Policies Biodiversity

 

Biodiversity conservation and Macroeconomic Policies

 

Dr. Marina Rosales Benites de Franco

  

 All major pressures on biodiversity were increasing, as loss, degradation and fragmentation of natural habitats; overexploitation of biological resources; pollution; the impacts of invasive alien species; and, climate change (CBD, 2014). Humanity’s Ecological Footprint 1.5 Earths would be required to meet the demands humanity currently makes on nature. For more than 40 years, humanity’s demand has exceeded the planet’s biocapacity – the amount of biologically productive land and sea area that is available to regenerate these resources (Global Footprint Network, 2014). As a result, a broad range of services on which people depend for their livelihoods and well-being, are threatened. All societies and economies are affected. The Governments and society should to coordinate actions to addressing the direct and underlying causes of drivers of biodiversity loss.

The global economy as an international exchange of goods and services needs to evolve as an effective and efficient global market. The global economy develops on ecosystems and on social space, they are inseparable. The world economy is judged in monetary terms, but there are certain goods and ecosystems services that do not have economic values in the market. This leads to macroeconomic policies should maintain the economic growth within safe ecological limits. Countries with a high level of human development tend to have higher Ecological Footprints. The challenge is for countries to increase their human development while keeping their Footprint down to globally sustainable levels.

 The global market has externalities since societies and governments regulate market to varying degrees. The negative externalities costs are paying the present and future generations while natural capital depreciates. On the other hand, the global Gross Development Product is $ 75,62 trillion (current US $) (World Bank, 2015). Despite these achievements, there are differences between and within countries, and much unfinished business remains to realize all of the Millennium Development Goals. Close to one billion people continue to live in extreme poverty.

Urge self-regulate the safe ecological limits and the planetary boundaries, a green global tax on global trading. Furthermore, developing an initiative on responsible financing standards, the Nations should pull together and strengthen the various existing initiatives and proposals, and help ensure that standards are properly implemented.

References

 Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2014) Global Biodiversity Outlook 4 — Summary and Conclusions. Montreal, 20 pages.

Global Footprint Network accounts. 2014. Edition. Available at www.footpreintnetwork.org [10 June 2015].

World Bank. Data. 2015. Economic growth. Available at http://data.worldbank.org/[10 June 2015].

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wetlands, Biodiversity and Climate Change

Wetlands Conservation and Sustainable Use

Dr. Marina Rosales Benites de Franco

Prof. National University Federico Villarreal

Wetlands and Human well being

Wetlands are vital ecosystems for our human well being. They provide essential benefits “ecosystem services” as freshwater supply, to flood control, serve as a natural sponge against flooding and drought, groundwater recharge, purify our water, help to prevent disaster risk, protect our coastline, can contribute to regulating floods and the impacts of storms, mitigate climate change storing carbon, and enhance adaptation to climate change with its biodiversity, contribute to land formation and increasing resilience to storms, give recreational spaces, and goods as food and building materials. The water security is an essential ecosystem service to human survives.

Wetlands play a critical role in maintaining many natural cycles and supporting a wide range of biodiversity. Wetlands are also tremendously productive ecosystems that provide a myriad of services to society worldwide.

Wetlands are the major habitat for most of the world’s water birds and key habitat for migratory species and many of them are threatened. Water birds use wetlands as feeding and breeding grounds. Migratory water birds use wetlands throughout their range which can sometimes literally be from pole to pole. The feeding, breeding and stop-over areas across and between continents that migratory birds depend on requires coordinated wetlands conservation efforts among many nations.

Wetlands ensure fresh water only some 3 % of the world’s water is fresh, with most of that frozen. Only 1% of that, or 0.03% of total water, is available for direct use by people.

It is important stand out local communities and the poor and vulnerable populations depend direct on productive wetlands.

Wetlands endangered

Scientific researcher’s report that 64% wetlands have disappeared since 1900 and 87% lost since 1700. Main causes include changes in land use, water diversion (dams, dikes and canalization), infrastructure development, air and water pollution, and excess nutrients. These drivers are related with lack of good governance, economic policies priorities lead to the wetlands to change in land use to agriculture, grazing, building urban areas, mining and non native species aquaculture.

Convention on Wetlands “Ramsar”

The Convention on wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty that provides cooperation for conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are 168 contracting Parties, 2 186 Ramsar Sites, their surface is 208 449 277 ha.

The Convention defines wetlands as all lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and other coastal areas, coral reefs, and all human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs and salt pans.

Management suggestions

Wetlands should manage as vital productive ecosystems in the framework of green economy. All the government´s commitment need to take the steps necessary to ensure wetlands ecological character, their structures and functions. The investments on wetlands should to build its nature infrastructure to restore many endangered wetlands. Aichi Target 15 encourages restoring at least 15 per cent of degraded ecosystems in the countries.

All the wetlands should have legal protection that would not permit change land uses as a minimum 60 per cent. The Ramsar Sites need to be intangibles, would have legal protection for this purpose since they are recognized as being of significant value not only for the country or the countries in which they are located, but for humanity as a whole.

At this regard, all the governments should manage wetlands as vital productive ecosystems in the green economy.

Bibliography

CBD Press Brief. Wetlands and Ecosystem Services. [in line]. [Date: February 3th 2015]. Retrieved from :http://passthrough.fw- notify.net/download/876351/http://www.cbd.int/waters/doc/wwd2015/wwd-2015-press-briefs-en.pdf  3.02.2015

Wetlands. Importance. [in line]. [Date: February 2th 2015]. Retrieved from: http://www.wetlands.org/News/tabid/66/ID/4046/Why-do-we-care-about-wetlands.aspx

The Importance of Wetlands and Wetlands of International Importance. [in line]. [Date: February 1th 2015]. : Retrieved from http://www.ramsar.org/about/wetlands-of-international-importance