The world is
failing to protect its natural habitats and species and action
internationally is needed as climate change takes hold, Secretary
of State for the Environment Hilary Benn will warn today as he
delivers the annual Darwin Lecture.
The threat to polar bears, turtles and pandas is well known, but
UK species are also at threat from a combination of climate change
causing a loss of habitat and food sources. Common sights such as
songthrushes, skylarks, toads, common seals, puffins and wood
peckers could become rare as these creatures dwindle in numbers
and are found in fewer areas. Even the English bluebell wood could
become a scarce sight. And the capercaillie, snow bunting and
black grouse – once a feature of the British countryside – are now
so rare that they could face extinction in the UK.
Speaking at the Natural History Museum, Mr Benn said:
“The truth is that the great challenges before us – our changing
climate, the security of our food supplies, human development and
biodiversity loss, are bound up together. They are as separate
only as the fingers of a single human hand are separate. It is how
they work together that makes them so special.
“At present the world is failing to protect its biodiversity. We
stand poised between the extinct and the living. We cannot go on
as we are.
“2009 has been the year of climate change. 2010 will be the
International Year of Biodiversity. Collectively, we need to make
that mean something.
“In October 2010 193 countries will meet in Nagoya, Japan, to
discuss the fate of the natural world, and the steps we need to
take to protect it. When the world came together in this way in
2002 we set a target on protecting biodiversity.
“The international community has failed to give this target the
priority it needs. And as a consequence, the world is going to
fail to meet it. We can’t let this happen again.”
Mr Benn will today call for the international community to set a
new target for improving biodiversity, establish a new
international structure for protecting the marine environment and
stop global over-fishing and create an Intergovernmental
Science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
(IPBES), an equivalent to the IPCC for biodiversity. He will also
champion the work of The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity
(TEEB) project, chaired by Pavan Sukhdev that will help the
international community to value the economics of eco-systems. He
will also encourage the United States of America to join the UN
Convention on Biological Diversity.
Mr Benn will say that:
“We will have to take into account in the decisions we make, the
value of biodiversity and ecosystems and recognise the true costs
we incur when we damage or degrade our natural resources. To value
for money we will need to add value for nature.”
Mr Benn also called on the public to play their part in helping
to protect our natural habitats and species:
“Everybody has a part to play. Find something you care about –
our wonderful woodland or your favourite birds, animals, plants –
and do something to help them flourish. Help coppice a wood, plant
wild flowers in your garden to create a habitat for birds and
insects, eat MSC accredited fish or pull up a paving slab and
plant a tree.”
Hilary Allison, Policy Director, Woodland Trust from The Woodland
Trust agreed:
“Volunteering with the Woodland Trust allows you to take action
for woods and trees which create healthy places for people and
wildlife, as well as underpinning a healthy and functioning
environment for us all. Whether it’s the simple act of planting a
tree, helping to improve paths for more enjoyable woodland walks
or helping to record our irreplaceable heritage of ancient trees,
everyone and anyone can play their part. “
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