Download 1 - Disater Risk Reduction at the local level

Biodiversity and Environment (and Livelihood) Security
By Pascal O. Girot as a contribution to UNEP’s Global Environmental Outlook 2008
(GEO4)
8.1
Introduction to the section
Biodiversity provides a plethora of goods and services which sustains livelihoods of
millions of rural poor. As global climate change and pervasive changes in the world’s
biosphere take place at an accelerated pace, the range and quality of goods and services
provided by ecosystems are bound to dwindle. Combined with rapid habitat
transformation, climate change will exacerbate the loss of biodiversity and the risk of
species extinction. Similarly, healthy ecosystems are also increasing recognized as
crucial buffers against extreme climate events, as carbon sinks and as filters for
waterborne and airborne pollutants. Thus, a healthy environment is not only an end in
itself, but also a means to attain greater human security (Blaikie, P. et al 1994).
Over 10 years ago, in its Human Development Report of 1994, UNDP defined the
concept of Human Security, which aims “to safeguard the vital core of all human lives
from critical pervasive threats, in a way that is consistent with long-term human
fulfilment” (UNDP-HDR 1994). Among these critical pervasive threats are sudden
changes in environmental conditions that can be the results of violent perturbations due
to the impact of natural hazards, epidemics, economic crises or the threat of political
violence and social strife. It can also be the result of slow onset hazards such as drought
and shifts in environmental conditions which jeopardize livelihoods and life-support
systems for human societies (water and food supply). Again, the brunt of these impacts
most often weathered by the poorest and most vulnerable countries of the world. There
are shared global risks, with shared but differentiated responsibilities.
Scale shifts become a crucial aspect of any analysis on global environmental change.
There is a need to distinguish truly global phenomena occurring at a planetary scale,
such as shifts in the Earth’s radiation balance and a relatively rapid decline of
stratospheric ozone. Other processes occur as pervasive and world-wide phenomena, but
at a regional, national and local scale, such as nitrification of water bodies, coral
bleaching, deforestation and loss of biodiversity. In arid or semi arid regions, more
erratic rainfall and reduced water availability are predicted by most climate change
models. In other regions such as Europe and Central America, increase risk of drought
co-exists with increased frequency and magnitude of floods. Changes in mean
temperatures will also favor opportunistic species and increase the latitudinal and
altitudinal spread of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue
Another key aspect of the relation between human security and biodiversity lies in the
unexpected. As C.S.Holling (1986, 1998) suggests, we must brace for surprises, as most
natural resource management systems function as multi-equilibrium and non-linear
entities. Managed ecosystems are also marked by discontinuous behavior in both time
and space, and as such are prone to perturbations and sudden changes. These threshold
factors are critically important to understand as ecosystems, under stress due to
temperature and rainfall changes and to the impacts of nutrient loading and invasive
species, can react suddenly and collapse. This is the creative destruction of ecosystems
referred to in recent works by Berkes (1998), Holling (2001) and Gunderson (2004).
Ecosystems do not disappear, but rather they are transformed. Historically, there have
been recorded shifts from forest to savannah ecosystems, due to anthropogenic use of
fire (Moran, E. 1981). As an ecosystem shifts in structure or function as a result of
nutrient loading, invasive species or recurrent hazard such bushfires, the resulting
ecosystem –though stable and more resilient- is usually less productive and less diverse,
and thus offers a diminished carrying capacity. Ecosystems can irreversibly flip into
different form and function, as when a coral reef ecosystem shifts from a coraldominated to an algal-dominated coastal ecosystem. Such phase shifts in coastal
ecosystems have been documented in Jamaica and Belize and in the Indo-Pacific Coral
Reefs (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005:22).
BOX 1: Sustainable Livelihoods
Approach
Faced with a myriad of uncertainties, many
rural communities have developed coping
strategies in order to mitigate these climate
A livelihood comprises the capabilities,
risks and multiply options. In drought
assets (including both material,
prone regions of Africa, for instance, many
environmental and social resources) and
communities have developed traditional
activities required for a jeans of living. A
knowledge of alternative sources of
livelihood is sustainable when it can
livelihoods, when crops fail due to lack of
cope with and recover from stresses and
rainfall. When agriculture and livestock
shocks and maintain or enhance its
rearing is no longer option, access to
capabilities and assets both now and in
ecosystem goods and services such as nonthe future, while not undermining the
timber forest products, bushmeat and wild
natural resource base.
DFID, 1999-2003 Sustainable Livelihoods
root crops become a critical coping
Guidance Sheets London: Department for
strategy. Even when agriculture is not
International Development
under threat, bushmeat is often a complementary source of animal protein for many
rural communities in Africa and Latin America. These alternative sources of livelihoods
are imbedded in traditional knowledge of biodiversity, as refered to in the next section
on Cultural Value (see section 9).
BOX 2- Benefit Sharing and Poverty
The analysis reveals that the poor depend on environmental capital to
a considerable extent, with in-kind and saleable products amounting
to upward of an additional 20 percent of incomes. The most detailed
analysis of this resource dependence exists for forests, but the case
study evidence for coral reefs and mangroves tells a similar story.
In all cases, however, the ecosystems that generate this additional
income are under threat from unsustainable exploitation by the poor
themselves, through exploitation by “rent seekers,” from pollution,
and because of natural disasters. In some cases, the poor can be
excluded from access to environmental assets through measures of
environmental protection, e.g., protected areas.
The obvious implication is that patterns of resource use have to be
changed toward sustainable ones, and, where possible, conservation
measures must be associated with the sharing of benefits by the poor.
Source: UNDP, 2005 Investing in Environmental Wealth for Poverty Reduction,
Environment and the MDG s, , UNDP, UNEP, IIED, IUCN WRI,, p.47
How then, do we distinguish what is predictable (yet uncertain) from that which is
emergent, incremental and inherently unpredictable? Many of these surprises will bring
benefits and opportunities to some, and will spell disaster and chaos for others. All sum
up as direct impacts on the most vulnerable segments of the population, the poor and
those who relay most heavily on natural resources for their livelihoods. The ultimate
insecurity is found in the unraveling of the web of life represented by the world’s
ecosystems.
Building on the GEO3 report, which featured sections on Disasters and Human
Vulnerability to Environmental Change, this section will highlight the role that
biodiversity has played in providing security for people. It will be most focused on the
regulating function ecosystems play in buffering climate extremes, purifying water,
regulating floods by storing excess water and maintaining baseflow during drought.
Ecosystem services also include disease and pathogen regulation. In this sense, the
chapter has linkages to the “biodiversity and health”, “biodiversity and agriculture”
sections and the climate change, land degradation and water resources chapters of the
GEO4 report.. It would include analysis of biodiversity loss as a contributing cause of
natural disasters and its consequences for human well-being. The section will reflect
upon both the impact of biodiversity loss on natural disasters and the security of
people. Finally, it points out key options to harness and enhance these regulating
functions, by managing or restoring ecosystems to increase human security.
8.2
State and trends
The concept of ecosystem includes the components and processes that comprise the
environment and provides a useful framework for discussions related to the
environment. Conservation of biodiversity and the delivery of the associated ecosystem
goods and services provide the foundation for human wellbeing, providing food, soil
nutrients, clean water, disease and climate buffering, building materials, energy,
pharmaceuticals, and much else. Loss of habitat through deforestation, loss of soil and
over-fishing are contributing to diminished productivity of ecosystems from forest,
agricultural and marine environments.
Globally, one of the major drivers of biodiversity loss is habitat loss due to conversion
to agricultural and other uses, as well as overexploitation. Lack of regulation also leads
to overexploitation and destructive extractive techniques, especially of forest and
marine species. While some ecosystem services such as agro-ecosystems have
expanded, according to the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (2005), others are on the
wane such as fisheries, timber production, water supply, waste treatment and
detoxification, water purification, natural hazard protection, regulation of air quality,
regulation of regional and local climate, and regulation of erosion. These changes are
driven essentially by direct causes such as habitat conversion into agriculture or other
productive assets and settlements, but also by overexploitation, particularly from overfishing, introduction of invasive species as well as the long terms impacts of pollution
through nutrient loading (nitrogen and phosphorous) in aquatic ecosystems (terrestrial,
freshwater and coastal). Other abiotic drivers of environmental change are due to
anthropogenic Green House Gas emissions, which are leading to rapid changes in the
climate of many regions of the world.
The overexploitation of coastal and marine ecosystems by commercial fisheries
constitutes an illustration of the impacts of open-access common pool resources on
livelihoods. The collapse of the North Atlantic fisheries is a case in point (quote Bonnie
McKay and also chapter by De Sombre and Barkin on the Talbot War in IISD/IUCN’s
book on Environment and Security). Many other examples in the GEO3 point to
consistent increases in marine catches in most countries of the world over the past
decades, a trend which is starting to drop due to collapse in marine populations in both
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Increasing pollution and eutrophication of coastal
waters are also impacting populations of demersal fish and the livelihoods of traditional
fishing communities in many regions of the world. Coral reefs are not immune to this
trend in degradation, with increasing impacts on local livelihoods linked to fisheries and
tourism.
Current trends in land degradation and loss of habitat continue to contribute to reducing
livelihood options while creating the conditions for heightened risks. The interaction
between abiotic (climate change, water resources) and biotic factors make for complex,
dynamic systems. For instance, there is a clear link between the increased incidence of
drought and processes that lead to accelerated land degradation, soil erosion and
salinization.Similarly, livestock populations tend to concentrate on available grazing
lands during drought, further increasing land degradation. These processes are also
exacerbated by structural factors such as land tenure and access to technology, which
restrict management options and tend to perpetuate destructive land use practices.
Interactions between climate variability and loss of habitats are also illustrated by the
creation of conditions of physical and ecological vulnerability. For example, long spells
of drought associated with the El Niño phenomenon (ENSO) contribute to forest fires,
as was the case in the Amazon Basin, Indonesia and Central America in 1997-1998.
These forest fires also reduced the capacities of natural forests to buffer the impacts of
heavy rainfall and hurricanes, as happened during Hurricane Mitch in Central America.
These complex interactions and concatenations between climate, ecosystems and local
livelihoods need to be better understood.
Climate change and rising mean temperatures over the past decades are also generating
rapid changes in the biodiversity and radiation balance of different biomes and
ecosystems. With a trend towards the migration of species to higher latitudes and
altitudes, certain ecosystems are undergoing more rapid changes than other. In
particular arctic and circum-glacial ecosystems are probably those that are most in flux.
With the increase in international communication and travel, the spread of undesirable
species has also tended to increase. The introduction of invasive species is another
source of increasing pressure on fragile ecosystems such as small islands and inland
waterbodies. In freshwater habitats, the introduction of alien species is the second
leading cause of extinction. Introduced invasive species can trigger shifts in an
ecosystem’s structure and function, producing cascading effects on its productivity and
therefore adversely affect those livelihoods that depend on it. Historically, there have
been numerous accounts of disastrous outcomes of intentional introductions such as that
of the Nile perch (Lates niloticus), which resulted in the extinction of more than 200
other fish species in the Great Lakes in Africa. Another example has been the
introduction of the Comb Jelly fish (Mnemiopsis leidyi) in the Black Sea which has
caused the collapse of 26 major fisheries and has contributed to the subsequent growth
of an oxygen deprived “dead zone” in this inland water body (Millenium Ecosystem
Assessment, 2005: 22). Other invasives include aquatic plants such as the Water
Hyacinth (EichhorniaCrassipes) a South America native, which has spread to over 50
countries in 5 continents. Its rapid growth has choked inland waterways and deprived
other species of oxygen and habitat. This requires constant investment in dredging and
clearing of waterway for regional transport. More difficult to control are parasitic or
viral infections of wildlife, such as the case of Avian Malaria (Plasmodium relictum)
which is decimating Hawai’i’s native bird populations. Unfortunately, potentially
damaging introductions continue unabated, in spite of concerted efforts on behalf of
many countries. Careless behaviour leads to unintentional introductions. So-called
‘accidents’ now account for the majority of successful invasions.
Since the 1960s, nutrient loading has emerged as one of the most important drivers of
ecosystems change in terrestrial, freshwater and coastal ecosystems. The total amount of
biologically available nitrogen released by human activities has increase ninefold
between 1890 and 1990, and is essentially attributed to the widespread use of fertilizers.
Nitrogen and Phosphorous contribute to the eutrophication of freshwater ecosystems
and hypoxia in coastal marine
ecosystems with the resulting impact
BOX 3 - Ecosystem Defined
on fish species populations and
As defined in the Millennium
productivity.
Ecosystem Assessment, an
ecosystem is "a dynamic
Moreover, ecosystem services provide
complex of plant, animal, and
human populations with renewable
micro-organism communities
goods and services that constitute the
and the non-living
basis for adaptation to the changing
environment interacting as a
conditions that are sure to characterize
functional unit. Humans are an
the coming decades. Agro-biodiversity
integral part of ecosystems.
continues to be the most reliable
Ecosystems vary enormously
in size; a temporary pond in a
tree hollow and an ocean basin
can both be ecosystems"
Source:
(Millennium
Ecosystem
Assessment 2005).
source of food security. Nonetheless, dozens of endemic varieties of cultigens are being
replaced by commercial seeds or simply lost to future generations. The past is still a
source of important lessons on the importance of maintaining food security in the face
of a changing environment, as it provides more options for a society to choose from. By
understanding the dynamics of poor people’s livelihoods, we can assess how vulnerable
or resilient they will be to a changing environment, how they might cope and respond
with the resources they have, and how these conditions can be reflected and built upon
for successful adaptation strategies.
There is an on-going debate concerning the role of forests in regulating water resources.
The useful myth of forests as main regulator of water runoff and groundwater recharge
is increasingly being questionned, with evidence from the field (Kaimowitz, 2002).
A recent publication by FAO and CIFOR (2005) reassesses the link between Forest and
Floods, suggesting that simplications of the complex interactions between climate, soil
conditions and vegetation are misleading. These have led to policies of relocation of
populations along flood plains and logging bans, which have wrought far greater
impacts on local livelihoods and security, than benefits from flood control. The report
demonstrates that forests are in many cases net consumers of water, and that forests
have limited effects on limiting large flood events. They do have an impact on reducing
local level floods in a small watershed . There are also clear trends in flood damages
and loss, which indicate that small scale floods and landslides have a greater cumulative
impact at the local level. Clearly not all ecosystems have the potential for providing
regulatory services. In particular, some have singled out cloud forests and freshwater
wetlands and mangroves as those with the greatest potential for buffering climate
extremes.
This fact reinforces the need to link flood management to local sustainable livelihoods.
Sustainable livelihoods, which contribute to maintining agro-diversity and nondestructive uses of ecosystem goods and services, can provide options to vulnerable
populations. Given the reliance of the poor on environmental services for their
livelihoods, a central element of this approach should be ecosystem management and
restoration activities such as watershed rehabilitation, agro-ecology and forest landscape
restoration. By protecting and enhancing the natural services that support livelihoods,
vulnerable communities can maintain local safety nets, increase the buffering capacities
of local ecosystems and expand the range of options for coping with disruptive shocks
and trends. Some ecosystems regulate water flow and can be critical in maintaining the
hydrological cycle by storing excess water, as in the case of riparian wetlands, and
maintaining base-flow during dry spells.
In many countries, the combination of a secured natural resource base, reduced
exposure to natural hazards and diversified livelihood activities has increased resilience
to future threats, including climate change. In fact, a sustainable livelihoods approach to
adaptation has the advantage of meeting immediate development needs while
contributing to longer-term capacity development that will create a basis for reducing
future vulnerabilities.
8.3
Pressures
According to the 2005 Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, ecosystem change are driven
by direct causes such as habitant conversion into agriculture, urban settlements and
other productive assests, but are increasingly impaired by overexploitation of natural
resources, through overfishing, unsustainable agriculture and deforestation. As
illustrated in section 3, these drivers are also exacerbated by the long term impacts of
pollution through nutrient loading, introduction of invasive species and the release of
POPs and ODS into the environment. A major abiotic driver of environmental change is
climate change due to anthropogenic GHG emissions, which are already contributing to
accelerated changes in ecosystems, particularly in the arctic and alpine biomes. Higher
mean temperatures, more intense drought spells and longer dry seasons as well as more
frequent and intense cyclones have been recorded in the past decades. These changes
are having an impact on biodiversity and ecosystem services. There are indications of
changes in species distribution, in growing season, in timing of reproduction and
migratory patterns, as well as an increase in the incidence of pest and disease outbreaks.
Coral bleaching and glacial retreat are among the early signals of a changing climate.
The MA also recognised that the most extensive drivers of changes in biodiversity is
habitat loss due to land use conversion. Marine and Forest Ecosystems have been
subjected to over-exploitation and destructive extractive practices. Concomitantly,
ecosystems are also a critical source of livelihood for millions of rural poor.
Biodiversity has also been enhanced by sound management and wise use by local
communities, and increasingly, the role of rural communities as custodians of forests
and biodiversity is being recognized. Some 250 million people live in communities and
depend on forests for their livelihoods. It is estimated that 22% of the forests found in
developing countries are managed by local communities (Bray and Merino, 2004).Nontimber forest products and bushmeat is a major sources of livelihoods security for poor
rural communities throughout the world. The trade in wild plants and animals and their
derivatives is estimated at nearly US$ 160 Billion annually (Millenium Ecosystem
Assessment, 2005: 53).
Nutrient loading is also a critical factor in the heightened incidence of algal blooms of
blue green algae and more noxious red tides due to the explosion of plankton
populations (particularly dinoflagellates (Noctiluca sp.). During red tides,
dinoflagellates produce a neurotoxin which affects muscle function in susceptible
organisms. Humans may also be affected by eating fish or shellfish containing the
toxins. The resulting diseases include ciguatera (from eating affected fish) and paralytic
shellfish poisoning(from eating affected shellfish, such as clams, mussels, and oysters).
Fishing communities that rely on the productivity of these aquatic ecosystems are
directly impacted, as bans of fish and shellfish during red tides cause them direct losses
in income and employment.
Climate change is also creating conditions for major shifts in ecosystems, with a
consequent impact on livelihoods which depend on their productivity. , Recent research
shows that the melting of permafrost will thaw large extents of peat bogs, with the
resulting changes in albedo and increased atmospheric emissions of methane gas, a
Green House Gas. In Western Siberia, a peat bog covering an area equivalent to France
and Germany combined has started to melt for the fist time since it formed 11,000 years
ago. It is estimated that the thawing of permafrost will release some 70Bn tonnes of
methane into the atmosphere, change the albedo of these boreal plains and modify arctic
habitats and species distribution (Pierce,F. 2005). In additional to contributing to global
warming, these momentous changes in the arctic environment will produce associated
risks such as flooding, changes in migratory patters and species distribution upon which
arctic eskimo communities depend.
Glacier retreat is also occurring apace, particularly in tropical high mountains such as
the Himalayas and the Andes. For example, glacier retreat in the Tropical Andes has
accelerated over the past decades. Recent studies from Ecuador have revealed that the
surface covered by glaciers on the Cotopaxi Volcano has decreased 30% since 1976
(Cáceres, B. et al 2005). It is estimated that currently the Cotopaxi glaciers produce
2000mm/year of runoff waters, compared to the average precipitation of 1000mm.
Therefore, glacial retreat will result in a net loss of water “capital” each year affected
water supply to communities downstream (B. Francou, March 2005). The accumulation
of melt-waters behind moraines in high mountain ranges also poses a security threat, as
the highly unstable glacial lakes can burst and cause sudden destruction down-slope.
These Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) have been documented in Nepal, Peru and
Colombia, and are currently being monitored.
INSERT BOX 4 with Photographs and Maps on Glacier retreat in the Andes (SEE
PHOTOS) Cite Cáceres, B. 2005 for Cotopaxi and Francou, B. et al 2000 for Antisana.
Recent research on the hydrological role of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests has
confirmed their importance as flow regulators in upper watersheds (Bruijnzeel, 2001).
Major cities in Central America and some of the larger Caribbean Islands such as
Jamaica rely on cloud forests for their water supply. For Andean highlands, the cold
and wet páramo ecosystem, is of vital importance. As groundwater extraction is scarce
and difficult, the páramo is the most important water provider for major cities as well as
most of the agricultural area in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. The water is used for
urban purposes, as a source for downstream irrigation and for hydro-electricity
generation. The paramo´s hydrological properties hinges on the soil-plant interaction.
However, these properties are extremely vulnerable to irreversible degradation when the
soils are disturbed. Therefore, there high mountain ecosystems guarantee a uniform and
reliable water supply, and their conservation and sustainable use is the subject of
considerable policy debate.
Extreme climate events also tend to exacerbate pressures on ecosystems. Drought is a
case in point. As precipation deficits increase the viability of rain-fed agriculture tends
to wane, particularly in rural areas without access to sources of irrigation waters. As
agriculture and livestock rearing become less reliable sources of livelihoods, ecosystem
provisioning become paramount for the survival of rural population. In many regions of
the world, forests, freshwater and coastal ecosystem provide critical sources of animal
protein through fish and bushmeat, and of non-timber forest products, as dietary
supplements and complementary sources of income. In many countries, access rights
and tenure arrangements for these public goods have evolved to enable extractive
activities in times of need. In other countries, these common property resources have
been increasing enclosed and access to them restricted, with the resulting impacts on
rural livelihoods. These ecosystem provisioning funtions in effect act as critical safety
nets for millions of rural poor, and their conservation as public goods should be a matter
of policy.
8.4
Impacts
From Water and Climate-related Hazards
As explained in the previous sub-section, human populations, and particularly the rural
poor are fully dependent on the flow of benefits of biological and abiotic resources
through the consumption of environmental goods and services. Among the most critical
environmental services are the provision of water and the regulation of the hydrological
cycle. Of the 3,900 km3/inhab./year of freshwater water available for human use, some
70% is consumed for agricultural purposes through irrigation, a far smaller proportion
for industrial and domestic use (WRI, 2002). The huge scale of consumptive use has
depleted many rivers and lakes in the developing world, with the Aral Sea basin as
perhaps the most dramatic example. Where the return flow carries pollutants added
during use, such river depletion gives rise to serious health problems for humans and
animals. The drying of the Aral Sea, with associated air pollution caused by wind
transport of dried sediments, cause health problems as far away as Europe.
More than 1.4 billion people already live in river basins where high water-use levels
threaten freshwater ecosystems (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment- Task Force on
Water and Sanitation-What will it take -2004). Other studies have shown that in order to
sustain ecosystems, irrigation withdrawals—vitally needed to meet the hunger MDG—
will need to be reduced by 7 percent by 2025, in comparison with 1995 levels (Alcamo
and others 2000).
On the other hand, the access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation is critical for
the preservation of human health, particularly among children. Water-related diseases
are still the greatest killers among the poor of developing countries today. According to
the World Health Organization, 1.6 million deaths per year can be attributed to unsafe
water, poor sanitation, and lack of hygiene (WHO 2004). This silent killer is without a
doubt the most preventable source of untimely death in the developing world, and is
probably the most powerful argument in favour of complying with the Millenium
Development Goal No7, which insists on safe water for all. Similarly, the exacerbation of
regional resource shortages with climate change is also contributing to emerging conflicts over
water between competing end-users and neighbouring countries sharing transboundary
watershed, such as the Nile, the Tigris and Euphrates and the Rio Grande to cite but a few.
(Wolfe, A. et al 2003).
Environmental degradation combined with heightened exposure and vulnerability of
human settlements and livelihoods contribute to another major source of insecurity
through disasters. It is estimated that almost 2 billion people were affected by disasters
in the last decade of the twentieth century, 86 percent of them due to floods and
droughts. A recent UNDP-BCPR report, Reducing Disaster Risk: A Challenge for
Development, compared the exposed population to natural hazards with the records of
losses in human lives over the past 20 years (1980-2000)
Again India, China and Bangladesh top the list, as well as Venezuela, due to the
massive loss of life associated with the floods and landslides in the coastal state of
Vargas in December 1999. Flooding frequently leads to contamination of drinkingwater systems with human excreta from inadequate sanitation and with refuse and
industrial waste from dumps. These flood waters are also vehicles for transporting
pollutants into downstream ecosystems and coastal areas, as was recently shown by the
December 2004 Tsunami and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in
2005.
Last but not least, drought constitutes one of the most devastating climate related
hazards, and is responsible for considerable losses in livelihoods and economic activity.
While floods and landslides lead in terms of number of climate related events, drought
is responsible for more loss of life and livelihoods worldwide cause the most illness and
death, not only by limiting adequate water supply but also by triggering and
exacerbating malnutrition and famine. Ethiopia, Somalia and Mozambique recorded the
most deaths. In contrast to other hazard types, drought deaths are often the least
explainable by the intensity or duration of the dry spell, and political, social and
economic forces at play are usually the main causal factors for famine.
Drought also contributes to creating conditions for other hazards such as forest fires to
occur. During the El Niño of 1997-1998, forest fires destroyed extensive portion of the
Amazonian forest, Indonesia and Central America. In Indonesia alone, UNEP has
estimated that 45,600 km2 of forest were destroyed (UNEP, 1999:10). In Central
America, the destruction of over 1.5 million Hectares of forests due to wild fires created
the conditions for the devastating impact of Hurricane Mitch in October 1998 (Girot, P.
2001). These impacts do not affect only tropical countries as the dramatic forest fires of
California, Spain and Portugal in 2005 have illustrated. In Portugal, the EU has
estimated that between July and August 2005 over 221,062 hectares had been damaged
by forest fires (EFFIS, 2005).
While loss of life was used as the key variable in UNDP Reducing Disaster Risk
Report, it is clear that disasters also produce direct and indirect impacts on local,
national and regional economies. These will only increase further with the impact of
climate change through more frequent and extreme climate events. In the 1990s U.S.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) payouts for extreme weather events
quadrupled. And following the impact of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans,
these figures can only increase for this decade. The upward trend continued as the 21
Century began. Financial losses for 2002 were $55 billion; those for 2003 were $60
billion ($15 billion insured). The losses are projected to reach $150 billion annually
within this decade if current trends continue. Climate change will no doubt exacerbate
these trends(Havard University Medical School, 2005.
From Emerging Diseases and other Biological Hazards
Environmental degradation which often accompanies disaster situations can compound
and prolong the humanitarian impact of disasters. New environmental threats are
increasingly coming from biological sources, favouring the emergence, resurgence and
redistribution of infectious diseases, affecting humans, other animals and plants. Some
diseases formerly limited to the humid tropics are spreading in range and altitude, which
means that many sub-tropical regions and mountain valley are know experiencing an
increase in the incidence of dengue and malaria. In Ecuador, for instance, malaria was
limited to 3 coastal provinces some 20 years ago, today Malaria is prevalent in 9 out of
12 provinces in the country.
Malaria is highly sensitive to climatic factors. Higher temperatures can affect the range
of transmission primarily by increasing biting rates and the maturation of parasites
inside mosquitoes. Meanwhile heavy rains (and drought indirectly – see above) can
create new breeding sites. Projected changes in temperate will extend the range of
malaria bearing mosquitoes in higher latitudes and altitude, and, in some regions, a
longer season during which malaria transmission can occur.
Another emerging biological hazards are animal borne (zoonotic) diseases such as the
West Nile virus and the Nipah virus. Warm winters, spring droughts and summer
heatwaves amplify the bird-mosquito cycle of West Nile Virus. The disease has spread
to 230 species of animals (including horses) and 138 spp. of birds in the U.S, and is
becoming a major public health concern (Harvard University Medical School, 2004).
Mortality of birds of prey could have ecological ripples, contributing to rodent-borne
diseases, and reduction in bird populations, which in turn can affect mosquito predation,
with knock-on effects on insect populations, pollination, health and agriculture. The
Nipah Virus – a newly emerging virus – is carried by fruit bats. Extensive fires in
Southeast Asia accompanying the El Nino-associated drought in 1997/98 removed food
sources for bats, which led to their displacement onto pig farms. Over 100 people died
and the pig industry was devastated. Nipah virus re-emerged in Bangladesh in 2003 and
2004 (Harvard University Medical School, 2004). Similar outbreaks of Avian Flu are
being reported in Asia, with devastating consequences from both domesticated fowl and
wildlife, and an increasing public health concern for the Mediterranean and European
region.
Rodents are also vectors and reservoirs of a large number of diseases -- including
hantaviruses, arenaviruses, Lyme-infected ticks, babesioisis, leptospirosis,
toxoplasmosis and plague. They are associated with most emerging infectious viruses
and hemorrhagic disorders. Rodents are also prolific consumers of growing and stored
grains, and coincide with high human population densities, thus compounding the risk
of infection. Their populations respond to a complex set of ecological dynamics, but
droughts followed by floods often boost their populations ( Harvard University Medical
School, 2004)
Incidence of pests and diseases in natural forests are on the increase. Bark beetle
infestations in Canada and the US pine forests, from New Mexico and Arizona, up
through the west to British Columbia and into Alaska. In British Columbia, nearly 22
million acres are infested – enough timber to build 3.3 million homes and supply the
entire U.S. housing market for two year (Harvard University Medical School, 2004)
Similarly, following the 2001 drought in Central America a Bark beetle (Dendroctonus
frontalis) plague infested over 60,000 ha of pine savannahs of Honduras and Nicaragua,
illustrating the complex interaction between temperature and other stress factors
(CCAD,2002). Drought and water stress encourage beetle infestations by drying out the
resin that drowns the beetles, while warming encourages their over-wintering,
reproduction and migration to new heights and latitudes. Beetle-infested trees die within
a year. The dead stands contribute to wildfires, with losses of life and health; property
and timber; harm to watersheds and water quality; and increased risk of avalanches
(Harvard University Medical School, 2004).
Air pollution derived from changes in temperatures and shifts in flowering patterns of
plants have also led to changes in air quality. Heat waves in Europe in 2003 caused
casualties upward from 25,000, of which 15,000 in France alone. Increased incidence of
aeroallergens such pollen and mold are also creating impacts in the human health sector.
Allergic diseases are the sixth leading cause of chronic illness in the U.S., affecting
roughly 17% of the population, 6.3 million children. There were 4,487 deaths in 2000
due to asthma and the asthma cost the health care system about $18 billion annually.
Ragweed pollen production is stimulated by carbon dioxide and the early arrival of
spring with climate change has advanced the allergy season. (Harvard University
Medical School, 2004). Future impacts on the rate of respiratory illnesses will also
come from synergies between air pollutants and climate change (e.g., heat-waves and
smog). These impacts on human health have been addressed in greater detail in section
5 of this chapter.The clustering of climate –related and biological risks will also
contribute to uncertainty and to extreme events such as heat-waves, droughts, wildfires
and crop failures.
8.5
Conclusions and linkage to policy options
The linkages between Biodiversity and Human Security are complex, and bear witness
to the intrinsic relationship between societies and their natural environment. If Human
Security seeks to avoid the impact of critical pervasive threats to human well being, it is
clear that the unraveling of the world ecosystems is probably one of the greatest threats
to life on earth along with climate change.
Our knowledge of the systemic interaction between climate change, carbon and nutrient
loading and habitat transformation, and its impact on biodiversity and human security,
is still limited. Most models seek to reduce uncertainties from global change to local
impacts, and there are still major gaps in downscaling global models. Meshed with the
problems of scale (what to include) are the problems of complexity (how to account for
it), which pose formidable challenges for modelling, predicting and monitoring
environmental change. Uncertainty is a dominant concern, but few now deny that the
rate of advent of new climatic patterns and the hazards (and benefits) associated with
these will be unprecedented in human history. Concatenation and synergy will increase
the problems associated with hazards leading to new and as yet un-experienced types
and levels of loss.
Policies that can address both the risks and opportunities posed by rapid environmental
changes will require a combined focus on ecosystem management, sustainable
livelihoods and local risk management- Although there is an on-going debate about the
role of forests in flood control, there is growing evidence from the field that specific
ecosystems provide regulating services that are crucial to reducing the impacts of
extreme climate events in small watersheds. Among these those ecosystems most
intimately linked to the hydrological cycle are gaining in importance, as in the case of
cloud forests in mountain ecosystems which protect the upper watersheds of many
major watersheds, and which provide sources of water for urban consumption and
irrigation. Wetlands, particularly riparian and coastal ecosystems such as mangroves,
are increasingly recognized for their critical water storage function during flood events.
Thus, policies aimed at the improved management of water resources and nonstructural mitigation of weather-related hazards can contribute to reduce disaster risks
by enhancing landscape restoration, mangrove forest management and local
conservation and sustainable use initiatives. For instance in coastal ecosystems, it has
been shown that restoring mangroves in cyclone-prone areas not only restores degraded
ecosystems and increases physical protection against storms, but also boosts the
provision of livelihood options by generating much-needed income for local
communities. In the Tsunami -hit areas of South Asia in December 2004, those Sri
Lankan communities with healthy mangrove forests and settlements protected by shelter
belts were less impacted than those with few natural sea defences (Dahdouh-Guebas, F.
et al 2005). India and Bangladesh have come to recognized the importance of the
Suderbans mangrove forest in the Gulf of Bengal, not only as a source of livelihoods for
fishing communities but also as effective mechanism for coastal protection. Vietnam is
also investing in mangrove restoration as a cost-effective means for increased coastal
protection. Similar benefits can be derived from healthy coral reefs, which are less
brittle and form better protection against storm surges and hurricanes.
INSERT BOX – On the role of mangroves in buffering storm surges in Vietnam
– BOX 4 -Mangrove restoration
for buffering storm surges in
Vietnam- Red Cross
Source: IISD, 2003, Box 1
In Vietnam, tropical cyclones have caused a
considerable loss of livelihood resources, particularly
in coastal communities.
Although managing coastal resources has great
social and economic importance, the country has a
limited ability to protect coastal areas against
weather hazards.
Mangrove ecosystem rehabilitation along much of
Vietnam’s coastline is an example of a cost effective
approach to improving coastal defences while
generating local livelihoods. Mangrove wetlands
provide enhanced physical protection from storms
and are a reservoir for carbon sequestration; they
also provide a resource
base for local livelihoods and income generation.
Since 1994,the Vietnam National Chapter of the Red
Cross has worked with local communities to plant
and protect mangrove forests in northern Vietnam.
Nearly 12,000 hectares of mangroves
have been planted. The benefits have been
staggering. Although planting and protecting the
mangroves cost approximately US$1.1 million, it
saved US$7.3 million per year in dike
maintenance. During the devastating typhoon
Wukong in 2000, project areas remained unharmed
while neighbouring provinces suffered huge losses in
lives, property and livelihoods.
The Vietnam Red Cross estimates that some 7,750
families have benefited from mangrove rehabilitation.
Family members can now earn additional income
from selling crabs, shrimp and mollusks while
the protein
in their
diets.provide us with a basis
Theincreasing
precautionary
principle
should
on which to act. Some of the
compelling data presented in this section on current changes in climate and biological
risks should be sufficient grounds for concern. However, while global environmental
conventions are important to set global rules and regulation, there is the need to address
the issues of environmental risks at a scale where they become manifest. While many
old and new natural hazards are increasing in scope and scale, the other side of the risk
equation has to do with increases in the degree of exposure and vulnerability of human
populations. With over 2 Billion people living with under $1|day poverty is one of the
major constituents of vulnerability, in addition to prevalent consumption and production
patterns.
Global concatenation of global changes will still have surprises in store. In this sense, a
heightened awareness of these emerging health risks and climate risks is necessary, as is
the setting up of adapted early warning systems for climate extremes and for the
detection of biological hazards and invasive species.
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