World
leaders meet to save species from extinction
By Gord Miller*
The
earth is currently losing wildlife, fish and plants at an almost
unprecedented rate. Global biodiversity has dropped by 30 per cent since
1970, according to the Living Planet Report 2010 released earlier this
month by the World Wildlife Fund. Species are disappearing a thousand
times faster than normal.
This global extinction is comparable to the damage done when a massive
meteorite slammed into our planet 70 million years ago and wiped out the
dinosaurs. But this time around, the enormous environmental change is
being caused by development and climate change.
The federal government, aided by independent scientists, has listed 470
species across Canada that are at risk of extinction, from the killer
whales on the West Coast to the swift fox on the prairies and the marten
in Newfoundland. Even species that we think of as ubiquitous in some
parts of Canada, like the Monarch butterfly, are under threat because of
logging in their wintering grounds in Mexico, and the mistaken belief that
milkweed, their host plant, must be eradicated as a noxious weed.
Right now, world leaders are meeting in Nagoya Japan, to try to halt this
loss of life around the plant. And the UN Secretary General has told the
delegates to the United Nation's biodiversity summit they face a daunting
task, "To tackle the root causes of biodiversity loss, we must give
it a higher priority in all areas of decision-making and in all economic
sectors." Ban Ki-Moon has also challenged all governments, including
Canada's, to implement solutions: "The consequences of this
collective failure, if it is not quickly corrected, will be severe for us
all."
How well is Canada rising to the challenge? This country's 4th
National Report to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity,
judged our own progress as "mixed." While we are doing a
better job than in the past in protecting ecologically sensitive areas,
trends also show that everywhere else, there are significant declines in
many species, particularly among birds and fish.
The problem is that all too often, we don't know how concerned we should
be about the state of Canada's plant and animal species. Long-term
scientific monitoring is often subject to the whim of politics and
cut-backs. But its value is immeasurable. It is also not a luxury:
the sustainable management of our natural resources depends on it. The
mantra for corporate management applies equally to the environment:
"You can't change what you don't measure."
We can't manage, conserve or protect what we don't know. We also can't
detect our own failures - as a government or as a society - if we don't
know they exist until it is too late. This creates uncertainty in a
time when decisive action is urgently needed. Without the knowledge,
public debate over what needs to done will be taken up by spurious issues,
instead of the actual facts on the ground, in the air, and in the water.
Stepping back, it's also important that everyone think about their own
actions and how these may threaten species and imperil the natural
environment. One way is to look at our individual ecological
footprint, the measure of how many of the earth's resources we personally
consume; that can spark an important discussion about the future we want
to have.
On a per person basis, Canada has the seventh highest ecological footprint
in the world. Or to put it another way, it takes over seven hectares
of land around the world to support each one of us. In contrast, it
takes only two hectares on average to support any one else on the planet.
This is neither a record to be proud of, nor one that matches the
perception we have of ourselves as Canadians.
So, on the international stage this month, world leaders at the
biodiversity summit urgently need to tackle this environmental crisis
head-on. At home, our provincial governments must play their
constitutionally crucial role and be the stewards of our natural resources
and biological diversity. It is a legitimate question to ask all
levels of government what plans they have for conserving our biological
diversity.
If we care about the future for our children, our communities, and our
economy, a bold vision that embraces our environment as the ultimate
bottom line is needed. Our collective security and prosperity
depends on it.
Gord Miller is the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario.
