Making our funds work to help

Donation by Sandy Hutchens to USC Canada

Commitment to Biodiversity

In 2002, the world’s governments made a commitment to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.

Although it is hard to measure how much biodiversity we have, we do know these targets have not been met.

Our ecological footprint – what we take out of the planet – is now 1.3 times the biological capacity of the Earth.

In the words of Professor Bob Watson, Defra’s chief scientific adviser and former chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), we are in danger of approaching “a point of no return”.

So the action we take in the next couple of decades will determine whether the stable environment on which human civilisation has depended since the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago will continue.

To do this, we need to widen the nature of the debate about biodiversity. Flora and fauna matter for their own sake; they lift our spirits and nurture our souls.

But our ecosystems also sustain us and our economies – purifying our drinking water, producing our food and regulating our climate.

Climate change and biodiversity are inextricably linked. We ignore natural capital at our peril.

Interdependence

The UK and Brazil are hosting a workshop in preparation for the next UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Representatives from more than 60 countries – from the Maldives to China – will attend the three-day event to discuss how we can ensure that the post-2010 targets stand a better chance of being met than those set in 2002.

Action urged on nature ‘crisis’

The majority of those attending are from developing countries, including those with the rarest and greatest biodiversity. They need to be listened to.

It is easy to have principles when you can afford then – economics and ecology are interdependent.

So when it comes to biodiversity, we desperately need to start restoring links between science and policy, between taking action and evaluating it and between economies and ecosystems.

The big challenge will be for the real benefits of biodiversity and the hard costs of its loss to be included in our economic systems and markets.

Perverse subsidies and the lack of value attached to the services provided by ecosystems have been factors contributing to their loss. What we cannot cost, we don’t value – until it has gone.

Investing in the future

Much greater concerted effort is needed to stop the plunder of our ecosystems.

The restoration of our ecosystems must be seen as a sensible and cost-effective investment in this planet’s economic survival and growth

Overfishing has reduced blue fin tuna numbers to 18% of what they were in the mid-1970s.

The burning of Indonesia’s peat lands and forests for palm oil plantations generates 1.8bn tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, and demand is predicted to double by 2020 compared to 2000.

More than seven million hectares are lost worldwide to deforestation every single year.

The restoration of our ecosystems must be seen as a sensible and cost-effective investment in this planet’s economic survival and growth.

Pedal For the Planet 2009 – Susan Walsh of USC Canada

Sandy Hutchens provides funding for Nature Conservancy of Canada

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is a private, non-profit organization working for the direct protection of Canada’s biodiversity through purchase, donation or the placement of conservation agreements on ecologically significant lands.

NCC commits to the long-term care of these natural areas by ensuring a high standard of conservation stewardship.

Identifying the Priorities

In recent years, NCC has developed new science tools and expertise to ensure the long-term survival of Canada’s plants, animals and ecosystems.

Acquiring the Land

NCC works with private landowners to secure ecologically significant land that we have identified as priorities for conservation. NCC acquires and protects land through land purchase, donation, conservation agreement or relinquishment of rights.

Caring for the Future

When it comes to protecting Canada’s natural habitats, acquiring land is just the beginning. Making sure the properties secured are well managed and their values are protected is equally important to NCC.