BANGKOK, Thailand, November 22, 2004 (ENS) – Members of the world's largest conservation organization today called for a halt to the release of genetically modified organisms. Meeting in Bangkok, delegates from 1,000 organizations at the IUCN World Conservation Congress are debating 114 motions to decide the future direction of IUCN – The World Conservation Union.
The question with respect to genetically modified organisms boiled down to whether the IUCN should encourage a moratorium on genetically modified organisms, or help establish a sound body of knowledge on their environmental risks and impacts. At the Members Business Assembly today, delegates from both the government and the NGO sectors approved a moratorium by a wide margin. Turning to the issue of international trade in wild animals and plants, two workshops led by members of TRAFFIC, the wildlife monitoring organization, concluded that this trade is mounting to unsustainable levels.
"Effective action requires systematic interventions across entire trade chains, particularly focused on market drivers and increasing our understanding of how to mobilize consumer choice towards sustainable alternatives," said Dr. Craig Kirkpatrick, director of TRAFFIC East Asia.
Asia's wildlife trade involves thousands of animal and plant species from terrestrial, marine and freshwater biomes. The high volume trade in tropical timber for furniture and construction, freshwater turtles and snakes for food, musk deer and pangolins for traditional medicine, and luxury goods like ivory and shahtoosh usually involves a mixture of illegal, unregulated and unsustainable trade.
In many cases, management frameworks do not exist at all, or suffer from a lack of monitoring and enforcement.
Economic development in this region with the world's two most populous countries, China and India, and their growing network of roads, is opening new and streamlined trade corridors. These allow wildlife products to be moved in higher volumes and with greater frequency from formerly remote and inaccessible areas, TRAFFIC has documented.
Governments, donors and civil society must work together in a more co-ordinated manner to address a biodiversity conservation challenge of unprecedented magnitude, the IUCN said in a statement today.
"While it is clear that more institutions should be working together to address wildlife trade impacts on biodiversity, niches need to be defined in order to make partnerships more effective," said Dr. Tony Whitten, a senior biodiversity specialist from the World Bank. Participants in the workshop Cutting Our Losses – Reducing the Illegal Trade in Natural Resources, organized by TRAFFIC, the IUCN and the International Institute for Sustainable Development, responded to a variety of presentations on illegal trade from wildlife to minerals.
Often a by-product of political instability and conflict, illegal trade flouishes in the presence of institutional corruption particularly if there are few effective deterrents.
The workshop focused on increasing the efficiency of law enforcement, and engagement of the private sector to provide legal and sustainable alternatives to consumers of illict items.
Participants agreed that development of certification standards and sustainable procurement is beginning to result in positive change.
Hugh Blackett from the Tropical Forest Trust said, "Interest from responsible buyers in the EU is a powerful incentive to participate in sustainable timber procurement – and for one company in Indonesia has meant a four-fold increase in furniture exports since they demonstrably improved their sourcing."
"Regional problems must be solved regionally and Southeast Asia should be able to control its own wildlife trade," concluded Dr. Ir Samedi from the CITES Management Authority of Indonesia, which is leading the development of the ASEAN Action Plan on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora 2005-2010. The workshops concluded that in Asia, a regional strategy is needed. IUCN and TRAFFIC can play a key role in bringing together key players and linking information from the field with the expertise of the Specialist Groups in IUCN's Species Survival Commission.
Delegates are today grappling with the issues involved in protecting the environment in times of human conflict. While no resolutions have yet been adopted on this thorny issue, one workshop presented a vivid illustration of how protection of a common ecosystem can bring hostile parties together.
Only a decade ago, Namibia, South Africa and Angola did not speak to each other. But all three countries draw sustenance from the productive waters of the Benguela Current along their west coasts. This large marine ecosystem provides indispensable fisheries resources – hake, anchovy, sardines, and rock lobsters, but they are disappearing in the face of pollution, harmful algal blooms, diamond mining, and oil and gas exploration.
"The only way towards restoring the depleted fish stocks is to adopt an ecosystem based approach, which means the different countries have to work together," said Michael O'Toole, chief technical advisor of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) Programme at the Congress.
Under the current Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem project, 80 sub-projects now are carried out to implement a Strategic Action Programme.
The three countries are helping each other with monitoring illegal fisheries, they are monitoring species populations and are developing an early warning system to predict extreme events such as the Benguela Ninos.
"The last Benguela Nino in 1995 was the worst ever," said O'Toole. "The warm waters came along with low oxygen water – vast numbers of fish and around 300,000 seals died."
"What makes the LME concept so powerful is that it is a country-driven approach. The participating countries themselves agree on the necessary actions and then sign the SAP, which becomes a binding document for them," said Dr. Kenneth Sherman from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at the Congress. The Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem program is part of a wider effort to improve management in 64 Large Marine Ecosystems involving 121 developing countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Funding comes from the Global Environment Facility and participating countries to a total of US$650 million. These 64 areas produce 95 percent of the world's annual marine fishery catches.
Peaceful cooperation can do more to conserve species and ecosystems than fences and guns, some conservationists believe. This choice is the subject of debate as part of the IUCN Theme on Indigenous and Local Communities, Equity and Protected Areas.
"Fences are coming down, guns and guards appointed by governments are being replaced by a system characterized by social fencing, in which indigenous peoples and local communities are central partners," said Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend, co-chair of this theme.
A new IUCN publication launched Sunday in Bangkok, "Indigenous and Local Communities and Protected Areas: Towards Equity and Enhanced Conservation," explores whether this approach is good for conservation and debates if human interests are prevailing over nature. The authors, Borrini-Feyerabend and Ashish Kothari co-chaired this theme.
Participatory conservation is gaining ground with governments, communities, and NGOs working hand in hand, supported by policy and legal changes in several countries. Community Conserved Areas, including Indigenous Protected Areas, are now widespread.
These kinds of initiatives are succeeding in more effectively conserving ecosystems, wildlife populations, landscapes and seascapes. They are also helping to recognise local rights and stakes in natural resources, and building on traditional knowledge and practices of indigenous peoples and local communities, including mobile peoples. "It is important to realize that while many such conserved sites and species are used by the relevant community, there are also many communities strictly protecting ecosystems and wildlife, deliberately keeping out any exploitation of resources," said Kothari.
"All countries, institutions and organizations need to urgently adopt measures supportive of participatory conservation," said Borrini-Feyerabend. "In particular, countries need to honor the targets set under the Convention on Biological Diversity Programme of Work on Protected Areas," she said.
These targets, set for 2008, cover the participation of indigenous and local communities in the management of protected areas, and to the establishment of mechanisms for the equitable sharing of both costs and benefits that arise from managing such areas.
Other major issues before the IUCN Congress delegates this week:
* The governance and conservation of the high seas
* The promotion of eco-agriculture as a promising path to ensure food security and conserve biodiversity
* Actions to ensure survival of the tiger, Panthera tigris and Panthera pantheris
* Conservation of boreal forests
* Inscribing the Mont Blanc on the UNESCO World Heritage List
The Plenary of the Members Business Assembly will vote on these motions before the Closing Ceremony of the Congress set for 2 pm Bangkok time on November 25.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2004. All Rights Reserved.