Biodiversity as a key-factor for sustainable development
Date: 26/02/2006
Introduction:
Solving the problem of environmental threats and a dwindling biodiversity has been on the international agenda for some decades now. The formulation of environmental questions, however, is changing slowly. There has been a tendency to define those questions in sectoral environmental terms, like soil, air, water, and nature (conservation). This approach indeed has been an important first step, because solving these questions contributed to the direct conservation of nature being threatened.
In the meantime the majority of national states have decided (WSSD, Johannesburg 2002) to make a next step in conservation - and poverty alleviation - by adopting the idea of ‘sustainable’ societies (see the Plan of Implementation). The basis for this concept came largely from two other United Nations views: those on development and those on biodiversity issues. The former were expressed in the Millennium Development Goals and the Declaration of the UN General Assembly, September 2000. The latter find their basis in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, Rio de Janeiro, 1992). The objectives of this convention are threefold, interalia: ’The conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources, which should include appropriate access to genetic resources and appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over those resources and technologies, and access to appropriate funding’.
Along these lines diverse groups within the CBD system have elaborated some of these principles, like the ‘Ecosystem approach’ (see Shepherd, G., 2004: The Ecosystem Approach; Five Steps to Implementation, IUCN) and the ‘Addis Ababa Principles and Guidelines' directed towards the sustainable use of biodiversity.
What, then, is biodiversity about? The CBD defined it as: ‘ Biological diversity - or biodiversity - is the term given to the variety of life on earth and the natural patterns it forms. This diversity is often understood in terms of the wide variety of plants, animals and micro-organisms. So far, about 1,75 million species have been identified, mostly small creatures such as insects’.
Biodiversity also includes genetic differences within each species - for example, between varieties of crops and breeds of livestock.
Yet another aspect of biodiversity is the variety of ecosystems such as those that occur in deserts, forests, wetlands, mountains, lakes, rivers, and agricultural landscapes. In each ecosystem, living creatures, including humans, form a community, interacting with one another and with the air, water, and soil around them’.
Biodiversity is not identical to nature as so often is claimed; rather it is an aspect, a characteristic of nature on various levels: genes, species and ecosystems. With this convention the worldwide focus on conservation measures in its pure sense has shifted towards the inclusion of social and economic issues. In other words: parties that have signed and ratified this convention (187 countries and the European Community) have gained the view that conservation of nature cannot be achieved anymore by conservation measures alone.
Ecosystems and human needs
As human societies become more and more complex and technologically advanced, it is easy to gain the impression that we no longer depend on natural systems. A steadily increasing proportion of people live in cities, in environments dominated by human-built structures and machinery. Even in rural areas, conservation of natural spaces is often seen as a luxury that has little to do with the well-being of local people (p.6 from Living Beyond Our Means: Natural Assets and Human Well-being; Statement of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Board).
It may seem that people have distanced themselves from nature, however, the reverse is true: they still rely on the services it delivers. ‘Ecosystems’ may be brought, therefore, into a direct combination with the satisfaction of human needs, the so-called ‘ecological services’. Various types of ecosystems like the ones mentioned below provide a set of services to human popula-tions. Their ability to deliver these services depends on complex biological, chemical and physical interactions, which are in turn affected by human activities. The ecosystems can be defined in the following categories:
- mountain and polar areas
- inland waters
- cultivated areas
- coastal areas
- forest and woodland areas
- drylands
- urban areas
- islands
- marine areas.
If we take, as an example, the ecosystem ‘inland waters’ from the list, this type of ecosystem provides, among others, services like fresh water, food, sediment retention and transport, recreation and tourism.
The interesting thought of ecosystems providing for human needs is based on the idea that the first priority for global development, apart from poverty alleviation, now is to keep these functions going. With this assessment we have reached a situation that goes far beyond the relative ‘luxury’ of conserving pure, undisturbed nature: the very functioning of the whole planet in all its elements is at stake. For governments this may mean that their policies directed towards the Millennium Development Goals (see above) cannot be achieved without taking this ‘ecological approach’ as one of their strategic foundations.
Implementing CBD by the Netherlands, with a focus on developing countries
1. Governments
Governmental tasks in implementing the convention and the MDG are diverse. In practice the ministries of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV; coordinating national policy), of Foreign Affairs (Buza/DGIS) and of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment (VROM) take a leading role. The emphasis lies on international responsibilities, related to the thematic programmes and cross-cutting issues of CBD.
LNV: primarily through carrying out the International Policy Programme on Biodiversity (BBI). It has a vast information service on biodiversity issues.
Buza/DGIS: its policy in biodiversity is primarily driven by their overarching policy of poverty alleviation cooperation with other ministries in implementing the BBI-programme (see under LNV).
VROM: its biodiversity policy is primarily based on the fourth National Environmental Programme (2001-2006). Its activities involve the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the Netherlands. Spatial planning, environmental policy and climate policy are among its instruments. The ministry has an information site on biodiversity.
2. Research institutes
The Netherlands Biodiversity Research Strategy Network is planning to develop an independent nationwide network of scientists, scientific organisations, funding and policy-making organisations on biodiversity research and strategy, aiming at focussing their joint activities in support of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Partnership of this Bioplatform-Nl is open to all relevant scientific institutes, research organisations, policy agencies and their representatives.
Most universities are participating in the Research network and specific biodiversity research is also implemented in the Wageningen Alterra Research institute. Tropenbos International plays a broker’s role in connecting policy with science. An overarching institution holding much information about biodiversity research done is the Netherlands Biodiversity Information Facility.
PROFORIS is a vast database containing information on Dutch government funded programmes and projects in the areas of international nature, forest, water and biodiversity.
3. NGOs
In the sense of the Convention some NGOs are involved in working on biodiversity issues, primarily IUCN Netherlands Committee (IUCN NL). This organisation which is the national representative of IUCN - the World Conservation Union - functions as a platform and sounding board for the Dutch members of IUCN and the Dutch members of the 6 international IUCN commissions. Its work is to help conserve global biodiversity, through activities in the Netherlands, and in a number of tropical countries.
In the Netherlands a very large amount of institutions, governments, local centres, volunteers and national NGOs are working in the field of environmental education (EE). Certainly not all of them take biodiversity as a leading theme for their work but the relationships between their work and the concept of biodiversity are certainly recognized. Even less of them are involved in global educational issues. A national website on activities of the wide variety of EE-organizations in the country (in Dutch) gives a good insight into the great variety of EE-institutions and their work being done nowadays.
The largest EE-institution in the Netherlands (IVN; 125 professionals in national and regional offices, with some 17.000 volunteers divided over nearly 180 local branches) which is strongly ‘ecologically oriented’ in its work has an international section which increasingly is attempting to ‘globalise’ educational thinking and working within the organization (the general website of IVN ). IUCN has a working group on global biodiversity and education which is being established (contact the author).
4. Cooperation
It is obvious that the many partners in furthering the cause of biodiversity have their own responsibilities. Governmental policy, research, information and education are primarily separate activities but increasingly find that cooperation is needed among the institutions given their complementary roles. Essentially, it is only through coordinated action (governmental policy, research/science and the civil society) that biodiversity can be sustainably managed.
The author: Chris Maas Geesteranus is the Former programme coordinator Biodiversity of the National Reference Centre for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, P.O.Box 482, 6710 BL Ede The Netherlands.
