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Oakland, CA--April 29, 2010 -- World leaders have failed to
deliver commitments made in 2002 to reduce the global rate of
biodiversity loss by 2010, and have instead overseen alarming
biodiversity declines. These findings are the result of a new
paper published in the leading journal Science and represent the
first assessment of how the targets made through the 2002
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have not been met.
Compiling over 30 indicators -- measures of different aspects of
biodiversity, including changes in species’ populations and risk
of extinction, habitat extent and community composition -- the
study found no evidence for a significant reduction in the rate
of decline of biodiversity, and that the pressures facing
biodiversity continue to increase. The synthesis provides
overwhelming evidence that the 2010 target has not been
achieved.
“Our analysis shows that governments have failed to deliver on
the commitments they made in 2002: biodiversity is still being
lost as fast as ever, and we have made little headway in
reducing the pressures on species, habitats and ecosystems”,
said Dr Stuart Butchart of the United Nations Environment
Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre and BirdLife
International, and the paper’s lead author.
“Our data show that 2010 will not be the year that biodiversity
loss was halted, but it needs to be the year in which we start
taking the issue seriously and substantially increase our
efforts to take care of what is left of our planet.”
The indicators included in the study were developed and
synthesised through the 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership
-- a collaboration of over 40 international organizations and
agencies developing global biodiversity indicators and the
leading source of information on trends in global biodiversity.
Among these indicators was the Ecological Footprint, which
measures the aggregate demand that human activities, through
consumption of resources and emission of carbon dioxide, place
on ecosystems and species.
“A better understanding of the connections between the
Ecological Footprint and biodiversity loss is fundamental to
slowing, halting and reversing the ongoing declines in these
ecosystems and in populations of wild species,” said Dr.
Alessandro Galli, senior scientist for Global Footprint Network
and co-author of the study.
Among the drivers of threats to biodiversity are human demands
for food, water, energy and materials, according to Galli. Such
threats include climate change, pollution, habitat loss, as well
as over-exploitation of resources and species.
“Since 1970, we have reduced animal populations by 30%, the area
of mangroves and sea grasses by 20% and the coverage of living
corals by 40%,” said the United Nations Environment Programme’s
Chief Scientist Prof Joseph Alcamo. “These losses are clearly
unsustainable, since biodiversity makes a key contribution to
human well-being and sustainable development, as recognised by
the UN Millennium Development Goals.”
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