The Star, Malaysia : Call for action to stop decline

Tuesday February 10, 2004

Call for action to stop decline

BY AUDREY EDWARDS AND SUSAN TAM

KUALA LUMPUR: The global meet on biological diversity opened here yesterday with calls for more action if the world is to avert further decline of its natural heritage.

Delegates to the Seventh Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) were also reminded of the target to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.

The target was agreed to by governments at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg, in 2002.

Convention executive secretary Hamdallah Zedan said that increased support and resources were crucial in meeting the target and the conference would determine if the CBD process achieved it.

He said the conference would consider a framework for setting goals, targets and indicators against which conservation efforts would be benchmarked.

“These should be viewed as a flexible framework within which national targets and indicators may be set. They will define what we hope to achieve in the near future and provide ways of measuring our level of success,” he said in his speech.

With regards to protected areas, the challenge was to adopt a programme of work that would lead to the establishment and maintenance of an effective network of protected areas which would include the concerns of local communities.

United Nations Environment Programme executive director Klaus Toepfer said the conference was a good time to take stock of the progress of the WSSD signed a decade ago.

“Biodiversity loss has not stopped but we need to address this in areas such as capacity-building to build up resources and the transfer of technology for developing countries,” he said in his opening remarks.

He said the world needed to have a “wise use” of resources as the poor depended on biodiversity to survive.

“Essential elements like land, water and air are important to this group to develop their livelihoods,” he added.

Science, Technology and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Law Hieng Ding, president of the present conference, said a framework needed to be worked out to ensure fair sharing of benefits resulting from the use of genetic resources.

“An international regime is being proposed to promote and safeguard the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources.

“If we are to achieve this key objective, it is necessary that a general framework be agreed upon in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

Law also emphasised that serious discussions and every effort taken to ensure that the many challenges ahead were successfully addressed.

“This is a real test for this Convention,” he added.

He said that relevant technologies and scientific assessment were among issues that needed to be addressed to achieve the objectives of conservation and sustainable use.

He said that the international community was responsible in promoting co-operative development and encouraging sharing of appropriate technologies.

“These technologies would assist developing countries in their biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of biological resources,” he added.