'Govts failed in protecting biodiversity'

WWF calls for concrete action plan

“Governments meeting in India to make key decisions on our planet’s future have to prove the deal they struck two years ago was not just a display of goodwill but a serious commitment,” says World Wildlife Fund(WWF), on the sidelines of COP-11 here on Sunday

Two years ago in Japan, governments agreed to set the world on a course to prevent further species extinction and the decline of world’s most valuable resources.
Since this historic achievement, many have failed to deliver. WWF is calling on all nations who gather in Hyderabad to urgently start implementing the previously agreed targets.

“What was agreed in Nagoya really has the power to halt the dramatic loss of biodiversity across the globe and address the main drivers of destruction. But now governments must prove that Nagoya was not just a platform for empty promises. They need to start taking real steps and implement the targets and commitments they agreed on,” said Lasse Gustavsson, WWF International’s Executive Director for Conservation in a press release.

Strategies

An overwhelming 91 per cent of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have developed strategies and plans for their approach to protect nature and biodiversity.

But only 14 parties have revised their plans taking into consideration the strategic plan agreed in Nagoya, and even fewer have taken measures to integrate the services that nature provides into their development plans.

Amidst this dismal performance, some nations have stepped up and are starting to make good on the commitments they voiced in Nagoya. In Indonesia, the government has agreed a US$ 28.5 million debt-for-nature swap with the US for a forest-carbon-biodiversity conservation programme.

Guyana fund

In Guyana, a conservation trust fund was launched in July 2012 that paves the way for establishing a National Protected Areas Trust Fund. And European countries have agreed on a strategy to meet the CBD targets, which if implemented could help halt biodiversity loss by 2020. “We need to see richer countries helping poorer countries and all countries increasing their domestic budgets,” said Rolf Hogan, Biodiversity Policy Coordinator at WWF International.

PM to launch high level segment

The high-level segment will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on October 16. Several ministers, vice-ministers and ambassadors are likely to attend the high-level segment, DHNS reports from Hyderabad.