By Robert J. Burrowes
In August 2010, the secretary-general of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Ahmed Djoghlaf, warned that ‘We are losing biodiversity at an unprecedented rate.’ According to the UN Environment Program, ‘the Earth is in the midst of a mass extinction of life’ with scientists estimating that ‘150-200 species of plant, insect, bird and mammal become extinct every 24 hours’ which is nearly 1,000 times the ‘natural’ or ‘background’ rate.
Robert J. Burrowes
Moreover, it ‘is greater than anything the world has experienced since the vanishing of the dinosaurs nearly 65m years ago.’ See ‘Protect nature for world economic security, warns UN biodiversity chief’.
Saving land and oceans not easy goal By KARL WILSON in Sydney | China Daily | Updated: 2021-01-18 10:42
Vice-Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, addresses the One Planet Summit via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Jan 11, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
Nature loss is accelerating rapidly as one million species face extinction
The commitment by China and some 50 other countries to protect 30 percent of the earth s land and oceans by 2030 was a much-needed step to halt biodiversity loss and prevent species extinction, analysts said.
Realizing the mission, though, will not be easy as the new goal would mean a huge scale-up in the protected land and ocean area compared to current levels, they said.
Vice-Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, addresses the One Planet Summit via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Jan 11, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
Nature loss is accelerating rapidly as one million species face extinction
The commitment by China and some 50 other countries to protect 30 percent of the earth s land and oceans by 2030 was a much-needed step to halt biodiversity loss and prevent species extinction, analysts said.
Realizing the mission, though, will not be easy as the new goal would mean a huge scale-up in the protected land and ocean area compared to current levels, they said.
Draft UN biodiversity plan risks another lost decade for nature panda.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from panda.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Indigenous communities wary of UN biodiversity rescue plan
Some of the world’s leading conservation groups have backed conservation projects that dispossessed indigenous peoples of their ancestral ties and homelands
By Eleonore Hughes / AFP, PARIS
As crunch UN talks to reverse the accelerating destruction of nature loom, indigenous communities are sounding an alarm over proposed conservation plans that they say could clash with their rights.
The COP-15 UN biodiversity summit in Kunming, China provisionally slated for early October will see nearly 200 nations attempt to thrash out new goals to preserve Earth’s battered ecosystems.
To limit the devastating effects of species loss caused by pollution, hunting, mining, tourism and urban sprawl, the draft treaty proposes to create protected areas covering 30 percent of the planet’s lands and oceans by 2030.