Loss of Biodiversity

Photo courtesy of: www.gu.edu.au

1

Ben HammondsWill HanlonMatt HughesSteve JacksonAlex KevernRicky Pickett

Rainforest Degradation:A Moral Dilemma

• Importance of Rainforests– Biodiversity– Carbon sinks– New pharmaceutical drugs and new, disease-

resistant crops

• The Human Element– Family farmers– industrial logging, mining, and agriculture

companies as well2

Rainforest Biodiversity

• Rainforests cover just 2% of the earth’s surface, but are home to approximately 50% of all species of life on the planet.

• “A single bush in the Amazon may have more species of ants than the entire British Isles.” (Monogabay)

• Rich diversity creates webs of interdependence.

3

History of Conservation

• Parks and Reserves– Ineffective– Do not provide economic benefits

• Using this method, 50% of world’s rainforests have been lost– “local people and the government itself must see

financial returns to justify the costs of maintaining parks and forgoing revenue from economic activities within the boundaries of the protected area” (Monogabay).

4

5

Plants of the Rainforest•Rainforests have five levels:

–Overstory–Canopy–Understory–Shrub Layer–Forest Floor

•70-90 percent of rainforest life is in the canopy level.

•Forest floor has limited life.

Plants of the Rainforest• Plants are protected by CITES

(Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna).– This a listing of endangered

species.– Attempts to stop trade of

listed plant species.

• Plants are endangered by deforestation from agriculture, logging, and cattle industries.– Elimination of plants,

eliminates habitats for animals.

7

Plants of the Rainforest

• Loss of tree canopy inhibits conversion of green house gases.

• This can also cause climate shifts worldwide.

• The ultimate loss of rainforest plants is the loss of biodiversity.

8

9

Rainforests and Medicines

• Most medicines extracted from rainforests are used by indigenous people

• Some herbal remedies are beneficial to the physical health of the indigenous people

• Some of the herbs extracted from the rainforests are ritualistic to indigenous culture

10

Medicine Cont.

• World Health Organization survey– 70% to 80% of world population uses non-

conventional medicines (herbal sources) for primary health care

– Most of the non-conventional used by less developed countries due to lack of “lab drugs”

11

Dragons Blood -Latex or sap of Sangre de Drago (dragons blood)-Used for gastrointestinal problems, wound healing, microbial infections-Found in the Amazon river basin-Beginning to be used by more than just indigenous people- Cost effective, two week treatment cost approx. 25 cents, with same effectiveness as conventional methods

Dragons Blood cont.

• Possible cancer treatment– Interferes with malignant cells to keep

reproducing– Found to reduce intestinal tumors– Could be an effective weapon against colon

cancer

13

Rainforest Animal Species

• 5 times the amount of Bird species

• 43 species of Ants in one tree, nearly as much as in all of British Isles

• Manatees, Giant Otters, Amazon turtles, large cats, all in danger of extinction

• Due to number of insect species, extinctions often go unnoticed

15

Causes

• Fragmentation for Agriculture

• Logging

• Over hunting– Increased human populations– Need for food– Modern weapons

16

International Conventions

• The Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES)

• Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)

• Convention on Biological diversity (CBD)

17

Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES)

• Entered into force 1975

• 172 member states

• restrictions on import, export, re-export, and introduction of specified species – Appendix I is on endangered species– Appendix II specifies restrictions placed on

species by varying degrees of necessity

18

Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals

(CMS) • Signed 1983

• 104 member states

• parties to the convention must recognize the issue of endangered migratory species and take steps to protect them

• Parties must also take action to prevent other species from becoming endangered

19

Member states

20

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

• stemmed from the 1992 Rio Convention • 190 parties to the treaty • Article 8 requires the creation of safe and

protected areas for animals in potential risk • Article 9 requires parties to provide for the

rehabilitation and reintegration of depleted species

• 2010 Biodiversity Target – strives “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”

21

Member States

22

Effectiveness

• Brazil has made steps to reach the 2010 target of the CBD – protected wildlife areas – reintegrating manatees and rock cavies

23

Challenges to effectiveness

• enforcement is always in question – up to member states to implement these

regulations

• Development and poverty – In extremely poor areas, animal meat is

necessity to survive, regardless of the source

• Corruption of low level government officials

• remoteness and size of rainforest

24

World Population• World population has been increasing exponentially. By the

middle of this very century, the world population is expected to reach roughly nine billion people, assuming it continues to grow at an annual rate of 90 million people.

• Problem at hand: humans rapidly overtaxing natural resources in rainforests, and are “consuming a disproportionate amount of the Earth’s primary production, and transforming native environments into human-dominated landscapes.

• Two problems concerned with this include that the forests are being degraded at an apparently ever-increasing rate, while human welfare in forested areas is remaining at a constant level – at best – and are more often deteriorating.

26

Problems that affect humans

• Problems of forest degradation include “over harvesting of industrial wood and fuelwood, overgrazing, fire, insect pests and disease, storms, and air pollution”

• Also, With fewer trees to soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the risk of global warming is increased

27

Who it effects?

• forest dwellers: who may be dependent on the forest for his daily faire;

• settlers in a nearby village, who may need forest-dependent environmental services;

• consumers in the rainforests’ national capitals that may suffer if wood prices rise due to deforestation;

• farmers in a distant country who may depend on the forest for the rains that water his crops or for a stable climate

28

What must be done?

• Sustainable development, therefore, must be the answer to how the human well-being can be preserved.

• The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, defined sustainable development as such: “sustainable forest management aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Pierce and Byron 6).

29

30

The Policy Cycle

• Identification of the Problem

• Agenda Setting– Doing Something to correct the problem

• Formation of Public Policy

• Implementation

• Evaluation

31

Policy on Rainforest Conservation

• International Tropical Timbers Agreement-1994

• International Tropical Timbers Association’s Guidelines on the Conservation of Biological Diversity in Tropical Production Forests

• Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998

32

International Tropical Timbers Agreement 1994

• Drafted by the International Tropical Timbers Organization

• Regulate Timber use in Modern Industry

• 14 objectives

• Use Timber from sustainable regions

• Rehabilitation of damaged forests

33

International Tropical Timbers Agreement 1994

• Set forth the Bali Fund– “A Fund for sustainable management of tropical

timber producing forests hereby established to assist producing members to make the investments necessary to achieve the objective of article 1 (d) of this Agreement.”

• Established 4 Committees – Economic Information and Market Intelligence– Reforestation and Forest Management– Forest Industry– Finance and Administration

34

Guidelines on the Conservation of Biological Diversity in Tropical

Production Forests• Set forth by the ITTO• 20 different recommended actions for conservation of

Biodiversity• Recommended Action 1: Provide a national agency, or

reform and strengthen existing institutions to include biodiversity conservation in their mandate.

• Recommended Action 2: Provide this agency with sufficient human and financial resources to effectively achieve integrated biodiversity conservation involving both the TPA and production forest systems.

• Recommended Action 8: Particular care should be taken in applying silvicultural treatments to ensure that adequate populations of species which are important in food chains or in providing ecological functions (keystone species) are retained.

35

Tropical Forest Conservation Act 1998

• Offers eligible developing countries options to relieve U.S. debt while generating funds to support forest conservation

• Six countries have agreements– Bangladesh, Belize, El Salvador, Panama,

Peru, and the Philippines – Generated over $60 Million for Tropical Forest

Conservation36

Tropical Forest Conservation Act 1998

• Eligibility• Must have a tropical forest of global or regional

significance and meet certain political and economic criteria established in the law

• Must have Democratically Elected Governments• Cooperate on International Narcotics Control

measures• Have a sustainable economic reform program in

place• Must not support international terrorism or violate

human rights

37

Tropical Forest Conservation Act1998

• Reauthorized in both 2004 and 2007

• In 2007 received a makeover now including Coral Reef protection

• On October 15, 2007 it was extended through 2010

38

39