A case for maintaining biological diversity

Muhammad Hatta and Ahmed Djoghlaf, Jakarta Post 30 Nov 09;

The glass of clean water you drink is probably purified by a wetland or the root system of an Indonesian forest. The medicine you take may also have come from nature's warehouse of services and the trees around your house actually work to trap dust, dirt, and harmful gases from the air you breathe. This list goes on.

Our natural ecosystems perform fundamental life-support services and represent the biological diversity that is the fruit of billions of years of evolution, shaped by natural processes and, increasingly, by the influence of humans.

In simple terms the value of biological diversity can be compared with financial markets. A diverse portfolio of species stocks, as with business stocks, provides a buffer against fluctuations in the environment (or market) that cause declines in individual stocks.

This stabilizing effect of a "biodiverse" portfolio is likely to be especially important as environmental change accelerates with global warming and other human impacts.

It is therefore outrageous that this web of life, of which humans are an integral part, is being rapidly eroded by human action. Species created over billions of years are being destroyed at an alarming rate which is 1000 times higher than the natural rate shrinking nature's basket of goods and services.

Indonesia is particularly endowed with a very high level of this biodiversity, spread over its 1.8 million square kilometer of land and of 5.8 million square kilometer of water area. The country is among the 17 mega-diverse countries of the world in terms of its rich biological diversity.

The country holds 12 percent of mammals, 16 percent of reptiles and 17 percent of birds placing it in the top rank globally. This rich biodiversity is protected through a complex network of biosphere reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, ecotourism parks, forest parks and hunting parks spread over 28 million hectares.

Considering that in 1981 this protected network of life was limited to only 7 million hectares, the recent expansion is a wonderful achievement for the country.

Outside the protected landscape the Indonesian Ministry of Environment has also increased the number of floras and faunas being bred in captivity from 171 species in 2006 to 416 species in 2008.

Despite these major successes the country is not immune to the global trends in which human activities are creating the greatest wave of extinction of species since the natural disaster which wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

The past few hundred years, humans have increased species extinction rates by as much as 1,000 times the background rates that were typical over Earth's history of 6 billion years.

The latest government data about deforestation rate, including degradation and fragmentation, states that deforestation rate in 2000-2005 stood at 1.08 million hectares and is expected to spread to 1.6 million hectares per year in future.

Worryingly for biodiversity, lowland forest, which is the most diverse area for biodiversity, is the most threatened forest due to conversion of land use, moving farm, irreversible forest management, development of infrastructure, mining, fires and various illegal activities.

This is worrying for the government as an estimated 40 million Indonesians living in rural areas depend on the biodiversity around forests for their sustenance.

For example, studies indicate that the total annual economic value of some environmental services in Maros Karst Regions Pangkep (KKMP) touches Rp 2 trillion (about US$220 million) per year.

Obviously, there is no substitute then to reverse this negative trend of biodiversity loss and the government is considering ambitious plans, such as increasing marine conservation area from 4.7 million ha to 20 million ha by 2020.

Such plans of course depend upon not only the Indonesian people but also on the attitude of the global community. The biggest bottleneck to biodiversity destruction globally is lack of appreciation of the value and importance of this natural resource.

Private companies, landowners, fishermen, and farmers take most of the actions that affect biodiversity industry related to the above mentioned stakeholders can therefore play an important role by recognizing the extent to which they actually rely on natural resources and how their work affects ecosystems.

Governments have traditionally been considered solely responsible for managing the public services of ecosystems, but it is now clear that markets can also contribute to this task, often without spending public money.

One initial option is to take voluntary action, the importance of which cannot be under estimated in view of the current crisis in the financial and related industry. Including environmentally sustainable and socially ethical practice by setting shared standards is a recognized good practice.

Of course, self-regulation is a privilege, not a right so maintaining the public trust through proper monitoring and compliance mechanism is essential to keep the privilege of self-regulation.

Alternatively, companies may extend to a "life cycle" analysis of its raw material supply chains, employee lifestyle choices, and the biodiversity impacts of how customers use and dispose of their products. Benchmarks may be defined internally or relative to other leading firms in the same (or another) sector.

In the case of companies with a relatively large "footprint" on the land or seascape - such as energy, mining, agriculture, forestry or fisheries - conservation action may be linked explicitly to the environmental impacts of the companies' operations.

Several interesting and innovative mechanisms are currently being tried, such as carbon offsets, standards and certification etc. to make industry biodiversity friendly in their operations.

The CBD supports promotion of such new ideas and practices and has taken two decisions in 2006 (Brazil) and 2009 (Germany) for actively engaging business in biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and sharing of benefits.

Prof Muhammad Hatta is the Indonesian Minister of State for the Environment and Dr. Ahmed Djohglaf is the Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the international Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), in Montreal, Canada.