Governments 'must tackle' roots of nature crisis

Governments must tackle the underlying causes of biodiversity loss if they are to stem the rate at which ecosystems and species are disappearing.

That was one of the conclusions of an inter-governmental workshop in London held in preparation for October’s UN biodiversity summit in Nagoya, Japan.

Delegates agreed that protecting nature would bring economic benefits to nations and their citizens.
The UN calculates that species are currently going extinct at about 1,000 times the “natural” rate; and economic analyses being prepared for the UN Environment Programme (Unep) show that ecosystems, such as coral reefs and rainforests, are worth far more intact than depleted.

In 2002, governments set a target of significantly reducing the rate of global biodiversity loss by 2010 – a target that is not going to be met.

Many observers now argue that it was not really achievable; global ambitions did not translate into local and regional action, and not enough attention was paid to the underlying factors causing depletion of the natural world.

New targets are likely to be set at the Nagoya meeting that are designed to be more scientifically valid and achievable.

BBC