing world, but asprogrammes such as the Delos Initiative(created by the Task Force) aim to show, arealso highly relevant in the developed world,contributing to the sustainable use of natu-ral areas.

Although great efforts are needed tostem the current loss of these sites, there areindications of change. Sites in some coun-tries are also being returned to their tradi-tional custodians. In May 2006 twoAustralian national parks were handed backto their traditional Yuin Aboriginal ownersafter some 240 years of European settle-ment. And earlier last year, 39 Sacred KayaForests in Kenya were inscribed on theWorld Heritage list, while in Mongoliasacred texts are being used to re-establishmany of the country’s 800 sacred sites.

“In recent centuries the accord betweennature and humanity has been fractured.Now the wind seems to be changing and we

hope the powerful connection betweensacred sites and nature will be felt oncemore,” says Rob Wild.

www.iucn.org/themes/spg/themes_sacredsites.html


For animals, the answer would seem tobe no: a number of sacred animals arealready listed as threatened on the

IUCN Red List. While sacred animals areoften protected within areas where thepeople (who hold them sacred) live, outsidethose areas they are subject to threats over

which the people have no control. Forexample, the tiger is deemed sacred by theBodo tribe of Assam, India, but it rangesacross much of Asia and poachers continueto kill it for its skin and use in traditionalmedicine. However, while the Bodo peoplecannot protect the tiger species as a whole,

they could help in its conservation, as thearea where they live could form an effectivetiger reserve.

When species live entirely within thejurisdiction of the people who believe themsacred, more positive results are possible. Thecui-ui lake sucker fish, which is listed as Crit-ically Endangered, is now only found inPyramid Lake, Nevada, in the US, which lieswithin the Paiute Tribe reservation. The fishwas once one of the main foods of the Tribe,who call themselves Cuyui Ticutta, meaningthe “Cui-ui Eaters”. Following water diver-sions and dam construction on the riverfeeding the lake, the cui-ui had not repro-duced for several years because it could notreach its spawning grounds. The Paiute Tribeset up a fish hatchery to rear young fishwhich they returned to the lake, and this,combined with several wet years has led to anincrease in fish numbers.

Sacred plants fare better than sacredanimals, and very few are currently listed asthreatened with extinction, perhaps becausemany of them are cultivated. The ginkgo ormaidenhair tree has been planted in templegrounds for hundreds of years by Taoists andBuddhists, and is now planted in citiesaround the world. Few wild populationsremain, and some believe that even thesemay be descendents of temple trees, suggest-ing that being sacred may have saved thisspecies from extinction.

Clearly, sacredness can contribute tospecies conservation. But it is hoped that anincreasing awareness of the cultural and spir-itual values of nature will allow them to playa greater role in protecting threatened speciesand ecosystems. A recent conference onSacred Species and Sites organized by theCambridge Centre for Landscape and Peoplein association with IUCN’s Cultural andSpiritual Values of Protected Areas TaskForce was an important step. Participantsrecommended that IUCN explore options tointegrate cultural and spiritual values intospecies conservation assessments. To followup, a group of specialists from IUCN’sSpecies Survival Commission will meet withsocial science experts at the BarcelonaCongress.

www.cclp.group.cam.ac.uk

Can sacredness helpprotect species?Many species are held sacred throughout the world by various peoples, cultures and faiths.Are these species shielded from threats because of their sacred status? Anna McIvor and GloriaPungetti investigate.


ART AND CULTURE

The big pictureFor thousands of years, nature has stimulated artistic expression.

Diversity: variety and unlikeness.Diversity refers to cultural, social,political and religious differences, as

well as to the variation of life forms on earth.In art, diversity could be interpreted as whatcalls for attention, what inspires. From timeimmemorial, artists have been stirred bynature. Humans have looked at their envi-ronment and created from it, from cavepaintings to the decorations in Egyptiantombs and Christian churches. Today, as thenatural world declines, art is still a promi-nent vehicle for diversity.

Celebrated painter Marc Chagall oncesaid that great art picks up where natureends. Others might think that art starts withnature as many artists draw on their envi-ronment for inspiration. From fashiondesigners to photographers, architects andpainters, artists from all walks of life usediversity to fuel their inspiration.

For Martin Dartey, a Ghanaian painterand art historian, nature is the master artistand sculptor. “I paint forests, animals inmigration, abstract forms from nature, but I

am also inspired by man’s activities, hiscreations which are an extension of nature.”Henri Matisse noted that an artist mustpossess nature. “He must identify himselfwith her rhythm, by efforts that will preparethe mastery which will later enable him toexpress himself in his own language.”

It is in fact difficult to find any kind ofart which does not have a natural element toit. With Paris and Milan catwalks as a back-drop, Ann McCreath, a Scottish fashiondesigner based in Kenya and ManagingDirector of Kiro Ltd, notes that her inspira-tion comes from the culture around her, thecolours and patterns of the environment, aswell as international fashion trends. For Ann,designers the world over have been influencedby the environment from the beginning oftime. “The influence may be more or lessabstract, but it’s always there,” she stresses.

“Biodiversity inspires designers andfashion stylists through the whole processof production, from choosing fabrics andgarments, to locations and finding the rightmodel for the designated theme shoot,”

notes Connie Aluoch, Fashion Editor, TrueLove East Africa Magazine, based in Kenya.

Architects also fit nature into theirdrawing board. Marco Carlini, from StudioCarlini in Italy who specialize in the restora-tion of old farmhouses, notes that he and hispeers have a two-way relationship with theenvironment: on the one hand, they drawon it to find inspiration; on the other, theyuse nature directly in their work. LordFoster from Fosters and Partners, the groupthat built France’s Millau Viaduct (theworld’s tallest road bridge) and Hong Kong’sAirport amongst many other prized works,pioneered ecological constructions with theCommerzbank Headquarters in Germany,the world’s first ecological office towerwhich opened in 1997. According to thegroup, “the quality of our surroundings canlift the quality of our lives” and, for LordFoster, “the optimum design solution inte-grates social, technological, aesthetic,economic and environmental concerns.”

Buildings consume half the energy usedin the developed world, while another


quarter is used for transport. “Sustainabilityis a word that has become fashionable in thelast decade,” notes Lord Foster, “however,sustainability is not a matter of fashion, butof survival.”

Photographer J. Henry Fair notes that“we are at a crossroads, but I have hopebecause we have the power to cause change.A dollar spent on one brand of toilet papersupports deforestation and massive pollu-tion; a different purchase decision saves theforest and supports the reuse of postconsumer material. If we can convince a

“tipping point” of the population to changetheir purchasing habits, the message to theproducers will be unstoppable.”

Henry takes aerial photographs ofplaces where Man has disfigured naturethrough the likes of mining or deforestation.He notes that, “my artwork, though appar-ently the antithesis of nature, is all inspiredby it. My work is about getting people torealize the consequences of their actions.”

In short, for some, art will go on with-out biodiversity, whilst for others, it will die.For Martin Dartey, art will tell the story of

the depletion of biodiversity, whilst forConnie Aluoch, art will cease to exist as“every species that surrounds us evokes someform of creativity that influences our lives”.For Auguste Rodin, art is contemplation. Itis the pleasure of the mind which searchesinto nature and which there divines the spir-it of which Nature herself is animated—sowhat will be left of art as nature disappears?

Time will tell how art will evolve in aworld which has less and less pristine natureand diversity to inspire its creators.

Empty nest syndrome?

Inspiration for the design of the Beijing National Stadiumwhich will host this year’s Olympic Games came from theavian world. Dubbed the ‘bird’s nest stadium’ because ofthe twig-like structure created by thousands of metres ofinterwoven steel, the stadium also features green elementssuch as a rainwater collection system, a transparent roofproviding sunlight for the grass below and a natural ventila-tion system. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architectsHerzog & de Meuron, the stadium also boasts a ‘cushion’system which fills the spaces within the building’s facade toregulate wind and other climatic features.

Yet with such attention to detail, the nest may well be leftempty on some days as Beijing’s polluted air might post-pone some Olympic events by a day or two, according tothe International Olympic Committee. A UNEP reportfound that the average level of small particulate matter inBeijing’s air in 2006 was eight times higher than the levelrecommended by the World Health Organization.

A resolution agreed on at the 3rd IUCN World ConservationCongress, on threats from Olympic Games and other majorsporting events to protected areas and biodiversity, calls onIUCN to provide guidance to international sporting federationsto ensure that the green does not fade in the Olympic rings.

Natural capitalFailing to view ecosystems as an economic asset is undermining our efforts towards sustainable

development, says Sriyanie Miththapala.

Few people would deny that infrastruc-ture—the facilities, services and equip-ment needed for society to function—

lies at the heart of economic developmentand poverty reduction. So it is hardly surpris-ing that development investments, nationalspending and overseas aid have alwaysfocused heavily on it.

However, conventional definitions ofinfrastructure, and the bulk of investment init, have ignored one of its most importantand productive components—naturalecosystems. Wetlands play a valuable role inwastewater purification and treatment. Coralreefs and mangroves provide a criticaldefence against floods, storms and tidalsurges, while forests help protect water qual-ity and supplies.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessmentprovides a useful framework for understand-ing the economic significance of the linksbetween ecosystem goods and services andhuman well-being. Like other infrastructurecomponents, ecosystems provide the basiclife support services that underlie economicdevelopment and allow society to function.

While much time and funding havebeen invested in man-made capital such asroads, bridges, ports and water treatmentplants, investment in natural infrastructureremains extremely low. Despite the directlink between ecosystem well-being andhuman well-being, ecosystem under-valuation remains a persistent problem indevelopment planning. When projects areplanned, balance sheets rarely tally up theeconomic benefits that ecosystem servicesprovide, or recognize that there is a tangi-ble return to investing in their conserva-tion. At the same time, the economic costsand lost opportunities resulting fromecosystem degradation are not consideredwhen land use alternatives are weighedagainst each other.

Although economic models tradition-ally have been ill-equipped to deal withecosystem values, recent advances show thatit is now possible to calculate and expressthem in monetary terms. In many cases, thecalculations used in development decisionsare incomplete and therefore misleadingbecause they underestimate or even ignorethese values.

Taking marine and coastal biodiversityas an example, a more complete approach tovaluation highlights the immense and tradi-tionally uncounted value of ecosystem servic-es. Marine and coastal tourism is the largestindustry in the Maldives, accounting for20% of GDP and 40% of employment.Associated activities produce 74% of nationalincome, 60% of foreign exchange earnings,and 90% of government revenues. Yet nation-al economic indicators and developmentstatistics rarely reflect these broader values.

Ecosystem goods and services also oftenprovide the basic infrastructure for house-hold production and consumption, a criticalset of values given that efforts to strengthen

livelihoods and alleviate poverty are themajor goal in today’s development agenda. Inparts of Indonesia, the traditional use ofmangrove products has been valued at over$US 3,000/ha/year, contributing up to halfof the income of the poorest households. InSouthern Thailand, mangroves contributemore than a quarter of per capita GDP.

Ecosystem services have an enormousvalue in upholding economic productivity,safeguarding settlements and reducingvulnerability. On the Baluchistan coast ofPakistan, mangroves directly contributearound US$ 1,300/ha/year to inshore fish-eries (about 95% of local income), andprovide the nursery and breeding habitatupon which up to half of offshore commer-cial fish stocks depend (valued at aroundUS$ 900/ha). The value of coral reefs,including coastline protection, is estimatedat hundreds of thousands of dollars persquare kilometre in Indonesia, and close to amillion dollars in the Philippines. In SriLanka, coastal wetlands provide critical floodprotection and water treatment services tosurrounding settlements, to a value of US$2,500 per hectare.

Clearly, the problem is not that biodi-versity and ecosystems have no value, butrather that this value is rarely factored intoland use, resource use or investment deci-sions. Failing to invest in ecosystems as assetsis not only short-sighted in economic terms,but may ultimately undermine cost-effective,equitable and sustainable development for all.

If ecosystems are recognized as assetswhich yield many of the services required for

the economy and society to function proper-ly, the human, social and financial capitalthat is required to sustain them (and whichthey, in turn, sustain) also needs to be allo-cated. To ensure their productivity andcontinued support, ecosystems need to bemaintained and improved to meet bothtoday’s needs as well as intensifying pressuresin the future—just like any other componentof infrastructure.

Dr Sriyanie Miththapala is a member ofthe Species Survival Commission andworks with IUCN’s Ecosystems andLivelihoods Group in Asia.

www.iucn.org/places/asia/

coastalinfo/index.htm



DOWN TO BUSINESS

NGO activism, increasingly stringentenvironmental regulations, strength-ened liability laws, and shifting

consumer preferences are all making businesspay greater attention to biodiversity andecosystems. Financiers are also taking note.

In a new report based on researchcarried out under an IUCN-Alcoa Founda-tion Fellowship, Ivo Mulder finds that biodi-versity is increasingly relevant to a range ofbusinesses and could become the next majorchallenge after climate change. Certain busi-ness sectors are more exposed to biodiversityrisks than others. These include companieswith a direct impact on ecosystems, such asoil and gas, mining, and construction, as wellas those that have major indirect impactsthrough their supply chains, including theretail food sector. Companies in the tourism,fisheries, forestry and agricultural sectors,

which depend directly on ecosystem servicesfor their profitability, are also exposed tobiodiversity risk. This can include reductionin the quality or quantity of the ecosystemservice they rely on (such as fish stocks orscenic beauty), damage to reputation, legalliability or increased regulatory scrutiny, anddelays in permit allocation.

Financial Institutions (FIs)—includingretail and commercial banks, asset managers,institutional investors and insurance compa-nies—which finance these kinds of business-es are also vulnerable to biodiversity-relatedrisks. FIs that cannot readily identify whichcompanies are most at risk may be exposedto higher rates of default on loans, lowerinvestment returns or increased insuranceclaims.

“Although it is difficult to systematicallylink biodiversity-related business risks to

tangible financial measures, such as marketcapitalization or credit risk, a number of casestudies demonstrate the growing importanceof biodiversity conservation to the financialsector,” says Mulder.

In April 2007, European Unionmember states introduced legislation whichholds operators liable for damage to waterresources, soil, fauna, flora and natural habi-tats, and makes the polluter pay wheneverdamage cannot be avoided. Biodiversity maybe difficult to gauge in terms of ‘insurability’,but insurance firms need to address this ifthey want to stay in control of their business.

With oil and gas companies carryingout increasingly complex offshore explo-ration and production, the risks to bothbiodiversity and business also increase. In aneffort to manage these risks, the investmentbank Goldman Sachs has tested a new tool,

What’s next?Biodiversity is following climate change as the next big challenge for banks and other financialinstitutions.


First and foremost Air New Zealand is atourist airline—linking our remotenation to global trading partners and

enabling visitors to come and experience theunspoilt beauty that is New Zealand. Centralto our nation’s appeal is its ‘clean green’image. The diversity of its land andseascapes, the uniqueness of its fauna andflora, and its rich culture attracts more than2.3 million visitors each year—not bad for acountry of only 4.2 million inhabitants. Thegrowth in tourism has been driven by thenation’s strong international profile andincreasing air capacity.

Air New Zealand plays a major role inensuring the country’s image is maintainedaround the world. As one of the mostactive and effective marketers of NewZealand globally, we spend millions ofdollars a year encouraging tourists to visit.But we see the paradox; in doing so wemust manage our impact on the environ-ment in a sustainable way.

Environmental lobbyists around theworld, but particularly in Europe, are paint-ing air travel as the new tobacco. Air travel isan easy target; a little less air travel seems alot easier for people than fundamentallychanging one’s lifestyle and current behav-iour, like driving less, consuming less elec-tricity and eating less processed foods. Politi-cians and even environmentalists themselveshave been publicly hounded for makinglong-haul flights. In a recent survey, one infive Australians said they were consideringabandoning air travel because of its environ-mental impact.

As a geographically-remote nation,which relies on tourism as a major source ofincome, and air travel as the only realisticmeans to get in and out, any consumerreluctance to take long haul flights is notgood news for us. Tourism is made up ofaround 18,000 small and medium enterpris-es, meaning it’s fragmented and not veryvisible, but it employs one in 10 of us. It

contributes more than NZD 18 billionannually to New Zealand’s GDP—around10% of the total. Looking ahead, it’s clear tome that making Air New Zealand the mostenvironmentally-friendly airline in theworld will be integral to the future success ofNew Zealand as an attractive trading partnerand visitor destination, and to the country’seconomy as a whole.

Governments and consumers in allmajor countries now see the degradation ofour environment as the key issue of our time.Our Government has taken a very strongstance on environmental sustainability. Inessence, it has committed New Zealand topunching above its weight, demonstratingglobal leadership and “showing the worldhow to do it”.

Customers big and small are factoringin environmental responsibility beforemaking purchasing decisions, and this issomething we should embrace. Workingwith the Government we’re taking a bold

Keeping it cleanChief Executive of Air New Zealand Rob Fyfe explains why the company has such a high stake inprotecting the environment.

the Biodiversity Benchmark (originally devel-oped by Fauna & Flora International andInsight Investment), to guide its investmentdecisions in the extractive industries.

Biodiversity is not just about risks,however. There are many emerging biodiversitybusiness opportunities that FIs can seize, includ-ing growing markets for certified sustainably-produced commodities, such as fish, timber andorganic foods. Recent estimates suggest a poten-tial market for certified fish, timber, food andmedicinal products of up to US$ 75 billionannually by 2010. Markets are also emerging fornew ecosystem services, such as biodiversityoffsets, water quality and biocarbon. Prospectsfor market growth in ecosystem services are lessclear but some suggest that these new marketscould be worth as much as US$ 10 billion annu-ally by 2010.

Another potential opportunityinvolves providing due diligence or adviso-ry services to clients that need help inmanaging biodiversity-sensitive projects and

in biodiversity-related insurance coverage.Around 65% of the value of the insurancepremiums paid by shipping companies usingthe Panama Canal is environment-related,such as covering the risk of delays due to toolittle water or dredging. Sustainable landmanagement of the slopes above the canalmay help to reduce such risks and couldprovide a new source of income for rural landusers.

Ultimately, the case for mainstreamingbiodiversity in the risk management proce-dures of financial services and investing inbiodiversity businesses will depend on clearevidence that biodiversity risks and opportu-nities are economically significant by linkingthem to standard financial measures. In early2007, the environment ministers of the G8countries and five newly-industrializing coun-tries launched the “Potsdam Initiative –Biological Diversity 2010”, which includedcommitments by governments to “approachthe financial sector to effectively integrate

biodiversity into its decision making”. Anoth-er element of the Potsdam Initiative is tolaunch a global study of the economic signifi-cance of biodiversity loss, inspired in part bythe 2006 Stern Review of climate change.IUCN is closely involved in the developmentof this study and is likely to play a major rolein both the research and public consultationas the project moves ahead.

www.iucn.org/themes/economics

stand in support of a sustainable planet. Acornerstone to that is our long-haul fleetreplacement programme. We’re committingmore than NZD 2 billion to acquiring whatwill be the world’s youngest, most environ-mentally-friendly and technologically-advanced long-haul fleet.

And Air New Zealand’s commitment toenvironmental responsibility will not beconfined to the traditional. We’re workingwith Boeing and Rolls Royce on the develop-ment of biofuels. The inaugural step in therelationship will be the first commercial trialof a biofuelled, Rolls Royce powered, Boeingaircraft in 2008–2009.

Much of the debate around Kyotofocuses on the cost impact of compliance,and the risk that it will make us uncompeti-tive as a nation, particularly if the US and

Australia continue with their stance and electnot to ratify Kyoto. We have to ask if wewant to be a nation dependent on commod-ity producers. If our only competitive edge isas a low-cost producer, it’s very hard for anation the size of New Zealand to compete.Taking the lead on environmental perform-ance and delivering meaningful, differentiat-ing performance, rather than ‘green-washing’,can become a competitive advantage for usand enable New Zealand, our products andservices to command a price premium. Ourfuture as a nation lies in quality, sustainabili-ty and working with our environment tocapitalize on our key competitive advan-tage—the land we live on.

www.airnewzealand.com


DOWN TO BUSINESS

Air New Zealand is a member of the StarAlliance network of airlines that has teamed upwith IUCN, UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere(MAB) Programme and the Ramsar Conven-tion on Wetlands to launch BiosphereConnections. With the aim of promotingbiodiversity conservation and the sustainableuse of natural resources, the initiative uses thecommunications activities of the four partnersincluding websites, publications, events andin-flight entertainment systems. It also allowsthe airline connections of the Star Alliance tohelp connect the people and places of IUCN,UNESCO MAB and Ramsar in their daily work.


Talking HeadsWorld Conservation asked people from a range of occupations what diversity means to them.

THE POLITICIAN

THE WRITER

THE BIOLOGIST


THE BANKER

THE TEACHER

THE ARCHITECT

28 WORLD CONSERVATION • JANUARY 2008 WORLD CONSERVATION • JULY 2007 28

Bioprospecting—the exploration ofbiological material for commercially-valuable genetic and biochemical

properties—is usually associated with thecontemporary research and development ofbiodiversity using sophisticated technologiesin research intensive industries. However, thepractice of collecting, analysing, andcommercializing biological material is as oldas human civilization. New crop varieties,medicines, livestock, and other products haveresulted from a long history of trade andexchange of genetic and biological resources,and associated traditional knowledge.

Today, the pharmaceutical, biotechnol-ogy, seed, crop protection, horticulture,

cosmetic and personal care, fragrance, botan-icals, and food and beverage industriesmarket numerous valuable products derivedfrom genetic and biological resources. Theyalso undertake research and development fornew products, or use genetic resources intheir research or manufacturing. But theways companies demand access to resources,and use them as part of R&D programmes,or in commercial products, varies significant-ly by sector.

Scientific and technological advances inthe 1990s led many pharmaceutical compa-nies to lose interest in natural products as asource of molecular diversity for drug discov-ery and development. Natural products were

considered too slow, too costly, and tooproblematic from a scientific and businessperspective. There were also major uncer-tainties because of the lack of legal clarityassociated with gaining access to materialunder the terms of the Convention onBiological Diversity (CBD) which requireequitable benefit sharing, prior informedconsent, and mutually agreed terms. At thesame time, however, natural product drugsdeveloped in earlier years continued tocontribute significantly to industry’s bottomline, particularly in categories like infectiousdisease and cancer.

In the last decade, in what are now well-established research cycles, new scientific andtechnological developments have once againmade natural products of interest. At thesame time, however, they have also made itpossible to look with new eyes at what isfound in companies’ ‘backyards’ and togenerate more diversity in the laboratory,where existing genome sequences and data-bases can yield novel structures. The fullimpact of these developments on demand foraccess to genetic resources from high biodi-versity areas is still unfolding, but it is likelythat nature will continue to be a source fororiginal novelty and complexity that willthen be modified in the laboratory.

As a result of these advances, micro-organisms are of increasing interest to thepharmaceutical and biotech industries. Whileplants, insects, marine and other organismscontinue to be studied, new technologiesallow researchers to access microbial diversitypreviously inaccessible to them. At the sametime they are discovering a far greater numberof interesting compounds in known organ-isms through ‘genome mining’. The astound-ing numbers and diversity of microorganisms,combined with their all-pervasive existence,have led to renewed interest in their use forenergy- and water-saving industrial processes,climate control, pollution control, biomateri-als, and many other applications. Whencollecting from nature, biotech companies areinterested in biochemical diversity found notonly in areas with high species diversity, butalso in extreme environments or uniqueecological niches like salt lakes, deserts, caves,hydrothermal vents, and cold seeps in thedeep seabed.

The US Venter Institute is undertakinga global expedition to sample microbial

Bioprospecting:securing a piece of the pieThe commercial use of biodiversity has become a highly contentious area of policy, markedby mistrust and misunderstanding. Sarah Laird and Rachel Wynberg say the arguments arefar from being settled.


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abundance and diversity in marine andcoastal environments. The findings will beused to design and engineer species to replacepetrochemicals, better understand reefhealth, analyse drinking water and air quali-ty, track and avoid emerging viruses, andunderstand the effects of releasing ships’ballast water. Initiatives such as these throwup a host of new questions and challengesregarding access and benefit sharing (ABS),including difficulties in assigning ownershipover microorganisms, and prior informedconsent and benefit sharing associated withthese collections.

In recent years, concerns about biopira-cy have escalated. In some cases theseconcerns have been necessary stimulantstowards attaining equitable agreements andpersuading reluctant parties to negotiate. Forexample, public outrage was expressed aboutthe filing by the South Africa-based Councilfor Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)of a patent for active compounds of theHoodia plant responsible for suppressingappetite. The indigenous San had long usedthe plant for this purpose, but the CSIR didnot get consent to use this traditional knowl-edge, and the San were not acknowledged in

the patent application. International mediacoverage and NGO pressure forced thedevelopment of an agreement of mutualbenefit to the CSIR and the San.

On the other hand, charges of biopiracyand legal uncertainty associated with access-ing genetic resources are considered majorimpediments to commercial and academicresearch. A number of companies haverestricted their research activities as a result,and many academic researchers find the ABSpolicy process is having a negative effect onbasic science and traditions of trust andcollaboration. Rather than coming togetherto create simple, workable legal and regula-tory ABS frameworks, providers and users ofgenetic resources are increasingly estranged.The bioprospecting environment is charac-terized by misunderstanding, mistrust andregulatory confusion.

Under the auspices of the CBD’s AdHoc Open Ended Working Group on Accessand Benefit Sharing, negotiations are takingplace to develop an international regime onABS in relation to biological resources andtraditional knowledge. Such negotiationshave been ongoing for four years, and aredue to conclude in 2010. The process is

intensely political and conflict-ridden, withlittle agreement on either the scope or objec-tives of the new regime. Bridging polarizedviews might be possible however, withimproved understanding of the financial,legal, scientific and technological realities ofbioprospecting and the benefits it can yield.Also needed is the development of informalprocesses to promote dialogue and buildconsensus between stakeholders. These areareas in which NGOs can make an impor-tant contribution.

Sarah Laird is the Director of Peopleand Plants International, and is amember of IUCN’s Species SurvivalCommission. Rachel Wynberg is asenior researcher, based at the Envi-ronmental Evaluation Unit, Universityof Cape Town, South Africa. This arti-cle is based on a paper prepared forthe CBD Secretariat (UNEP/CBD/WG-ABS/4/INF/5), the full version of whichcan be found at www.biodiv.org.

Call of the wildTraining and awareness-raising are essential to ensure that nature-based tourism developssustainably in Latin America, says Ronald Sanabria.

Nature-based tourism is booming.Tourists are flocking in the millions tobiologically-sensitive areas that until

very recently were considered too remote toaccess. Some argue that nature tourism isgrowing three times faster than the industryas a whole. According to Conservation Inter-national, tourism to biodiversity hotspots—the majority of which are located in poorercountries—increased significantly between1990 and 2000. These naturally-endowedregions are magnets for visitors who mayinadvertently threaten the very places theycome to enjoy.

According to the United Nations WorldTourism Organization (UNWTO), withalmost 850 million people travelling eachyear, the tourism industry now accounts for

8% of all jobs worldwide. For developingcountries, this number is even more signifi-cant: tourism is the number one source ofrevenue for more than 30% of the world’spoorest nations.

Boasting beautiful coasts, majesticmountain ranges, colourful cultural historyand some of the largest expanses of undis-turbed tropical forests in the world, LatinAmerica features enormous biodiversity andhas the most to gain—or potentially lose—from the tourism boom. According to theUNWTO, the number of international visi-tors to Central America rose from 1.9million in 1990 to 7.0 million last year,while in South America, visitors increasedfrom 7.7 million in 1990 to over 20 millionduring the same period.

By integrating the three principlesof sustainable development—ecologically,economically and socially sound prac-tices—the tourism industry in LatinAmerica has the potential to make travel atool for the conservation of naturalresources and cultures.

This is why the Rainforest Alliance isworking in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala,Ecuador and Nicaragua to overhaul thetourism industry from top to bottom. “Bygiving hotel owners and tour operators anincentive to protect the world’s beautifuland undeveloped areas, we are convincedthat tourism has the potential to be apowerful agent of change,” says RonaldSanabria, director of the RainforestAlliance’s sustainable tourism programme.


Clever wetlandsPioneering work by IUCN shows that by considering the biodiversity, livelihood and economicvalues of wetlands together, management plans can be drawn up that benefit both people andnature.

Wetlands contain exceptional biodi-versity and generate critical servic-es. They support the livelihoods of

local communities and are an essentialcomponent of local, national and evenregional economies. But despite their impor-tance, wetlands are under increasing pressurethrough degradation and development. Theimpacts are disproportionately felt by someof the world’s poorest people.

A pioneering project led by IUCN’sSpecies Programme and Global Economicsand the Environment Programme is makingsure that both biodiversity and the needs oflocal people are taken into account whendesigning management plans for wetlands.Funded by the UK Darwin Initiative, theproject has developed an innovative newmethodology for wetland assessment which

integrates biodiversity, livelihoods andeconomics. Assessments are being carried outin the Lower Mekong, Cambodia and in theRufiji floodplain, Tanzania to document thelivelihood value of wetland biodiversity.

Mtanza-Msona Village is located on theRufiji floodplain, alongside the world-famous Selous Game Reserve. Relying on avery limited and uncertain production base,the local people depend heavily on the richwetland biodiversity for their day-to-daysurvival. Wetland products are a primarysource of fuel, building materials, food,medicines and income. The field assessment,recently concluded, has found that wetlandresources are worth almost half of per capitaGDP for the residents of Mtanza-Msona.For the poorest villagers, wetland productsmake an even greater contribution to the

household economy—they are worth morethan seven times as much as farming, themain form of livelihood. Wild foods aregathered to see people through the annualhungry season, and in times of drought theyhave an average value of nearly four times asmuch as purchased foods. As healthcareremains inaccessible or unaffordable to muchof the population, wild plants also provide acritical source of medicines, to a value ofmore than seven times annual expenditureon ‘modern’ drugs and medicines.

Cambodia’s Stung Treng Ramsar site, awetland of international importance, is hometo unique biodiversity including iconic speciessuch as the River Tern, and the CriticallyEndangered White-shouldered Ibis, SiameseCrocodile and Mekong River IrrawaddyDolphin. It maintains a range of important

Sanabria and his colleagues say there areseveral steps that must be taken in order tochange the industry. Sustainable tourismpolicies must be created and implemented atboth the local and national level. They wantto see a greater number of alliances betweenthe public and private sector to help broadenthe effectiveness of these policies. Motivatingtravellers to choose responsible businessesand making sure they have access to informa-tion about sustainable tourism options is alsocritical. And with many businesses jumpingon the green bandwagon, independent,sustainable tourism certification schemesmust be supported.

Perhaps most importantly, tourism busi-nesses often need concrete guidance in orderto make their management practices moresustainable. The Rainforest Alliance has beenworking directly with these businesses—fromsmall community cooperatives to luxurylodges—training them on how to adopt prac-tices that help conserve the wildlife and peoplethat live in and around biologically-rich areas.

“Training is fundamental,” notesSanabria. “It generates the awareness necessaryfor participants to fully commit themselves tosustainable practices.”

Twenty years ago, Judy and KenduPlooy, from the US and Zimbabwe,

respectively, followed their dream and movedto the wilds of Belize, where they opened asmall hotel. Today, the duPlooy’s JungleLodge features 22 bungalows and rooms thatoffer visitors an environmentally friendlybase from which to enjoy the diverse naturalbeauty and cultural riches of the area.

The duPlooys recently participated in aRainforest Alliance workshop to learn aboutreducing energy use, recycling and providingeconomic benefits to local people. “The idealfor Belize is a clean tourist industry thatinfluences the positive development of thecountry,” says Judy duPlooy.

Entrepreneurs who take part in the train-ing can also have their businesses assessed toidentify areas where their impact on localecosystems and cultures could be reduced.

Participants who demonstrate a strongcommitment to best management practicesbenefit from the Rainforest Alliance’s effortsto develop effective marketing tools, and tolink them with international tour operatorswhose clients want vacations that are notonly memorable but also help conserve natu-ral and cultural attractions.

“We believe that it is possible to changethe way that tourism is developed in LatinAmerica,” says Sanabria, “and the businessesthat have participated in this programmehave proven it.”

www.rainforest-alliance.org

New research is changing the popularview that drylands are unproductive.People living in these areas depend

on a wide range of ecosystem services suchas livestock, fuelwood and medicinal plantsfor survival.

Drylands cover more than 41% of theEarth’s land surface and are home to a third ofthe global population. They support a diver-sity of land uses from farming, livestock herd-ing, hunting and gathering to ecotourism.Trade in sustainably-used products like themedicinal plants Devil’s claw and Hoodia canhelp boost local economies.

At least 30% of the world’s cultivatedplants and many of our domesticated animalsand livestock originated in drylands. Wheat,barley and other cereals derive from wild,drought-resistant grasses still growing indrylands which constitute a precious geneticstock for future crops.

Most of Kenya’s livestock live indrylands and half of the meat consumed inNairobi comes from them. In Namibia,

around 70% of the population dependsdirectly on drylands for their livelihoods. InSudan, arid forest contributes 70.8% ofnational energy needs and 33% of livestockfodder. In times of drought and crop failure,

these forests provide emergency food sourceslike the fruits of the Cordia africana tree.

Most of the arid lands of the world areinhabited by pastoralists who have sustainablymanaged these vast areas for thousands of years.


DOWN TO BUSINESS

ecosystem services in the wider Mekong andprovides drinking water and sanitation forlocal people. The wetlands are also vital forfood security and nutrition and provideopportunities for trade and exchange. Migra-tions of many economically- and nutritional-ly-important fish species such as Trey Riel aretriggered by seasonal hydrological changes.Potential areas of conflict between prioritiesfor conservation and human use have beenhighlighted through this project with respectto proposed zoning plans for the site.

In both field sites, prior to the Darwinproject, conservation approaches had been

based largely on a biodiversity perspective,with little recognition of the importance ofwetlands to local people. The project’s resultshave underlined the importance of takinglivelihoods into account when planning andimplementing conservation. They are alreadyhelping to shape management plans forMtanza-Msona and the Stung Treng Ramsarsite, supporting pro-poor wetland conserva-tion and sustainable use of the sites’ resourcesfor the benefit of both local livelihoods andbiodiversity.

The project brings together for the firsttime, species experts, social scientists and

economists who have, until now, worked inisolation. By taking all three perspectives—biodiversity, livelihood and economic valuesof wetlands—into consideration and poolingexpertise, management solutions can befound that suit both people and biodiversity.This approach also leads to better and moresustainable conservation outcomes. Themethods used to conduct an integratedwetland assessment will be published as atoolkit and maps that highlight overlapsbetween threatened species and areas of highhuman dependence are being used to presentthe findings simply to decision makers.

Integrated assessments present thestrongest case for conserving wetlands andallow local people to defend their livelihoodsfrom developers or over-zealous conserva-tionists. They can also act as an early warningsystem, highlighting areas of potentialconflict between conservation and liveli-hoods.

Information on how valuable species areto people as a source of livelihood or food isnow being fed into the IUCN Red List ofThreatened Species as a key factor to beconsidered when making management deci-sions concerning biodiversity.

www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/our_work

/freshwater/indexfreshwater.htm

Hidden wealth

In Mongolia, pastoral livestock are responsiblefor one third of GDP and are the second largestsource of export earnings. Dryland pastoralismalso produces several internationally-tradedgoods. In China, 78 million cashmere goatsproduce more than two-thirds of the world’scashmere fibre. In Ethiopia, the leather industry,dominated by pastoral production, is the secondlargest source of foreign exchange after coffee.

But the contribution of drylands tonational economies is barely reflected in officialstatistics or national GDP. In Sudanese offi-cial statistics, the forestry sector contributesonly 3.3% to the GDP whereas studies bythe World Bank and the UN Development

Programme show the figure stands at 12%—Sudan is the main producer of Gum Arabic,an important ingredient in the beverage(Coca Cola) and chewing gum industry. Thegap between informal and official statisticson the contribution of ecosystem services tolivelihoods arises because ‘informal’ ecosys-tem services and outputs such as wild fruitsor firewood and small local markets are notincluded in official economic data.

Politicians and natural resource managersare however starting to wake up to the econom-ic implications of conserving drylands in termsof safeguarding livelihoods and contributionsto national economies. Mounting evidence that

drylands sequester significant amounts ofcarbon is also helping to change attitudes.

Drylands are fragile environments thatneed urgent attention to avoid irreversiblebiodiversity loss and the consequent impact onlivelihoods. Only by combining scientificevidence from research institutions with tradi-tional indigenous knowledge from localcommunities can we find a new holisticmanagement approach to safeguard theseecological treasure troves.

www.iucn.org/drylands


For centuries, amphibians—frogs, toads,salamanders and caecilians—have been asubject of fascination and entertainment.

They have provided food, medicines and inspi-ration for medical research. Recent research hasrevealed antibiotic properties, anti-tumouragents, analgesics and adhesive compounds infrog skin. So how can we have pushed almost athird of species close to extinction?

Amphibians are a valuable food sourcethroughout much of the world—eaten bothfor subsistence and as a luxury. In many partsof the world they are used in traditional medi-cines by tribal and local peoples, often to meetprimary health needs. More than 30 specieshave been recorded in Traditional ChineseMedicine alone.

Many of us have lasting memories of ourfirst dissection in school biology classes—witnessing the anatomy and physiology of afrog at first hand. Beyond the classroom,amphibians have contributed to many impor-tant medical discoveries. Seven Nobel prizes

have been awarded based on researchconducted using amphibians. While dissect-ing a frog, the 18th century Italian anatomistLuigi Galvani found by chance that muscleand nerve cells produce electricity. His obser-vation helped establish the basis for studyingthe human nervous system.

Amphibians are increasingly recognizedas an important potential source of chemicalsubstances for use in modern medicine. Acompound isolated from the skin of theendangered Ecuadorian species Epipedobatestricolor is a potent non-addictive analgesicconsidered to be greater than 100 times moreeffective than morphine.

Since the mid 20th century, manyamphibian species have been part of the inter-national pet trade bringing economic benefitsto supply countries (but also threatening thespecies in some cases). The most commonly-traded species are the brightly-colouredpoison frogs and the attractive mantellas fromMadagascar.

Often called “canaries in the coal mine,” asa warning of environmental changes, the highlypermeable skin of amphibians is more sensitiveto changes in the environment, includingchanges to freshwater and air quality. They playan important role in ecosystem function and incontrolling pests such as mosquitoes.

Amphibians have long held cultural signif-icance in many societies. During the Maguai(frog) festival of the Zhuang people of Guangxi,China, a frog is captured, honoured and thenburied to ensure good weather and an excellentharvest for the following year. In Japan, the frogis traditionally viewed as a symbol of goodfortune endowed with magical powers.

Aside from their ‘usefulness’ to humans,frogs and toads display a remarkable range ofcolour, shape and activity. But perhaps thegreatest appeal of amphibians is not visual,but acoustic as anyone who has been privy toa chirping chorus of frogs as they begin theircourtship ritual in early spring will attest.

Released in 2004 and continually updat-ed, the Global Amphibian Assessment (GAA),led by IUCN, was the first-ever comprehen-sive assessment of the conservation status ofthe world’s approximately 6,000 knownamphibian species. The GAA launch attractedwidespread media coverage and helped raiseawareness of the urgency of saving amphib-ians. It prompted the development of anaction plan, drawn up at a summit of leadingscientists, intended to save hundreds of speciesfrom fatal threats such as pollution, habitatdestruction and disease.

Based on contributions by IUCNSpecies Programme staff andcolleagues to “Threatened Amphibiansof the World” to be published in 2008by Lynx Edicions.

www.globalamphibians.org

Amazing amphibians

Reachingthe massesWith China's biodiversity under increasing threat, Countdown 2010 is proving an important catalystfor action and awareness.


From the steppes of Inner Mongolia tothe mountains of Tibet, from theYellow River to the Yangtze, China is

characterized by a breathtaking variety ofecosystems and species. One of the world’smegadiverse countries, China is home tonearly 15% of the world’s mammal species,and to similar proportions of bird, fish andvascular plant species.

In a nation where limited resources areseen as a potential constraint to growth,China’s biodiversity supports not only thehealth and well-being of its citizens, butalso its rapid economic development. Whilethe benefits and services provided by biodi-versity cannot be precisely calculated, in1995 the China Council for InternationalCooperation on Environment and Develop-ment (CCICED) Biodiversity WorkingGroup estimated that in China they wereworth between US$ 255 and US$ 410billion per year.

However, China’s rich natural heritageis increasingly under threat. Nearly 3,000 ofthe approximately 41,000 plants andanimals assessed on the IUCN Red List of

Threatened Species are found in China.Widespread ecosystem degradation andhabitat destruction threaten China’s rivers,forests and arable land, having a severeimpact on the health of its citizens andaffecting neighbouring countries.

As are all Parties to the Convention onBiological Diversity (CBD), China hascommitted to “achieve by 2010 a significantreduction in the rate of biodiversity loss.”But despite ongoing efforts, China is poisedto fall far short of reaching this target.

Countdown 2010, a network of part-ners working together towards the 2010target, aims to support governments intheir efforts to reduce biodiversity loss by2010. Launched in Europe in 2004, theinitiative now has nearly 300 partnersworldwide, including the CBD, national,regional and local governments, privatesector organizations, and a wide range ofNGOs. 2007 marked the beginning ofCountdown 2010’s expansion to a globalinitiative, with the establishment of hubs inAfrica, South America and Asia, and mostrecently, in China.

Countdown 2010 faces a major chal-lenge in China, where “most people are notfamiliar with the 2010 target, even relevantprofessionals,” according to Professor XueDayuan, Chief Scientist on Biodiversity forthe State Environmental Protection Admin-istration (SEPA). “There’s a lot of workbeing done on biodiversity, but not in thename of the 2010 target,” he says, citingexamples from the work of the NanjingInstitute of Environmental Sciences (NIES)under SEPA, an IUCN member andCountdown 2010 partner with which he isaffiliated.

That Countdown 2010 in China aims tofill an important need has been underscoredby the strong positive response with which ithas been met. Since its launch in September, adiverse group of more than 20 Chinese andinternational organizations active in Chinahave signed the Countdown 2010 Declarationand joined the regional network as partners,with several more expressing interest. Partnersrange from local environmental NGOs likeGlobal Village Beijing, to big internationalconservation organizations active in China,


ON THE GROUND

Up frontHolly Dublin heads a network of 7,000 people dedicated to fighting the extinction crisis.World Conservation asked her for her views on diversity.

What does diversity mean to you,in both your private and professionallife?

Diversity in the natural world, for meis a combination of abundance, composi-tion, structure, colour, shape and texture—fur, feathers, scales, flowers, bark andleaves—and interaction between species.Diversity is what springs to mind wheneverI view a landscape which seems at first sighthomogeneous and static but is always morecomplex on closer inspection.

My favourite photo is one I took in theSerengeti-Mara ecosystem for an informalcompetition to see who could get the mostspecies in a frame. I topped the list captur-ing nine large vertebrates in a single photo.Just think how well I might have done hadI been able to capture and bring into focusall the plants and invertebrates that wereliving amongst the mega-herbivores!

Diversity is no two days being alike. Itis having close friends from every walk oflife from varying cultural and linguisticbackgrounds, yet still being able to interactand function as one in a global society.From the Maasai pastoralists adapted to theAfrican savannas, to the Tibetan farmersadapted to the harsh and windblownplateau, people living close to the land havemuch in common. So while we havetremendous diversity, we also share somemajor challenges but it is the diversity ofsolutions that have evolved which I find so

fascinating. The dedication and diversity ofapproaches found in the Species SurvivalCommission to save our species, from strictprotection to captive breeding and reintro-ductions, to habitat restoration and diseasemanagement is inspirational.

With IUCN’s unique membership andstrong track record, we are ideally placedto convene, facilitate and bring the bestscientific and technical advice from the

Commissions to decision makers, managersand resource users.

What changes have you perceived inpeople's attitudes towards biodiversity?

People change their behaviour as theirawareness and understanding evolves. Westill struggle to change people's attitudes ata rate that can offset the continuing loss.We’re having to live with a less ambitious

such as The Nature Conservancy, togovernment-affiliated NGOs and researchinstitutes such as NIES, to the UN Devel-opment Programme – China.

Beyond its partners, Countdown 2010has a broad range of supporters, and there isgreat interest in expanding beyond thecurrent base. In particular, Countdown 2010has been advised to reach out to media andto government. At present, although govern-ment-affiliated institutions have joined theinitiative as partners and government repre-sentatives have participated in Countdown2010 events, no Chinese government

ministry has signed the Countdown 2010Declaration.

As Prof. Xue emphasizes, “For thiscampaign, we need to invite NGOs andgovernment institutions to join together. It’snot too late—we have three years.”

As 2010 looms on the horizon and therate of biodiversity loss accelerates world-wide, the urgency of communicating theneed to reduce this loss becomes increas-ingly clear. In November, Countdown2010 co-sponsored an alliance-buildingmeeting with the EU-China BiodiversityProgramme Visibility and Awareness

Component (VAC). This meeting furtherconfirmed the willingness of Chineseconservation organizations to collaborateon communications, and the tremendousneed for joint effort.

As John MacKinnon, Team Leader ofthe VAC puts it, “If you have over a billionpeople to reach, you need to have a prettyloud voice. We need to find a relay of broad-casters reaching out farther and farther to getour message to all corners of China. Onlytogether can we have a big impact.”

www.countdown2010.net/china


goal of slowing the rate of biodiversity lossrather than halting the losses altogether.

I believe awareness at the internationallevel has increased but I’m not sure this hastranslated into increased conservationaction. I often feel people are overwhelmedby the doom and gloom stories and feelparalysed into inaction. I’ve also found thatnorthern concerns for the species found inless developed parts of the world have notalways translated into positive conservationaction in those places. There are many caseswhere these concerns have led to disincen-tives and increased costs in affectedcommunities who live with, ‘conserve’ andmust be allowed to benefit from theseglobally-valued species.

Progress is largely site-specific. Thereare areas of the world where biodiversity isprotected and ecosystems remain diverseand healthy. What we have come to under-stand is that working with local communi-ties on ways to conserve biodiversity is moreeffective and the results more lasting,

though this can only ever be highly local-ized. It is the losses at a global scale that aremore worrying.

Are people today more aware of therisks linked to biodiversity loss?

I think we’re failing at raising aware-ness and public concern. Our message is toocomplex and not compelling enough. We’renot presenting the links between healthybiodiversity and healthy people in a clear andsimple way, probably because the relationshipsare too complex for most people to grasp.Most people relate to certain charismaticspecies but this leaves the building blocks ofour functioning ecosystems—the majority ofspecies—right off the radar screen.

A major drawback is that we cannoteasily present the impacts of biodiversityloss in the same way as one can draw agraph showing the increase in temperatureresulting from increasing carbon emissions.We cannot speak of biodiversity loss and itsimplications for the future of human well-

being in succinct soundbites. Sadly theramifications of biodiversity loss seem moreremoved than other very pressing issues inpeople’s daily lives.

One worrying but recurring theme isthat people often do not seem to valuebiodiversity until it is lost. It is the absenceof biodiversity that stimulates them ratherthan being surrounded by it. It also seemsto be that people who rely on biodiversityand natural resources—the very people whoneed to do the conserving—are least ableto. Biodiversity conservation has become aconcern of the wealthy and enabled but notfor those who still need to worry aboutmeeting the most basic needs such as food,shelter, drinking water and health.

Holly Dublin is Chair of IUCN’s SpeciesSurvival Commission and a member ofthe IUCN Council.

www.iucn.org/themes/ssc

Biomimicry—studying nature’s best ideas and imitating thesedesigns to solve human problems provides some of the most pow-erful arguments for why we should protect biodiversity. Nature isextremely efficient; everything in nature is both produced and disas-sembled at ambient temperature and pressure, with no waste.Nature has already solved just about any problem that humanitycould possibly imagine. So why reinvent the wheel?

Studies of the silent flight of owls and the splash-less dive ofthe kingfisher led to significant noise reductions of a Japanesehigh-speed train; its front end was modeled on the kingfisher bill.The outstanding mechanical properties of spider silk have beenused as a basis for new types of fibre that can be produced with-out toxic chemicals or extreme heat. A self-cleaning paint usedon building facades was inspired by the sacred lotus flower whichstays clean and dry thanks to the rough surface of its petals.Researchers have determined the exact structure of a compoundthat guars (Asian wild cattle) excrete as a mosquito deterrent andare now producing it synthetically. This could help control thespread of mosquitoes that carry tropical diseases like yellow feverand malaria.

The quest to use CO2 instead of petroleum as the basis forplastic has been a ‘holy grail’ of chemistry for decades. In producing

a new biodegradable plastic, scientists mimicked the ability ofgreen plants to transform CO2 into carbon-based polymers using alow-temperature, benign manufacturing process. The new plastichas numerous applications in thin-film packaging; it can be used inthe medical device, food, electronic and pharmaceutical industries.

Prairies hold soil, resist pests and weeds, and support theirown fertility, all without our help. Prairie-like polycultures usingedible perennial crops and biofuel feedstock plants like switchgrasswould make ploughing and planting over winter obsolete. Mixturesof plants would give farms resilience, reducing the need for oil-based pesticides. Instead of an extractive agriculture that mimicsindustry, prairie-inspired farming is self renewing and can also helpsequester significant amounts of carbon.

ZERI—Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives is a globalnetwork seeking solutions to the world’s problems. It is teaming upwith IUCN, UNEP, the Biomimicry Guild and the Biomimicry Insti-tute to produce Nature’s 100 Best™, a series of technologiesinspired by nature that look set to change the face of humanity. Theproject links entrepreneurs with scientists and academics in aneffort to generate a positive shift in business and society.

www.zeri.org & www.zerilearning.org

Reinventing the wheel


ON THE GROUND

Connecting CataloniaWith the IUCN World Conservation Congress taking place in the Catalan capital Barcelona,Minister of Environment and Housing of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia, FrancescBaltasar i Albesa outlines the efforts underway to conserve the region’s diversity.

Catalonia is a small, densely populatednation, with a long-standing industri-al tradition and a more recently

developed tertiary sector. Its landscapes, floraand fauna are extremely diverse—the regionboasts alpine, coastal and steppe areas, as wellas truly Mediterranean environments. It isthis combination of socio-economic growth,characteristic of more developed regions, andthe high level of biodiversity, found only inmore sparsely populated or less developedregions, that makes Catalonia unique inEurope. The challenge of maintaining ahighly developed territory and an exception-al level of biodiversity is complex.

Because of this, Catalonia has been, andcontinues to be, committed to growthmodels that make the population’s lifestyle,both in cities and rural areas, compatiblewith our natural areas. The Government ofCatalonia’s objectives include waste andwater management, the promotion of renew-able energy sources and an improvement inair quality, with the overall aim of improvingthe Catalan population’s quality of life, andprotecting the region’s ecosystems. Cataloniahas one of the highest numbers of localAgenda 21s for sustainable developmentpromoted by the United Nations.

A major step forward in land conserva-tion and management was taken at the endof 2006 with the approval of the Europeannetwork of natural areas, Natura 2000,which enables us to conserve some of thecharacteristic features of the biodiversity thatmakes a nation like ours so attractive. Natura2000 was established taking into accountCatalonia’s new land use planning legislationwhich covers infrastructure planning and theregulation of urban and industrial areas. Themanagement directives of natural areas makethe activities currently carried out in the terri-tory (livestock farming, agriculture, huntingand extractive industries) compatible.

With the aim of facilitating the coexis-tence of people and nature, the Governmentrecently approved the Sectoral TerritorialPlan for Ecological Connectivity in Catalo-nia. Objectives of the plan include the avoid-ance of habitat fragmentation, the conserva-tion of large natural areas and allowingspecies to spread out over their range, as wellas permitting genetic exchange betweenpopulations across protected natural areas.The Plan also has to consolidate and inte-grate the General Spatial and Land Use Planof Catalonia with smaller land use andsectoral plans while incorporating the

functional and dynamic aspects of biodiversi-ty. Biodiversity conservation must be consid-ered in the environmental assessment of allplans and programmes promoted in Catalonia.

Spatial and land use planning willbecome the suitable framework for takinginto account the full scope of ecologicalprocesses, moving from a view of isolatednatural spaces, to one of a truly ecologicalnetwork in harmony with the necessarysocial, cultural and economic developmentof the nation and where biodiversity conser-vation and natural areas are given the samepriority as roads and railways.

Experience of working with theEuroparc Network (European Federation ofNational and Natural Parks) as well as with

inter-regional networks such as the WorkingCommunity of the Pyrenees or the FourMotors of Europe Network and projects withother Mediterranean countries such asRINAMED is allowing us to transform thechallenge of revaluing our natural areas andmaintaining all forms of life in our nation,into reality.

Bearing in mind that, as a Mediter-ranean region, Catalonia has limited waterresources and is one of the places that will beaffected most by the consequences of climatechange, the ability to plan our land use takinginto account all needs, those of developmentand those of maintaining the diversity of life,will set the future of our nation.


The power of redWith the help of its ever-strengthening Red List, IUCN is staying focussed on its core strength ofsafeguarding the diversity of life, says the Union’s Director General, Julia Marton-Lefèvre.

IUCN is first and foremost an organizationthat cares deeply about the diversity of lifeand whose fundamental expertise is on

species and ecosystems. We know thatsustainably managed natural resourcessupport peace. We know that we must tackleclimate change if we’re to safeguard biodiver-sity and the lives of the people who dependon it, and we also recognize the potential ofbiodiversity to help mitigate global warmingor adapt to it. We have shown that we canhelp reduce poverty by ensuring that naturecontinues to provide the poor with much-needed resources while sustainably managedresources can be key to economic growth.

The proposed new IUCN Programmestrengthens the Union’s heartland work onconserving the diversity of life while develop-ing more effective interventions linked tosustainable development in the areas ofclimate change, energy, ending poverty, andeconomy and markets.

Central to our work is the IUCN RedList of Threatened Species which is goingfrom strength to strength in providing theUnion with the information it needs to savebiodiversity. Regarded as the world’s mostauthoritative inventory of the conservationstatus of species, its system of categories andcriteria provides an objective and under-standable framework for identifying speciesat risk of extinction.

Far more than a list of species and theirstatus, the Red List is a powerful tool provid-ing information on population size andtrends, geographic range and habitat needs ofspecies. Through the Red List we can findout if a species is being over-hunted, whetherit is considered sacred, or whether it isprotected by international law. We can findout whether biological traits such as a slowreproductive rate make it susceptible to over-harvesting or whether its restricted rangemakes it vulnerable to climate change within

its habitat. We can also find out if a species isof particular value to people as a source offood, medicine or livelihood. The increasinginclusion of distribution maps and photos ishelping to make the Red List a ‘one-stopshop’ for biodiversity information and a keytool for decision making.

As a sobering indictment of what wehumans have done to our natural world, formany years the Red List has been too big topublish as a book. Instead the information isavailable as a searchable online database withthe information freely available to all whocan act on it. This includes governmentagencies, wildlife departments, NGOs, natu-ral resource planners, researchers, the privatesector and many others. The Red List helpstarget precious funding to where it can bemost effectively used.

Every year the launch of the updatedRed List attracts extensive media coverage;the Red List is starting to become a


SUPPLY & DEMAND

ON THE GROUND

household name, raising awareness amongthe public and governments about thedecline of biodiversity. Parties to environ-mental treaties such as the Convention onBiological Diversity all need access to themost up-to-date scientific information onbiodiversity when making decisions.

The Red List is a joint effort of IUCN’sSpecies Programme and Species SurvivalCommission (SSC). The SSC acts as custodi-an of the Red List, develops and maintainsstandards for assessments, and convenes alarge volunteer network to contribute dataand expertise. The Species Programmemanages the data collection. Together withthe SSC it helps to maintain scientific stan-dards and produces associated Red List prod-ucts such as regional species assessments. It

also coordinates the input of key IUCNmembers who are Red List Partners. Collec-tively, this network holds the most completescientific knowledge base on the biology andcurrent conservation status of species.

Nearly all governments have agreed toreduce biodiversity loss as a way to fightpoverty. Another critical function of the RedList is monitoring progress in reachingtargets such as the Countdown 2010 targetto reduce biodiversity loss.

Many species are not listed as threat-ened simply because information on them isnot available so there is a race against time toget more assessments done. IUCN and itsnetworks are teaming up with a wider rangeof partners to increase coverage. They arealso working with industry to find out how

to package the Red List information to makeit most useful to ‘customers’.

The aim is to ensure that the Red Listserves as nature’s early warning system, iden-tifying threats early enough so that correctiveaction can be taken. In time, and given thesupport it needs, the Red List will be able totell us what contribution particular speciesmake to an ecosystem and what happens tothat ecosystem and to human well-being if aspecies disappears.

It’s a long process to make the Red Listachieve its full potential, but the will isstrong. Quite simply, conservation would belost without it.

www.iucnredlist.org

When the bees disappear

In his book Le jour où l’abeille disparaî-tra... (The day the bees disappear...),Deputy Head of IUCN’s SpeciesProgramme, Jean-Christophe Vié talksabout the importance of biodiversity.Aimed at the general public, the bookrefers to Jean-Christophe’s experienceliving and working in various parts of theworld as well as his work with theSpecies Programme and SpeciesSurvival Commission which he joined 15years ago. “We face constant difficulty incommunicating properly the importanceof our work and explaining why biodiver-sity matters, so I hope this book helps alittle,” he says. The title comes from aquote attributed to Einstein claiming thatif bees disappear, humans will only havefour years to live. Jean-Christophesuspects the quote was invented,possibly by bee-keepers to help defendtheir cause, but it is widely usedbecause it shows how much we dependon biodiversity using, as an example,the critical role bees play in pollination.

What can a trader learn from a tribesman?

What can a tribesman learn from a trader?

Bringing experts together to help solve our most pressing sustainable development challenges.www.iucn.org

Documents

The magazine of the World Conservation Union January 2008 ...cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/00_world_conservation_2008_01.pdf · The magazine of the World Conservation Union January 2008