IUCN 2020: Tipping the Scales in Favor of Biodiversity

The health of the human population heavily depends on the richness of our planet’s biodiversity, not least because close to four billion people rely primarily on natural medicine. Finally, the absence of ambitious measures to protect biodiversity is also likely to negatively impact the global economy. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) estimates that land degradation has prompted a decrease in productivity across 23% of the global terrestrial area. The fight to protect biodiversity is therefore in no way solely environmental.
 
These figures are nothing less than warning signs. While the fight against climate change ought to be at the top of the agenda for policy-makers, biodiversity preservation must not be seen as a separate subject or be given any less importance. In fact, resolving these two issues will require a coordinated response. With a lot to lose from the foreseeable biodiversity degradation, significant pledges will have to be made by the international community at the IUCN in Marseille.

High stakes for France and the way forward

France is a pivotal harbor for biodiversity around the world. It is situated in five biodiversity "hotspots" and is home to 10% of known species at the international level. Yet, its rich ecosystems have come under threat. Out of 132 so-called "habitats of Community interest" in France, only 20% were in "favorable" conservation status for the 2013-2018 period. 17.6% of species evaluated across the past thirteen years in France are also at threat of extinction. To tackle this challenge, the national government has recently intensified its activities in the protection of land and marine areas. Most notably, new national parks have been created, some harmful inputs have been banned from agricultural practices, and biodiversity has been turned into a key component of territorial planning strategies. Nevertheless, much more needs to be done to ensure the longevity of the country’s rich ecosystems.

Additionally, soil fertility is made possible by the activity of insects and plants that populate the soils, which appears to have consistently declined in the past decades. Beyond agriculture, this signifies the importance of biodiversity preservation if France is to maintain a strong economic position at the international level. Among other consequences, the collapse of France’s biodiversity would jeopardize food security and make it more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
 
As the IUCN Congress draws closer, France is likely to put forward strong pledges to protect the incredibly rich biodiversity of its national territory. The French delegation’s actions are likely to be aimed at tackling the root causes of biodiversity loss, by focusing on five main axes:
 

• Fighting the unequal soil artificialization across the national territory by empowering communities to fight biodiversity loss. France appears committed to giving member status to local authorities in the IUCN, a pledge it will need to strengthen to avoid an outcome similar to that of the Hawaii Congress in 2016, when such a proposition got rejected ;
   
• Mitigating habitat fragmentation, which often results from urbanization and infrastructure development, by making biodiversity preservation a key component of territorial planning ;
   
• Reinforcing the agricultural sector’s commitment to protecting biodiversity, at the national and European levels. Metrics of biodiversity loss should be improved and become systematically considered in the case of unsustainable imports, in particular for productions that result from deforestation abroad. Similarly, upward harmonization should be the rule in the European Union, to favor a progressive and common departure from harmful inputs and limited species cultivation techniques ;
   
• Strengthening the protection of endangered species by developing comprehensive plans to anticipate the importation or settlement of non-endemic species in fragile ecosystems ;
   
• Integrating biodiversity preservation objectives in the fight against climate change, at the national and European levels. Biodiversity imperatives should be accounted for in the development of all climate-related policies to prevent the adoption of environmental measures that could be harmful to the ecosystem, like the cultivation of artificial forests.
  
   

Copyright: AFP