Conserving biodiversity

International efforts
Biodiversity is disappearing from the natural ecosystems of
forests, savannahs, pastures and rangelands, deserts, tundras,
rivers, lakes and seas .This is largely the result of human
activity and represents a serious threat to human development.
To protect these precious resources for human kind various
environmental conservation organisations are working world-
wide.
World Conservation Union (IUCN) is the world’s largest and
most important conservation network that brings together 83
States, 110 government agencies, more than 800 non-
governmental organizations (NGOs), and some 10,000
scientists. Experts from 181 countries work for conservation of
natural resources under IUCN's various programmes in a unique
worldwide partnership. The World Commission on Protected
Areas, Species Survival Commission and Commission on
Ecosystem Management of IUCN directly address biodiversity
crisis.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
collaborates with a wide range of partners throughout the UN
system and beyond to provide information on the state of the
planet's natural resources and their contribution to sustainable
development. The UNEP has been at the forefront of assessing
and monitoring global biodiversity issue. The Convention on
Biological Diversity was negotiated under the auspices of the
UNEP.
World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) of the
United Nations Environment Programme or UNEP-WCMC is
an executive agency of the United Nations Environment
Programme, based in Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
UNEP-WCMC has been part of UNEP since 2000, and has
responsibility for biodiversity assessment and support to
policy development and implementation. WCMC monitors the
effectiveness of biodiversity conservation efforts especially
made by UNEP, IUCN and WWF throughout the world.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international
non-governmental organisation for the conservation, research
and restoration of the natural environment. Formerly named the
World Wildlife Fund. WWF is one of the world's largest and
most experienced independent conservation organisations, with
almost 5 million supporters and a global network active in more
than 100 countries. It is a charity, with approximately 90 percent
of its funding coming from voluntary donations by private
individuals and businesses. WWF's mission is to stop the
degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a
future in which humans live in harmony with nature. One of
three goals of WWF is conserving the world's biological
diversity.
Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established by
donor governments in 1991 to provide conservation finance
proposed at the Earth Summit. It helps beneficiary nations to
fund projects and programmes that aim to protect the global
environment. GEF grants support projects related to
biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land
degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO) headquartered in Paris, France, was
founded in 1945, to act as U.N.'s lead agency on matters relating
to education, the sciences, culture, and communications. The
Man and the Biosphere Program] (MAB) is one of the major
scientific programmes of the UNESCO, dedicated to
conservation of biodiversity through designation of biosphere
reserves throughout the world. The World Resources Institute
(WRI) is an environmental think tank that goes beyond research
to find practical ways to protect the earth and improve people's
lives. Its mission is to move human society to live in ways that
protect Earth's environment and its capacity to provide for the
needs and aspirations of current and future generations. The WRI
works for sustainable use of biodiversity through ecosystem
approach. Its objective is to maintain as much pristine condition
of natural ecosystems as possible by its 'People & Ecosystems'
working area so that ecosystems can provide natural goods and
services .The Institute was launched on June 3, 1982. Major
events
World Conservation Strategy (WCS) was formulated by
IUCN in cooperation with UNEP, WWF, FAO and UNESCO.
It explains the contribution of living resource conservation to
human survival and to sustainable development and identifies
the priority conservation issues along with the main
requirements for dealing with them and proposes ways for
effectively achieving the Strategy aim. The WCS was
launched in 1980 in 30 countries, and now many countries are
adopting conservation strategies formulated within the
guidelines suggested.
Global Biodiversity Assessment (GBA) is an independent,
critical, peer reviewed scientific analysis of the current issues,
theories and views regarding the main aspects of biodiversity.
According to the Global Biodiversity Assessment, it is estimated
that the total number of species on Earth is between 13 and 14
million, of which only 1.75 million have been described.
Enormous diversity exists between these species, ranging from
common annual herbs to bacteria of deep ocean trenches. Their
arrangement into classifications reflect their phyletic
relationships, and the complex patterns of variation and
distribution. Groups of plants, birds, mammals, fishes, reptiles
and amphibians the species with which we are most familiar and
utilize for economic purpose is only 3 percent of the estimated
total. The majority of species belong to groups such as insects,
arachnids, fungi, nematodes and microorganisms.
Convention on Biological Diversity(CBD) was negotiated
under the auspices of the UNEP. It entered into force on 29
December 1993. As of October 1998, more than 170 countries
had become parties. The three goals of the CBD are to promote
the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its
components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising
out of the utilisation of genetic resources. The CBD Secretariat is
located in Montreal, Canada. The Subsidiary Body on Scientific,
Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), which / advises
the Conference of the Parties (COP), meets seve months prior to
each COP.
Man and the Biosphere Program (MAB) was launched in
1970 and was formally endorsed by U.N. Member States at
the U.N. Conference on the Environment in 1972. Since its
early days, MAB has initiated programmes and activities
focusing on the diversity and the resources provided by
nature, humans' impacts on biodiversity, as well as how
biodiversity affects human activities. The original objective of
MAB was to establish protected areas representing the main
ecosystems of the planet. A 'biosphere reserve' under MAB is
a unique kind of protected area. It differs from a national park,
wilderness area, national forest or wildlife refuge in having
three equal aims: conservation of genetic resources, species,
and ecosystems; scientific research and monitoring; and
promoting sustainable development in communities of the
surrounding region.
Recent progresses
Global Biodiversity Challenge: In April 2002, the Parties to the
Convention committed themselves to achieve by 2010 a
significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss at the
global, regional and national level. This target was subsequently
endorsed by the World Summit on Sustainable Development and
the United Nations General Assembly and was incorporated as a
new target under the Millennium Development Goals. In /
February 2004 the Parties of Convention on Biological Diversity
at the seventh Conference identified a role for UNEP-WCMC in
eight decisions, including work on assessing progress in
achieving the internationally-agreed target of achieving a
significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss globally by
2010, on monitoring implementation of the Global Strategy for
Plant Conservation, and of the World Database on Protected
Areas.
Global Biodiversity Outlook : The second edition of the
Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-2) was published by the
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity in
2006.GBO-2 assesses the current status and trends of
biodiversity and the key drivers of biodiversity loss. It
provides a powerful case for the importance of biodiversity to
human well-being. The report contains a succinct overview of
the status of the implementation of the Convention on
Biological Diversity, progress towards the 2010 Biodiversity
Target and its contribution to the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals. Conclusion
Biodiversity, the variety of life on Earth, is disappearing at an
unprecedented rate. This situation contradicts the
international ”2010 Biodiversity Target”, which aims at
significantly reducing the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.
Science and governance for conserving and sustainably and
equitably using biodiversity are key elements to decrease the
rate of its loss.