Scientists say that humans contribute most to loss of species and suggest more government intervention
Environmental activists met with the public during the most recent instalment of the Bonn Dialogues series in order to discuss the importance of biodiversity and the alarming rate at which biodiversity is changing. Alarming reports by scientist state that the rapid loss of species due to human behaviour could eventually affect human livelihoods and the global food supply. Panellists from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the University of Cologne, and various branches of the United Nations (UN) credited human behaviour as one of the chief components for biological damage.
'We are responsible as individuals, not only as scientists or politicians,’ said Flavia Pansieri, Executive Director of the United Nations Volunteer programme. ‘We need to find a balance between the ecosystem and the development of the community. How to combine the need for development and not impact sustainability is the biggest challenge in maintaining a rich diversity.’ To prove her point, Pansieri cited the island of Socrota in the Indian Ocean as an example where the human need for food, through fishing, has affected species populations. Pansieri called for government regulations to monitor biodiversity and reduce the threat of species extinction.
Fellow panellists Natarajan Ishwaran, Director of the Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and Hans Peter Schipulle, representative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), also called for government legislation to protect various species and ecosystems.
In addition to protecting biodiversity, panellists also emphasized the importance of conservation methods for the sustainable use of various species. ‘We need to define what kind of ecosystem we want,’ said panellist Helmut Hillebrand, a professor of biology at the University of Cologne, who referenced the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and its high prediction of species expected to go extinct. Currently the global movement of species between regional ecosystems is being observed by scientists, as an influx of non-native species to an established ecosystem could eventually lead to their extinction or a homogenization of the species, Hillebrand said further.
The 3rd public symposium of the Bonn Dialogues programme, a series of public forums that focuses on topics associated with global environmental change, was inspired by the annual Convention on Biological Diversity held in Bonn earlier this month.
To view all photos of the 3rd Bonn Dialogues, please visit the UNU Bonn Flickr Account.