Biodiversity, key to sustaining life on earth

Biodiversity, key to sustaining life on earth

Satyawan Wardhana, Head, Biosafety Division, State Ministry of
Environment, Jakarta

Biodiversity is often taken to mean a wide variety of plants,
animals and microorganisms. It also embraces genetic differences
within each species. Chromosomes, genes and DNA -- the building
blocks of life -- determine the uniqueness of each individual and
species.

Yet another aspect of biodiversity is the variety of
ecosystems. In each ecosystem, living creatures, including
humans, form a community, interacting with each another and with
the air, water and soil around them. Biodiversity provides a
large number of goods and services that sustain our lives.

In 1999, the world's population reached 6 billion. UN experts
predict the world will have to find resources for a population of
9 billion people in 50 years. Yet, our demands on the world's
natural resources are growing even faster than our numbers: Since
1950, the population has more than doubled, but the global
economy has quintupled.

Our settlement patterns are changing our relationship with the
environment. Nearly half the world's people live in towns and
cities. More and more people associate food with stores, rather
than with their natural sources.

Biological resources are the pillars upon which we build
civilizations. Nature's products support industries as diverse as
agriculture and pharmaceuticals. Time after time we have rushed
back to nature's cupboard for cures to illnesses or for infusions
of tough genes from wild plants to save our crops from pest
outbreaks.

These natural services are so varied as to be almost infinite.
For example, it would be impractical to replace, to any large
extent, services such as pest control performed by various
creatures feeding on one another, or pollination performed by
insects and birds going about their everyday business.

For thousands of years we have been developing a vast array of
domesticated plants and animals important for food. But this
treasure-house is shrinking as modern commercial agriculture
focuses on relatively few crop varieties. Furthermore, about 30
percent of breeds of the main farm animal species are currently
at high risk of extinction.

Yet, the fragmentation, degradation and outright loss of
forests, wetlands, coral reefs and other ecosystems pose the
gravest threat to biological diversity.

Forests are home to much of the known terrestrial
biodiversity, but about 45 percent of the earth's original
forests are gone, cleared mostly during the last century.

Up to 10 percent of coral reefs have been destroyed, and one-
third of the remainder face collapse over the next 10 years to 20
years.

Global atmospheric changes, such as ozone depletion and
climate change, only add to the stress. A thinner ozone layer
lets more ultraviolet-B radiation reach the earth's surface,
where it damages living tissue. Global warming is already
changing habitats and the distribution of species.

Scientists warn that even a one-degree increase in the average
global temperature, if it were to occur rapidly, would push many
species over the brink. Our food production systems could also be
seriously disrupted.

The loss of biodiversity often reduces the productivity of
ecosystems, thereby shrinking nature's basket of goods and
services. It destabilizes ecosystems, and weakens their ability
to deal with natural disasters such as flooding, drought and
hurricanes, and with human-caused stresses, such as pollution and
climate change. Already, we are spending huge sums in response to
flood and storm damage that has been exacerbated by
deforestation.

The reduction in biodiversity also hurts us in other ways. Our
cultural identity is deeply rooted in our biological environment.
Plants and animals are symbols of our world, preserved in flags,
sculptures and other images that define us and our societies.

Can we save the world's ecosystems, and with them the species
we value and the other millions of species, some of which may
produce the foods and medicines of tomorrow? This depends on our
ability to bring our demands into line with nature's ability to
produce what we need and to safely absorb what we throw away.

A major challenge for the 21st century will be making
conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity a compelling
basis for development policies, business decisions and consumer
desires.

The greatest crunch in sustainable development decisions is
the short- versus long-term time frame. Sadly, it often still
pays to exploit the environment now by harvesting as much and as
fast as possible, because economic rules do little to protect
long-term interests.

Truly sustainable development requires countries to redefine
their policies on land use, food, water, energy, employment,
development, conservation, economics and trade. Biodiversity
protection and sustainable use require the participation of
ministries responsible for areas such as agriculture, forestry,
fisheries, energy, tourism, trade and finance.

The challenge facing governments, businesses and citizens is
to forge transition strategies leading to long-term sustainable
development. It means negotiating tradeoffs, even as people are
clamoring for more land, and businesses are pressing for
concessions to expand their harvests. The longer we wait, the
fewer options we shall have.

The transition to sustainable development requires a shift in
public attitudes as to what is an acceptable use of nature. This
can only happen if people have the right information, skills and
organizations for understanding and dealing with biodiversity
issues. Governments and the business community need to invest in
staff and training, and they need to support organizations,
including scientific bodies, that can deal with and advise on
biodiversity issues.

We also need public education to bring about changes in
behavior and lifestyles, and to prepare societies for the changes
needed for sustainability.

While governments should play a leadership role, other sectors
need to be actively involved. It is the choices and actions of
billions of individuals that will determine whether or not
biodiversity is conserved and used sustainably.

In an era when economics is a dominant force, it is more
important than ever to have business willingly involved in
environmental protection and the sustainable use of nature.

Fortunately, a growing number of companies have decided to
apply the principles of sustainable development to their
operations. A number of forestry companies have moved from clear-
cutting to less destructive forms of timber harvesting.

More and more companies have also found ways to make a profit,
while reducing their environmental impacts. They view sustainable
development as ensuring long-term profitability and increased
goodwill from their business partners, employees and consumers.

Local communities play a key role, as they are the true
"managers" of the ecosystems in which they live. Many projects
have been successfully developed in recent years, involving local
communities in sustainable management.

Finally, the ultimate decision-maker for biodiversity is the
individual citizen. The small choices that individuals make add
up to a large impact because it is personal consumption that
drives development, which in turn uses and pollutes nature.

By carefully choosing the products they buy and the government
policies they support, the public can begin to steer the world
towards sustainable development. Governments, companies and
others have a responsibility to lead and inform the public, but
ultimately, it is individual choices, made billions of times a
day, that count the most.