Extinctions far from over
2004-02-09 14:30
Kuala Lumpur - Tens of thousands of animals and plants are being driven to extinction as countries fail to meet conservation targets set more than a decade ago, UN officials warned at a major conference on biodiversity that opened on Monday.
Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the UN Environment Program, said human activities such as logging and overfishing are briskly sending animal and plant species to oblivion.
Countries have failed to meet expectations set by the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil resulting in a "high scale" of species loss worldwide, but especially in the developing world, he said.
"We have to do more, not simply pay lip service," Toepfer told a news conference marking the start of the Seventh Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
More than 2 000 government officials, scientists and environmentalists are attending the conference, which is an offshoot of the Rio summit that aims to promote environmental protection and help developing countries share in the wealth created by their natural resources.
At least 60 000 species worldwide currently become extinct each year, Toepfer said, mainly because of the "global development agenda" set by wealthy, industrialised nations, which consume most of the globe's natural resources.
Delegates attending the conference, which runs for nearly two weeks, hope to refocus attention on environmental issues at a time when security and trade dominate the international agenda.
"The survival of the human species depends on biological diversity," Hamdallah Zedan, the convention's executive secretary, said in a statement ahead of the meeting.
The value of diversity in the natural environment is inestimable, but its preservation is often overlooked by countries and companies, Zedan said.
The conference is expected to seek measures to improve global conservation, especially in mountains, forests, oceans and coastal areas, and propose timetables and realistic goals to guide these efforts.
Delegates will also explore the creation of an international framework to help developing nations and indigenous people safeguard their heritage and share in the benefits of commercial use of their natural resources.
Meanwhile, environmentalists say they will urge governments to improve financing and law enforcement to protect forests where poaching and logging are increasingly rampant and marine species and habitats are threatened by overfishing, diving activities and pollution.
- AP