A gloomy prospect

Risks to global biodiversity should not be ignored

Life on planet Earth may be in for a major shake-up in foreseeable future if the surmise by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), that the world is set to lose two-thirds of its wildlife diversity by 2020, holds true. The latest bi-annual Living Planet Index compiled by the WWF and the Zoological Society of London indicates that the global animal count has plunged by 58 per cent between 1970 and 2012 and is on track to reach 67 per cent by 2020, declining at an alarming rate of almost two per cent a year. The deleterious effect of such a huge loss of biodiversity on the natural balance that is vital to sustain life on earth is not difficult to fathom. Though this report is based chiefly on global data concerning mammals, reptiles, fish and birds, the state of other life forms, including plants and micro-organisms, is no different, and is, in fact, more worrisome in some cases. The shrinkage in agricultural biodiversity, for instance, bodes ill for the food security of billions of people and raw material supplies for agro-based industries. Of over 7,000 plant species grown for food in the past, no more than 150 are commercially cultivated today. About 50 per cent of the total calorie intake of humans now comes from only three species – rice, wheat and maize – an indication of a dangerously narrow food base. The bottom line is that the globe is staring at the sixth mass extinction, from which human beings may not come out unscathed. It also means that many valuable genes, which may hold the solution to future challenges, may be lost for good.

Among the umpteen causes of biodiversity erosion, habitat destruction, hunting, indiscriminate consumptive use of natural resources and environmental degradation are the key ones. These have been compounded by unabated deforestation, desertification, deterioration of the marine environment, and wildlife trade. The global Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, was aimed, among other things, to undermine many of these inimical factors and encourage global action to conserve bio-resources and ensure their sustainable use. This was later reinforced by a “Strategic Plan for Biodiversity” agreed to at the UN biodiversity conference in Nagoya in 2010. It bound the CBD signatories to cutting down the rate of natural habitats loss by half and restoring biodiversity by up to 15 per cent by 2015. These goals have been missed altogether.

India, being one of the world’s few biodiversity-rich countries, having over 91,000 recorded species of animals and 45,000 of plants, has a special responsibility for their safe upkeep. The Indian Constitution (Articles 48 and 51), too, calls upon the government and citizens to protect forests and wildlife to save biodiversity. Yet, many of the critical bio-habitats are in constant decline. The present policy of guarding wildlife by creating national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, albeit in line with the practice followed the world over, has some major limitations. Most of these sanctuaries are single species-oriented safety zones, such as for tigers, lions or other animals. But the need now is to enlarge their scope and convert them into biological resources preservation zones so that they can, with time, emerge as vital bio-reserves. The policy of combining wildlife protection with tourism, too, needs to be revisited from the biodiversity conservation angle. The long-term gains from biodiversity preservation, after all, are more fundamental and longer lasting than income from any economic, social or recreational activity.