A lifeline for ecosystems?

NAGOYA (Japan): A historic global treaty to protect the world's forests, coral reefs and other threatened ecosystems within 10 years was sealed at a UN summit.

Rich and poor nations agreed to take "effective and urgent" action to curb the destruction of nature in an effort to halt the loss of the world's biodiversity on which human survival depends.
Delegates from 193 countries on Saturday committed to key goals by 2020 such as curbing pollution, protecting forests and coral reefs, setting aside areas of land and water for conservation, and managing fisheries sustainably.

"This is a day to celebrate," UN Environment Programme chief Achim Steiner said straight after the accord was struck early on Saturday morning following nearly two weeks of tense talks in the central Japanese city of Nagoya.

Delegates and green groups also said the accord offered hope that the United Nations could help to solve the planet's many environmental problems, particularly after the failure of climate change talks in Copenhagen last year.

One of the most significant elements of the historic accord was a commitment to protect 17% of land and 10% of oceans so that biodiversity there could thrive. Currently only 13% of land and 1% of oceans are protected.

Nevertheless, Greenpeace expressed disappointment at the new targets, which delegates said were lowered on the insistence of China and some other developing countries.

Greenpeace had been pushing for 20% of oceans to be conserved, as a step towards an eventual target of 40% preservation.

There were other limitations to the Nagoya pact — including that the United States was not a signatory as it is one of the few countries not to have ratified the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

But while some green groups said the 20-point plan was not as ambitious as hoped, most still welcomed it as a historic step towards united global action in tackling biodiversity problems.

"Governments have sent a strong message that protecting the health of the planet has a place in international politics and countries are ready to join forces to save life on earth," WWF International director general Jim Leape said. AFP

Source: Times Of India, 31-10-2010