Download Our view on biodiversity and natural ecosystems

Our view on biodiversity
and natural ecosystems
Valuable ecosystems should be strongly protected, because of the high value of the ecosystem services they provide for current and future generations and for our planet in general.
Positions of VECO
VECO is convinced that it is very important that valuable ecosystems are strongly protected. Protection is
important because of two reasons. The first is the high
value of ecosystems by providing “ecosystem services”
for current and future generations: e.g. provision of
food and water; regulating the local and global climate;
providing space for recreation/tourism. The second is
that the very fast loss in biodiversity is one of the most
crucial global problems to be tackled. The conversion
of natural ecosystems into agricultural land and urban
areas has led to an important loss in biodiversity and
In case that farmers have a historical link with a natural
ecosystem and are in a way dependent of it, solutions
have to be put forward allowing the farmers to have a
decent income to provide in their needs, while safeguarding the natural ecosystem. Sometimes, a solution
can be found in supporting sustainable and organized
small scale farming increasing productivity and profitability for the local farmers communities.
ecosystem services.
for production of food, feed or biofuels. Organized sustainable small scale farming is an excellent option to
realize this, meanwhile allowing to improve the living
conditions of hundreds of millions of farmers.
Valuable natural ecosystems should be maintained as
such and not be converted in other types of land use,
e.g. production of food, feed or biomass, housing,…
One might argue that food production is more important than nature protection and that therefore it can
be defended to turn valuable natural ecosystems into
agricultural land. However we believe this is a false
argument, as it is currently possible to produce enough
food to feed the world population. Even more, we need
these natural ecosystems for their role in the conservation (and dynamics) of biodiversity and for the services
they provide including food production.
Agricultural land around the world should be used in an
optimal/efficient way in order to limit the pressure on
valuable natural ecosystems to be converted in areas
Implications for our work
In the case that VECO is involved in food chains where
food production takes place within or at the border of
natural ecosystems, an assessment should be made of
the impact of the food production on the natural ecosystem. VECO should systematically include an inventory of the (most) valuable natural ecosystems in the
regions it is operating, in order to safeguard that our
operations do not negatively affect these ecosystems.
“Agricultural land
around the world
should be used
in an optimal/
efficient way
in order to limit
the pressure on
valuable natural
ecosystems to be
converted in areas
for production
of food, feed
or biofuels.”
“Policy should
stimulate research
and breeding
by institutions
that guarantee
free access to
genetic material
for farmers.”
1>
Photo: Luc Viatour / www.Lucnix.be
“In case nearby
ecosystems are
already under
threat, VECO
may focus in
its program
on solutions
preserving the
ecosystem,
while providing
possibilities
for the farmer
households to
sustain and
improve their
income.”
The website from the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD), contains contact persons for about
200 countries and all countries VECO is active in are
included. These persons may be contacted to get additional info of the value of local ecosystems in the
countries and regions we are active: http://www.cbd.
int/countries/nfp/default.shtml.
An inventory of the valuable ecosystems in the countries/regions VECO is active may also lead to positive actions of VECO. In case “nearby” ecosystems are
already under threat, VECO may focus in its program
on solutions preserving the ecosystem, while providing possibilities for the farmer households to sustain
and improve their income. VECO may indirectly (by
cooperating with partner organisations, e.g. WWF,
… ) support solutions like (i) supporting the ethnic
tribes through the commercialization of sustainable
products from these ecosystems; (ii) ecotourism, (iii)
Payments for Ecosystem Services, (iv) REDD+ : e.g. the
socio bosque programme in Ecuador (CKDN, 2012).
VECO promotes agro-ecological practices that lead to
both gains in productivity/profitability and resilience
of the agricultural system and to gains in terms of
ecosystem services provided to the surroundings. A
concrete example is the cooperation with WWF in the
project EcoMakala in RD Congo, where agroforestry
systems are promoted for rice and coffee production
(WWF, 2014).
A separate section is devoted to Agrobiodiversity,
where VECO’s position is clarified how agrobiodiversity can be promoted.
Facts and Figures
• Natural ecosystems and the species they contain
have a high value for society, through the services they provide. These ecosystem services can
be categorized as (i) productive (e.g. provision of
water, food, feed, wood, medicines, …), (ii) regulating (e.g. carbon sequestration, purification
of water, air and soil, …), (iii) cultural services
(e.g. recreation, spiritual, …) and (iv) supporting services (e.g. soil formation, …) (Millenium
Ecosystem Assessment, 2014).
• The conversion of natural ecosystems into agricultural land and urban areas has led to an important loss in biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Scientists indicated that the very fast loss in
biodiversity is one of the most crucial global
problems to be tackled (Rockström et al, 2009).
• The Frankfurt Declaration (2010) states that the
relevance of biodiversity to human well-being is
greatly underestimated.
• Species extinction is a natural process, and would
occur also without human actions. However, biodiversity loss in the last 200 years has accelerated extremely. Today, the rate of extinction of
species is estimated to be 100 to 1000 times
higher than what can be considered natural
(Rockström et al, 2009).
• Since the Industrial Revolution, human actions
have become the main driver of global environmental change. If certain thresholds are passed,
this could push the Earth system outside the stable environmental state, with consequences that
are detrimental or even catastrophic for large
parts of the world (Diamond, 2005). Rockström
et al., (2009) have identified 9 Earth-system
processes and associated thresholds which, if
crossed, could generate unacceptable environmental change. Their analysis suggests that
three of the Earth-system processes — climate
change, the rate of biodiversity loss and the
interference with the nitrogen cycle — have
already transgressed these thresholds (Rockström
et al., 2009).
• Rockström et al. (2009) conclude that the rate
of species loss cannot continue without significantly eroding the resilience of major components of Earth-system functioning.
Apparent marine fossil diversity during the Phanerozoic
• The speed of climate change will accelerate the
loss of biodiversity. Up to 30% of all mammal,
bird and amphibian species will be threatened
with extinction this century (Rockström et al,
2009).
• Biodiversity loss interacts with other planetary
boundaries, e.g. climate change and ocean acidity, thus reducing the safe boundary levels of
these processes.
• Ecosystems that depend on a few or single species for critical functions are vulnerable to disturbances, such as disease, and at a greater risk
of tipping into undesired states, while a rich mix
of species underpins the resilience of ecosystems
(Rockström et al. 20009).
• “In the UN’s Post-2015 development process,
the following is mentioned: “9. … in order to
achieve a just balance among the economic,
social and environmental needs of present and
future generations, it is necessary to promote
harmony with nature. … ”
“The rate of species
loss cannot
continue without
significantly
eroding the
resilience of major
components of
Earth-system
functioning.”
3>
“Today, the rate
of extinction
of species is
estimated to be
100 to 1000 times
higher than what
can be considered
natural”
Sources
3rd International Conference on Biodiversity and the UN Millennium Development Goals - October 29-31, 2014,
Aix-en-Provence, France: http://biodiv2014.sciencesconf.org/
Abson, D (2014); Models that are simple, elegant and wrong: conceptual framing of the biodiversity food security nexus: http://biodiv2014.sciencesconf.org/resource/page/id/21
CKDN (2012); Private conservation agreements support climate action: Ecuador’s Socio Bosque programme;
http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Ecuador-InsideStory__WEB2.pdf
Conservation International (2014). Biodiversity Hotspots. Accessed August 2014: http://www.conservation.
org/how/pages/hotspots.aspx
CBD (2014); The Convention on Biological Diversity: http://www.cbd.int; & http://www.cbd.int/convention/text/
Diamond J (2005); Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed?; 605 p.
IUCN (2013). Red List of Ecosystems. Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM). Accessed August 2014.
http://www.iucn.org/about/union/commissions/cem/cem_work/tg_red_list/
IIED (2014): http://pubs.iied.org/search.php?c=biodiv
IIED (2014): Poverty and biodiversity: evidence about nature and the nature of evidence: http://pubs.iied.
org/17213IIED.html?c=biodiv
IIED (2013); Ten steps to biodiversity mainstreaming http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/14625IIED.pdf
Frankfurt Declaration 2010: http://www.biodiversity-conference2010.de/tl_files/pdf/Frankfurt_Declaration_2010.
pdf
Roe, D et al. (2014). Which components or attributes of biodiversity influence which dimensions of poverty?
Environmental Evidence 2014, 3:3 www.environmentalevidencejournal.org/content/3/1/3
Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, (2014); accessed August 2014; http://www.unep.org/maweb/en/index.aspx
Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005); Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Biodiversity Synthesis. World
Resources Institute, Washington, DC. http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.354.aspx.pdf
Rockström, J., et al. , (2009): A safe operating space for humanity. Nature, 461, 472-475, doi:10.1038/461472a.
http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/docs/2009/2009_Rockstrom_etal_1.pdf
SCBD (2002); Secr. of the Conv. on Biol. Diversity (2002): Decision VI/26: Strat. Plan for the Convention on
Biological Diversity.
UN (2010); www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2010/ga10992.doc.htm
UN (2014); News on Post-2015 development process - Open Working Group proposes 17 sustainable development goals: http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/focussdgs.html
WWF (2014); http://www.wwf.be/nl/wat-doet-wwf/bedreigde-regio-s/congobekken/wwf-projecten/
strijden-tegen-ontbossing-ecomakala/572