Japan warns on pace of biodiversity loss

Yahoo News 11 Oct 10;

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan warned Monday that the diversity of life on Earth was being lost at the fastest rate ever seen, at the opening of a UN conference on the safe use of modern biotechnology.

The five-day meeting in the central Japanese city of Nagoya comes ahead of a major international conference on biodiversity next week and was to consider how genetically modified organisms are threatening plant and animal species.

The talks, which include more than 190 countries and NGOs, are expected to agree that a country can seek compensation for damage to biodiversity caused by imports of genetically-modified organisms from other countries or companies.

"The loss of biodiversity is developing in the fastest pace ever," Japanese Farm Minister Michihiko Kano said at the opening of the talks.

"It is our responsibility to carry over a rich biodiversity to the next generation," he said.

The meeting comes ahead of a conference of the 193-nation Convention on Biological Diversity from October 18 in Nagoya due to discuss how to pay for the "equitable sharing" of the benefits from natural resources.

The biodiversity talks will also discuss a fresh target of preserving animal and plant species that are disappearing mostly as a result of human activity.

Species under threat include 21 percent of all known mammals, 30 percent of known amphibians and 12 percent of known birds, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Scientists warn that wildlife habitat destruction is destroying ecosystems that give humans "environmental services" such as clean water and air and are vital for climate control and food production.