A major report from 150 leading scientists from around the world released on May 6, 2019 shows that the crisis facing wildlife and nature is even worse than previously understood. Up to a million species are threatened with extinction, many within decades. And, the threats posed to people from the destruction of nature are just as serious as those posed by climate change.
I am grateful for how my life has been deeply enriched by my own encounters with nature—whether hiking on Wisconsin's Apostle Islands, seeing gorillas in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park of the Democratic Republic of the Congo or looking into the wonder of the Grand Canyon. The bonds formed between family, friends and co-workers are strengthened by these memories of outdoor experiences. My mother was from Colorado and helped me form my own attachments to nature. I don’t know how anyone could see the beauty of the Rocky Mountains and not feel a strong desire to protect them for future generations.
Thankfully, there is still time to act, and countries are increasingly interested in discussing how to address the crisis. Specifically, there is an emerging and important opportunity for countries to develop a “global deal for nature and people” that can be approved when the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) convenes in China next year to develop a plan to safeguard biodiversity for the coming decade. More than 190 nations are working to negotiate the details of a global deal for nature, and a growing coalition of scientists, indigenous groups, philanthropists and non-governmental organizations is asking that the deal includes three key components: a commitment to protecting at least 30 percent of the planet’s lands and waters by 2030; an increased focus on supporting indigenous peoples and promoting indigenous led conservation; and a dramatic increase in the financial resources to manage protected areas.
Indigenous-led conservation must play a central role in a global deal for nature. Indigenous peoples have historically done a better job of managing and preserving biodiversity than national governments, and a significant amount of the world’s biodiversity is found in areas that indigenous peoples steward, including some 37 percent of the world’s unprotected land that is still in a highly natural state. Any new global deal will only be successful if the rights, knowledge systems, and practices of indigenous peoples are fully acknowledged and included.
To fully achieve any global deal for nature, there must be significantly more financial resources committed to conservation. Philanthropists should follow the lead of Hansjorg Wyss, who recently committed $1 billion to protect nature, and national governments - and particularly developed nations - need to show leadership by greatly increasing the amount of money they contribute to protecting nature, both within their own borders and in biologically important regions around the world.
Scientists are saying that we must protect at least 30 percent to effectively respond to the wildlife extinction crisis and conserve at least another 20 percent of the planet as climate stabilization areas to keep global warming below 1.5℃. Today, only 15 percent of land and 7 percent of the ocean are protected globally, but individual countries have helped demonstrate that more ambitious targets are possible to meet. Ninety countries have protected more than 17 percent of their land (the current global target), 27 have already protected more than 30 percent, and a few — including Namibia, Bhutan and Venezuela — are close to or even past protecting half of their land. Marine protections have jumped from 0.7 percent of the total ocean in 2000 to about seven percent today — a near ten-fold increase.
Countries are beginning to work toward protecting more and more land and ocean. The Canadian government recently committed to working with other countries in “addressing nature's needs by increasing the proportion of land and ocean that we protect and conserve around the world and improve the way we manage and restore it.”
People across the globe cherish the opportunity to spend time in nature and view the diverse array of wildlife that relies on it. Nature is essential to our wellbeing. We rely on it for clean air and water, for pollination of our crops and regeneration of our soils. However, nature around the world is in a state of crisis, threatened by habitat loss, pollution, overexploitation, invasive species, and climate change.
The destruction of nature and the rising threat of climate change are the challenges of our time. Scientists have shown us what is at stake and have given us a path forward. Now it is up to us to act as a global community to protect habitat and urge an increase in financial commitments to conservation.
Russ Feingold is an Ambassador for the Campaign for Nature. He was United States Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa from July 2013 to March 2015 and previously served as a three-term United States Senator from Wisconsin. Follow him on Twitter: @russfeingold
