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  PlanetArk 20 Jul 06
Scientists Want Global Body to Conserve Biodiversity
Story by Patricia Reaney

LONDON - Scientists warned on Wednesday that the world is on the brink of a major biodiversity crisis and called for the creation of an international body to advise governments on how to protect the planet's ecosystems.

"All the scientific evidence points to the fact that whatever measure of vulnerability you take, whether it is local populations, species or ecosystem, we know that the rate at which we are altering them now is faster than it has been in the past," Georgina Mace said in an interview.

Mace, director of science at the Institute of Zoology in London, is one of 19 scientists from 13 countries who signed a declaration published in the journal Nature explaining why an intergovernmental body is needed.

They said that although all aspects of biodiversity are in decline and many species are likely to become extinct this century, the crisis is not given the weight and importance it merits in public and private decision making.

The new panel would address policy-related issues and get the best consensus on what the scientific opinion really is.

"It is not telling policy makers what to do. It is giving them advice about what the consequences of different decisions will be," Mace added.

The experts, who include Dr Robert Watson, the chief scientist at the World Bank, suggested that a single global body similar to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) could speak for the biodiversity science world.

"For the sake of the planet, the biodiversity science community has to create a way to get organised, to coordinate its work across disciplines, and together with one clear voice advise governments on steps to halt the potentially catastrophic loss of species already occurring," Watson said in a statement.

The scientists and experts from countries ranging from China, Chile and Canada to South Africa, Germany and the United States suggested that the panel should be independent, transparent and include input from governments, non-government organisations and the private sector.

They suggested the group be funded by governments and that it should generate information about trends in biodiversity and future changes so targets for action can be set.

The scientists said French President Jacques Chirac had supported the idea at an international conference in January 2005. "The French government is currently funding a consultation process to assess the need, scope and possible models for an international mechanism of scientific expertise on biodiversity," they said in the statement.

The consultations are expected to produce recommendations within 18 months.

Yahoo News 20 Jul 06
Scientists call for global taskforce to tackle biodiversity crunch

PARIS (AFP) - Leading biologists have called for the creation of a global taskforce on biodiversity, warning that the Earth faces an extinction crisis that has no parallel in human history.

Like the UN's scientific panel on climate change, the biodiversity group would assess the latest research and give clear, sound advice to policymakers, according to their proposal, published on Thursday in the British weekly journal Nature.

"Virtually all aspects of biodiversity are in steep decline and a large number of populations and species are likely to become extinct in the present century," says the appeal, gathering experts from 13 nations.

"Despite this evidence, biodiversity is still consistently undervalued and given inadequate weight in both private and public decisions. There is an urgent need to bridge the gap between science and policy to take action."

The model for their proposal, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), gathers the world's paramount experts on global warming. It is due to issue its next assessment early in 2007.

The scientists say that biodiversity is often sidelined in policy debate because it is such a hugely complex subject with many unknowns and researchers do not speak with a single voice.

Their appeal has been given political support by French President Jacques Chirac and France is funding an 18-month consultation process on how to set up the panel and agree on its work.

According to the 2004 report of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), some 12 percent of all bird species, 23 percent of mammals, 25 percent of conifers, 32 percent of amphibians and 52 percent of cycads -- an ancient tree species sometimes called a "living fossil" -- are threatened with extinction.

Climate change may drive an additional 15-37 percent of species to premature extinction within the next half century.

"Since biodiversity loss is essentially irreversible, it poses serious threats to sustainable development and the quality of life of future generations," say the signatories.

The initiative and consultation process can be found on www.imoseb.net.

EurekAlert 19 Jul 06
Titans of biodiversity science call for united, authoritative voice to inform decision-makers

Warn earth 'on verge of major crisis' Warning that Earth is on the verge of "a major biodiversity crisis,"

19 of the field's most distinguished scientists and policy experts today called for a new global coordinating mechanism to provide a united, authoritative scientific voice to inform government decision-making internationally.

And they called upon the wider scientific community and stakeholders to lend active support to a newly established consultation process designed to create just such an international organizing and unifying mechanism for science advice on biodiversity.

Published in the UK journal Nature (July 20 edition), leading experts from 13 nations --Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, the USA and the UK -- signed a blunt declaration saying the gap between biodiversity science and public policy must be closed urgently and that the world's science community must be far more strongly organized and integrated. According to the group:

"Virtually all aspects of biodiversity are in steep decline and a large number of populations and species are likely to become extinct in the present century. Despite this evidence, biodiversity is still consistently undervalued and given inadequate weight in both private and public decisions. There is an urgent need to bridge the gap between science and policy to take action."

That gap, they say, has closed with respect to climate change -- policy making is informed by the world's science community speaking with a single authoritative voice through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The experts signing today's statement call for the urgent creation of an inter-governmental mechanism akin to the IPCC to likewise speak for the biodiversity science world.

Signatories include Robert Watson, Chief Scientist at the World Bank, who chairs or has chaired several global scientific collaborations including the IPCC, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the Ozone Assessment Panel. Others among the signatories are two former chairs of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice of the Montreal-based Convention on Biological Diversity, Alfred Oteng-Yeboah of Ghana and Peter Schei of Norway, as well as: Mary Kalin Arroyo, Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, University of Chile Didier Babin, Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), France Robert Barbault, Ecology and Biodiversity Management Department, National Museum of Natural History, France Michael Donoghue, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, USA Madhav Gadgil, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, India Christoph Häuser, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Germany Carlo Heip, Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology Anne Larigauderie, DIVERSITAS Secretariat, Paris, France Michel Loreau of McGill University, Canada, Chair of the Board of DIVERSITAS, the international programme on biodiversity; Keping Ma, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Georgina Mace, UK Institute of Zoology; H.A. Mooney, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, USA Charles Perrings, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, USA, Vice-Chair, DIVERSITAS Peter Raven, Missouri Botanical Garden, USA; Jose Sarukhan, Instituto de Ecología, National University of Mexico, UNAM, Mexico; and Robert J. Scholes, Natural Resources and Environment, CSIR, South Africa.

The scientists say biodiversity is "intrinsically more complex than issues such as the stratospheric ozone hole or even global climate change--it spans several levels of biological organization (genes, species, ecosystems); it cannot be measured by simple, universal indicators such as temperature and atmospheric CO2 concentration; and its distribution and management are more local in nature."

Existing organizations such as the Convention of Biological Diversity "do not have the structural means to mobilize the expertise of a large scientific community that spans a wide range of disciplines," according to the declaration signatories.

"For the sake of the planet, the biodiversity science community has to create a way to get organized, to co-ordinate its work across disciplines, and together with one clear voice advise governments on steps to halt the potentially catastrophic loss of species already occurring," says Dr. Watson.

"The climate change panel, the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology, the Ozone Assessment Panel and other scientific collaborations today provide worthy examples of the sort of device needed. Each model has strengths and weaknesses but essentially they all serve as a reliable source of information and advice for the public, their governments and decision-makers, who then chose what to do."

Says lead author Michel Loreau: "We need diversity of opinions and approaches but we also need unity behind this collective effort, to speak with one voice globally when it comes to recognizing key issues and how they can best be addressed."

"Biodiversity provides ecosystem services such as disease and climate regulation, storm protection and habitat for useful species. The loss of biodiversity imposes real economic costs on society, and we need to develop clear science guidance for policy options accordingly," says signatory Charles Perrings of Arizona State University, USA and Vice-Chair of DIVERSITAS.

With the explicit support of French President Jacques Chirac, international consultations funded by the government of France (the Consultative Process Towards an International Mechanism of Scientific Expertise on Biodiversity, www.imoseb.net) are expected to produce recommendations for such a panel within 18 months.

The consultations will determine what kind of biodiversity information is needed by decision-makers in many fields with an influence on biodiversity--including industry, fisheries, transportation, and parks management--in order to design a panel that addresses those requirements.

An electronic forum has been set up to collect opinions on the consultative process and its evolution (http://www.imoseb.net or contact executive-secretariat@imoseb.net).

The declaration signatories recommend that such a panel: like other similar intergovernmental scientific panels, have a formal link to, and be funded by, governments to help ensure that the information will lead to action nationally and globally; be objective and independent, with broad participation, including governments, the private sector and non-governmental organizations as well as scientists; be transparent and representative in terms of opinions, disciplines and geographical regions, with a strict peer review process; generate clear, readily accessible information about the status and trends of biodiversity, projections of future changes and options for conservation and loss mitigation, which will allow decision-makers to set clear targets for action; and build synergy with existing international organizations.

The full text of the statement.
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