The 2010 Convention of Biodiversity (CBD) was held in Nagoya, Japan last week. The atmosphere must not have been very pleasant, considering that most 2010 targets were not met. Nonetheless, representatives from all countries of the world except the U.S. and Andorra (pop. 83,000) met and worked on creating a strategic plan for 2011-2022. Yes, no joke, the U.S. was practically the only country in the world that didn’t attend.
Marah Hardt of Change.org writes:
The executive summary doesn’t mince words: The plans to “achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth has not been met.” Many targets were missed, including:
1. Species at risk of extinction, on average, moved closer to extinction
2. Abundance of vertebrate species declined one third between 1970 and 2006
3. Extensive loss of natural habitats and continued fragmentation of habits
4. Crop and livestock genetic diversity decline in agricultural systems
5. The five main drivers of biodiversity loss—habitat change, overexploitation, pollution, invasive species, and climate change—all increased in intensity
Overall, the ecological footprint of humanity exceeds the biological capacity of the planet more today than it did in 2002.
Yes, we are failing miserably, and it is a real shame that the U.S. isn’t even committed to trying. Kudos to the countries that did work diligently at the CBD to try to come up with better biodiversity protection plans.
Read more about the CBD and efforts to protect biodiversity on Change.org.
Photo Credit: Valter Jacinto | Portugal via flickr under a CC license