In a special address delivered at the high level ministerial meeting this week, MA Co-Chair and United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) Director Prof. AH Zakri called on governments to recognize the role of ecosystem services in planning and policy decisions related to such core concerns as economics, health, and even security. He also highlighted the importance of biodiversity for poverty eradication based on the findings of the MA – a five-year research effort by the world's leading scientists, with contributions from UNU experts, which gives compelling evidence of our dependence on healthy and diverse ecosystems for basic needs such as clean water, food, and air.
"The MA findings show that the increasing pressures on biodiversity and ecosystem services pose a major barrier to achieving the Millennium Development Goals of poverty reduction, food security, health, and environmental sustainability," said Prof. Zakri. "But it also shows that mainstreaming the sustainable management of biodiversity and ecosystems into central governmental planning and decision-making processes may reverse the trends of degradation in ecosystem services."
The MA shows that short-term economic and other benefits derived from exploiting forests, wetlands, oceans, and other resources are significantly overweighed by the greater long-term damage to human livelihoods and health. It also shows that healthy "ecosystem services" can mitigate the impacts of natural disasters, and biodiversity is the fundamental basis for the health of those services. This is evident in the most extreme effects of disasters such as landslides, floods and droughts being felt in Asia, Africa, South America and Central Europe – the world's most human-modified areas with the least biodiversity.
UNU paid tribute to Brazil's recognition of the role of ecosystem services by highlighting President Lula da Slilva's recent decision to protect 6.4 million hectares of the Amazon rain forest. "We should take inspiration from Brazil's commitment to protecting biodiversity," said Prof. Zakri. "Governments must invest in developing capacity and allocating financial resources to assess the economic and human consequences of changes in ecosystem services as part of their national planning processes. We know the problem and we have the tools, what is lacking is the political will and concrete action."
The MA provides a framework for the development of an educational programme for policy makers on the link between poverty and the environment, and will help prepare the next generation of young scientists to conduct similar assessments in the future. UNU-IAS is contributing to this initiative through a new research and training programme, 'Ecosystems and People', aimed at addressing these issues.
For more information and to arrange interviews: Sam Johnston (English inquiries), johnston@ias.unu.edu, +55-41-9679-2556 Tatiana Gadda (Portuguese inquiries), tatianagadda@urban.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp, +55-41-9679-6513
NOTES:
- Prof. AH Zakri's speech is available upon request.
- The UNU-IAS Ecosystems and People Programme will take up research areas and gaps left by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment particularly focused on research and activities already developed under the previous UNU-IAS Urban Ecosystems Programme and through the creation of new components based on the relationship between ecosystem services, poverty and attaining related Millennium Development Goals. This area will also have a strong capacity-building component that will work on implementing the results of the MA through training other parts of the UN, policy makers and also through training trainers in developing countries.
- For information on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and ecosystem services, see http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/Products.aspx?
- UNU-IAS is a global think tank whose mission is "advancing knowledge and promoting learning for policy-making to meet the challenges of sustainable development." It is part of the United Nations University's global network of research and training centres. The Institute undertakes research and postgraduate education on leading sustainable development issues, convening expertise from disciplines such as economics, law, biology, political science, physics and chemistry to better understand and contribute creative solutions to pressing global concerns. www.ias.unu.edu