THE IMPACT OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON BIODIVERSITY

BY

JEAN FAULLIMMEL

Background

On a recent trip to the Province of Sichuan, China, in March 2012, I was invited to give a series of lectures in different regions of the province on “The impact of human activities and climate change on biodiversity.” The lectures stressed the importance of healthy ecosystems and the role biodiversity plays in our daily lives and our well-being, that is, the state of being comfortable, healthy and happy in the environment we live in. It was also stressed why we must invest more resources in education, and the protection and conservation of ecosystems and its biodiversity. It all starts with education to change things for the better.

The continuous destruction worldwide of natural habitats of our fauna and flora, in the name of the Growth Domestic Product (GDP) and “wild” capitalism is alarming. Human creed for more and more, and quick profits, at the expense of nature and the depletion of natural resources, will eventually lead our planet to unprecedented destructive natural events, human conflicts and suffering.

Today an increasing world population lives above its means. Because of a market economy, consumerism, Planet Earth lives an unsustainable life style. It lives on the capital of its natural resources, rather than on its interests. Wild capitalism, power, special interests and politics have affected the Earth precarious natural balance. The planet has becomes more fragile. We continue to destroy ecosystems and biodiversity, pollute rivers, oceans, groundwater and land, and become unhealthy because of the contaminated air we breathe, the contaminated water we drink and contaminated food we eat. Is this the quality of life we are looking for? We need nature to sustain us. When nature is healthy, our communities, economies and countries are healthy as well.

E.O. Wilson, an entomologist and biodiversity expert said in 1985:

The worst thing that can happen during the 1980s is not energy depletion, economic collapse, limited nuclear war, or conquest by a totalitarian government. As terrible as these catastrophes would be for us, they can be repaired within a few generations.

The one process ongoing in the 1980s that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly that our descendents are least likely to forgive us.

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What is biodiversity?

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is a term used to describe the variety of living organisms in our natural environment. It is defined as life in all its forms, from the level of the gene, to species, to whole ecosystems, including all the chemical and biochemical transformation processes that help to maintain life on Earth. Biodiversity is everywhere. It occurs both on land and in water, from high altitudes to deep ocean trenches and it includes all organisms, from microscopic bacteria to more complex plants. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. It is measured in terms of species richness, population abundance and distribution, and genetic diversity.

The complexity of biodiversity

The value of biodiversity

No other feature on Earth has been so dramatically influenced by man’s activities. By changing biodiversity, we strongly affect the human well-being as well as the well-being of every other living creature. Maintaining biodiversity is critical, and there is a need to place a value on preserving biodiversity so that governments and individuals can apply their understanding of the ecological roles played by these organisms to decisions that affect biodiversity.

There are scientific, economic and ethical considerations that must be taken into account. Because plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, through the process of photosynthesis, countries have planted trees to help remove carbon dioxide from the air as a response to global warming and climate change. Agriculture makes use of many kinds of plants to provide us with food. Photosynthesis is directly responsible for agricultural and forest products. Since energy flows from plants to animals, photosynthesis is indirectly responsible for the production of proteins in the form of animal meat.

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There are also organisms that have great values. For examples many different kinds of insects are pollinators that are extremely important to the successful fruiting of plants. The careless elimination of beneficial species by the use of toxic pesticides can negatively affect agricultural production and the health of ecosystems.

The services provided by nature can be converted into monetary terms, since it takes money to purify water, purchase land and plant trees. It is an important first step in forcing people to consider the importance of ecosystem services when making economic decisions, and how ecosystems should be used in order to protect biodiversity. Nature has a supporting, provisioning, regulating, and cultural role in different regions of the world. What nature provides us for free is illustrated below:

From an ethical point of view, a case can be made that all species have an intrinsic value and fundamental right to exist without being eliminated by unthinking human activities. This is a position unrelated to social and economic consideration. There is a value in just observing how nature works by, for example, simply observing the change in seasons, the colors of autumn, the wild deer, the panda or grizzly bear in their natural surroundings. It is important to recognize that each organism is involved in a vast network of relationships with other organisms.

Also, many people have difficulties relating to organisms at this level because they have little experience with the natural world. Urban residence have little personal experience with naturally functioning ecosystems, they have a different set of ethical values about the benefits of what natural ecosystems provide.

Biodiversity loss, extinction and causes

Humans are among the most successful organisms on Earth. They are adaptable and intelligent animals. As the world population increases, we displace other kinds of

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organisms. This has resulted in an accelerated rate of extinction of biodiversity. Wherever humans become the dominant organism, extinction occurs. Since our population is so large and because we have an advanced technology, catching or killing other animals for food, and cutting down rain forests, is relatively easy. Today with over 7 billion people on Earth, nearly all the Earth’s surface has been affected by human activities.

Humans have gravely altered the chemistry, biology and physical structure of the Earth’s land and water. What scientists are calling the “human footprint,” that is, the demand people place upon the natural world, is increasingly impairing the planet’s ability to maintain the quality of human life and to recover from the environmental damage done in the name of profits. This may subsequently lead to the loss of up to two-thirds of all plant and animal species during the second half of the 21st century.

The growth in human population has touched about every environmental issue and has made worse about every environmental problem. It poses a threat to other species, directly and indirectly. More people means more habitat alteration, more pollution, more exploitation of natural resources. With more growth in resource consumption by affluent societies, human population growth is the ultimate reason behind many threats to biodiversity.

Humanity’s ecological footprint, has increased to the point where the Earth is unable to keep up in the struggle to regenerate. The world population is consuming resources faster than the Earth can replace them. Today species extinction risks out pace any conservation successes. The rate of biodiversity loss has not been reduced because the 5 principle pressures on biodiversity are persistent, even intensifying:

1. Habitat loss and degradation of ecosystems,2. Global warming and climate change,3. Excessive nutrient load into the environment and other forms of pollution,4. Over-exploitation, overharvesting and unsustainable use,5. Invasive alien species,6. Chemical pollution of air, water and land.

More specific causes are shown in the graph below:

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Interrelation between population growth, greenhouses gases, fossil fuel consumption and GDP, and their impact on climate changeGrowth of the human population is a major factor affecting the environment. Overpopulation means that there are more people than there are resources to meet their needs. Almost all the environmental problems we face today can be traced back to the increase in population.

Anthropogenic carbon dioxide, world GDP, fossil fuel consumption and world population growth, shown in the graphs below, indicate a similar trend. As the population growth, we observe an increase in CO2 emissions, fossil fuel consumption and a GDP increase. It also suggests that by reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and increasing energy production from renewable resources will we start to reduce and/or stabilize global warming, and begin to lessen its effects of climate change.

Atmospheric CO2 increase is best reflected by the world population trend. The two have tracked each other extremely well over the past century. A break in the close relation between population growth and CO2 growth would be a clear sign of environmental progress and indicate that the world has a sustainable economy. We need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, that is, our dependence on fossil fuel, to the point where they match levels that can be absorbed by Earth’s ecosystems. Today what cannot be absorbed will remain in the atmosphere leading to an increase of the world temperature, climate change and a more severe weather pattern.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2009b.

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Global biodiversity indicators trend

Biodiversity is simply too complex to be measured or monitored. The only practical solution is to use indicators. Biodiversity indicators help us to determine the degree of biological or environmental changes within ecosystems, populations or groups of organisms over time and space. Different types of indicators give different kinds of information about sustainability. Those most widely adapted and used are the state, pressure and response indicators. They are defined as follows:

1. The state indicator describes the current status, or condition, of a resource.2. The pressure indicators represent the level of a pressure (positive or negative) that

affects the condition of a resource. For example, whether a human action is causing the condition to degrade or to improve.

3. The response indicator represents the policies implemented to maintain or improve the condition of a resource.

The state, pressure and response curves shown below are very informative. Over the period between 1970 and 2010, worldwide, we can see a deterioration of the state of ecosystems and biodiversity. The index of the pressure indicator increases continually.

Study of the State of planet Earth, BBC, March 30, 2005.

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And the response indicator shows, that despite more policies put in place to reverse the degradation trend, pressures on biodiversity continue to increase.

The key pressures driving biodiversity loss are overexploitation of species, invasive alien species, pollution, climate change, and especially the degradation, fragmentation, and destruction of habitats. Also, agriculture is an expanding land use in about 70% of countries, generally at the expense of biodiversity. Much of the global timber trade is based on unsustainable or illegal logging that destroys biodiversity-rich habitat.

Increasing demand for vegetable oils for food, cosmetics, and bio-fuels, has put further pressure on biodiversity. Expanded corn, sugar cane, and palm oil production in Borneo, threatens forest land. Marine biodiversity is also under increasing pressure, with steep declines in fish populations and loss of marine habitats resulting from over-fishing. And climate change may force species to shift their ranges and disrupts other ecological communities.

All this clearly indicates that human activities increase as world population increases. This is an alarming trend for planet Earth. How can our civilization survive at the present economic development pace with a planet of limited resources?

The threat to species extinction

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) informs us that many species are threatened with extinction during the 21st century. They are:

1 out of 8 birds,1 out of 4 mammals,1 out of 4 conifers,1 out of 3 amphibians,6 out of 7 marine turtles,75% of genetic diversity of agricultural crops has been lost,75% of the world’s fisheries are fully or over exploited.

Up to 70% of the world’s known species risk extinction if the global temperatures rise by more than 3.5°C, and 1/3 of reef-building corals around the world are threatened with extinction due to an increase in ocean temperature and acidification.

The problem with biological resource extraction is when the rate of increase in demand for the resource far outstrips the reproductive rate of the population, and drives the value of that resource higher, increasing the incentive to extract it and causing the population to eventually collapse (the Tragedy of the Commons). Such a fate has befallen whales, elephants, spotted cats, cod, old-growth forests, ginseng, parrots, tuna, etc. Today humans have raised the rate of extinction above the background rate observed for centuries. Species loss is proceeding at a still more accelerated pace as our population growth and resource consumption put an ever-increasing strain on habitats and wildlife.

Humans have historically exploited plant and animal species in order to maximize short-term profit, at the expense of sustainability of the species. This exploitation follows a predictable pattern: initially, a species harvested from the wild can turn a substantial

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profit, encouraging more people to get involved in its extraction. This increased competition encourages the development of more large-scale and efficient methods of extraction, which inevitably deplete the resource.

The un-sustainability of biological resource extraction has, at its root, two main problems: (a) Too many people who want the same resource, and (b) The short-term profit goals of extractors and lack of information about the ecological consequences.

How to protect ecosystems and biodiversity?

Protection of biodiversity requires concrete actions. A state or provincial government has a critical role to play. These bodies can be viewed as the steward of common natural reserves managed in the interest of the public, through conservation, protection, sustainable use of nature, and educational measures. They are important in the drafting of legislation, the setting up of protected areas, and informing the residents about the status and value of biodiversity and how they can help to protect it.

Industry, a great polluter in developing countries, must also make efforts to avoid air, water and land pollution, through proper waste management and environmental legislation. Mining companies and manufacturing industries must invest in pollution control and abatement to minimize the detrimental impact of their waste discharges on healthy ecosystems.

Cooperation with all stakeholders, including the public, is a must. No agency can conserve, protect and improve the health of an ecosystem and biodiversity alone. In the interest of the common good, sharing of information and expertise is a must. An agency never knows enough.

Biodiversity strategy

In order to stop the degradation trends observed by biodiversity indicators, the development of a strategy over 10 or 20 years, is a must to protect biodiversity. The current European Union Biodiversity strategy goes from 2011 to 2020. At the national level the strategy must be drafted by a working group of government officials in consultation with academia, industry, non-governmental organizations and stakeholders.

The strategy must stress the importance of cooperation between all levels of government, stakeholders and the public to create sound management programs. The main goals of the biodiversity strategy can be the following:

1. Conserve and protect biodiversity and use biological resources sustainably.2. Improve understanding of ecosystems and increase resource management

capabilities.3. Promote education and awareness of the need to conserve and protect

biodiversity.

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4. Maintain, improve or implement legislation and incentives to support conservation.

5. Cooperate with other countries to conserve biodiversity and share benefits equitably.

How can this strategy be implemented?

1. Conserve biodiversity

This concerns the responsibility of the government to maintain and protect the areas needed for migratory birds, fish, and marine mammals. The government also has a role in the development of forestry and agricultural practices that affect biodiversity, and regulate wildlife trade. This responsibility is met through the drafting and implementation of legislation and conservation programs and through collaboration programs with the provinces and territories, other countries, local groups, conservation organizations and the private sector.

A significant number of programs must be implemented to maintain or restore wildlife populations of indigenous flora and fauna. These include programs to manage species or populations that are harvested for commercial, recreational and subsistence purposes, to ensure their sustainable use. There must be a particular emphasis on protecting species that are in danger of extinction because of human activity.

Regarding forestry management, the following actions are critical: (a) Completion of an ecological classification of forests; (b) Completion of a network of protected areas representative of forests; (c) Establishing forest inventories; and (d) Development of a system of national indicators of sustainable forest management.

2. Improve knowledge of ecosystems and biodiversity

Biological monitoring is necessary to gain an understanding of what is changing in the ecosystems and why. By integrating long-term studies of species trends and land-use change information from the same area, a more complete profile of an ecosystem can be prepared, and evidence of change and/or condition documented. This information should be useful for defining biodiversity indicators, making policies with respect to natural resource management, and the conservation of biodiversity of any region or country.

3. Education and awareness

Training and education is key to the success of biodiversity conservation for a number of reasons: many citizens are unaware of the problems facing biodiversity or how they could help. Individuals within economic sectors often desire information and training on how their activities can reduce impacts on the environment. Therefore, the government, in collaboration with NGOs, the public and the private sector must be engaged in both education and training initiatives.

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Training initiatives that aim to involve groups in biodiversity conservation include: development of community stewardship manuals, publishing manuals that help industries develop biodiversity strategies, working partnerships with stakeholders to develop information material on biodiversity and agriculture, and assisting in the development of biodiversity curricula in colleges and universities to develop students’ environmental awareness.

4. Legislation

This fourth goal of the strategy must encourage governments to maintain or develop incentives and legislation that support the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of biological resources. There must be a commitment by the government or local authorities to develop legislation to identify, protect, and recover those species at risk. If endangered species receive little or no legal protection, they are bound to extinction.

Legislation must also enforce tighter controls on the illegal trade of wildlife and plants, and prohibits trafficking of endangered species. It must prohibit any commercial trade in endangered species. For less threatened species, trade should be carefully monitored and regulated through a permit system. And it must also protect ecosystems from the introduction of undesirable species that could harm indigenous species.

5. International cooperation

Successful biodiversity conservation efforts require international cooperation and agreements because wildlife and pollution do not respect political boundaries. This goal must seek to establish cooperative efforts at the international level to protect species and their habitats.

For example, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora plays already a critical role. It entered into force on July 1, 1975 and now has a membership of 143 countries. These countries act by banning commercial international trade. Trade has also become a major factor in the decline of species as improvement in transport facilities has made it possible to ship live animals and plants and their products anywhere around the world.

The trade is diverse, ranging from live animals and plants to a vast array of wildlife products derived from them, including food products, ivory, exotic leather goods, wooden musical instruments, timber, tourist curios and medicines. By regulating and monitoring, the trade species become less vulnerable to extinction.

Conclusion

Continued growth of the world population and rising individual consumption have resulted in the slow destruction of Earth’s ecosystems and biological diversity. Exacerbated by climate change, ocean acidification, and other anthropogenic

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environmental impacts, biodiversity continues to decline, and that effective conservation of biodiversity is essential for human survival and the maintenance of ecosystem processes.

Modern scientific research has proven that all types of species are an indispensable part of ecosystems, and that extinction of certain species may result in an imbalance of the functions and values they provide. Plants play a very important role in soil and water conservation, prevention of winds and sand erosion, regulation of climate and purification of air.

Ignorance, wild capitalism, believing rather than facing facts, is the real enemy of biodiversity. Protection of our natural world requires long-term planning as the consequences of ecosystems destruction cannot be seen immediately. Capitalism without a human face, with its overexploitation of natural resources, its short-term profit obsession, regardless of the consequences, has been devastating to the natural world that sustains us. For instance, at the rate of deforestation in Borneo, and the replacement of the rainforest by palm oil plantations, has the orangutan still a chance to survive? The world’s most urgent problems require collective action. The protection of ecosystem and biodiversity is one of them.

What kind of world do we want to live in? Our lives are inextricably linked with biodiversity and ultimately its protection is essential for our own survival. From the perspective of space, political, geographical, nationalistic, cultural and religious differences are insignificant. Humanity shares the same home, it is called the “Blue Planet.” It is very fragile. Our responsibility is to take care of it and to protect it.

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References1. Jean Faullimmel, ECTI, Paris, France, March 2012.2. Sichuan Research Institute of Environmental Protection, Chengdu, China. March

2012.3. Rachel Carson, “Silent Spring,” 1962.4. S.Brennan and J.Withgott, “Environment” 2005.5. E. Enger and B. Smith, “Environmental Science,” 10th ed. 2006.6. Environmental News Service, 1999.7. Climate Change Emergency Medical response, March 2012.8. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2009b.9. Study of the State of planet Earth, BBC, March 30, 2005.10. Global biodiversity: Indicators of recent decline, Science, May 28, 2010.11. Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, May 2010.12. Canadian Biodiversity Strategy, October 2010.13. European Union Biodiversity Strategy, European Environmental Commission,

December 19, 2011.

JF/20/04/2012

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