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Dramatic loss of biological diversity endangers chances for future generations Protect 10-20% of the global land area / Set up an "Intergovernmental Panel on Biological Diversity" / Conserve the diversity of cultivated plants / Support "nature sponsorship"Integrate "bioregional management" in existing area planning / Create "nature sponsorship" / Implementthe Biodiversity Convention more resolutely / Obligatory regulation of forest protection/ Intensify bi- and multilateral co-operation Berlin, 13th September 2000. The "German Advisory Council on Global Change" (WBGU) is presenting its annual report today to the State Secretary Simone Probst (Federal Environment Ministry) and the State Secretary Wolf-Michael Catenhusen (Federal Ministry for Education and Research). In this report, "World in Transition: Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Biosphere", the experts come to the conclusion that, in view of the dramatic loss of biological diversity, there is an urgent need for international action; otherwise the development chances of future generations are at risk. Irreplaceable ecological systems, such as the tropical rain forest or coral reefs, are endangered. Every day natural species are lost due to human intervention. It is feared that this development will lead to serious damage to our environment. Through the loss of gene reserves, food production for the ever increasing world population is also at risk. Destruction of the diversity in ecological systems not only diminishes the natural heritage of mankind, but also undermines the service provided by the living nature to general functioning of the "Earth system". Therefore, protecting biological diversity is at the same time protection of climate and soil. For a successful international "biosphere policy" which reaches beyond the classical biodiversity policy because of its relationship to climate and soil protection, the WBGU recommends that as many participants and institutions as possible are integrated, since the state cannot manage this task on its own. According to the experts, it is a question here not only of protecting the gene and ecological system, as well as the diversity of species, but also, of ensuring their sustainable use. Protect 10-20% of the global land area The Advisory Council considers that further development and consolidation of existing global systems in protected areas to be an urgent matter. For this purpose an area of at least 10-20% of the global land area should be legally protected. New nature reserves should be identified according to ecological criteria, a connection between existing nature reserves established and these should be developed with the objective of setting up a nature reserve system. However, the implementation of the European Guidelines (Flora-Fauna-Habitat Guideline, Bird Protection Guideline) in Germany is still unsatisfactory. Latest investigations have shown that a world-wide nature reserve system, encompassing about 15% of the global land area, would cost about 50 billion marks per year. Over 12 billion marks have already been spent today world-wide for the conservation of nature reserves; therefore financing of the remaining 38 billion marks by the international community is not an impossible task. By reducing and restructuring environmentally harmful subsidies, for example for agriculture, suitable funds could be released. "Intergovernmental Panel on Biological Diversity" Scientific advice on international biosphere policies is inadequate. For this reason, in 1995 the first scientific survey on the situation regarding biological diversity was submitted in a global report of the UN. This work has not been carried on continuously, however. As a first step it should be examined to what extent these tasks could be achieved by a closer linking up of existing institutions. However, it can be assumed that on this basis the establishment of a scientific expert committee for biodiversity will be necessary, for instance in the form of an "International Panel on Biological Diversity" (IPBD). In a panel of this kind all the leading scientists could be brought together, as this has already been achieved in climate politics. Conserve the diversity of cultivated plants Conservation of biological diversity is of great importance for safeguarding global food security. The WBGU therefore recommends the promotion of as much diversified agricultural production as possible. A "red list" of endangered cultivated plants should be drawn up, since many traditional varieties, the raw material for developing new varieties of food crops, are in danger of being lost. A large part of the collections of rare plant varieties ("gene banks") throughout the world is considered to be at risk. Existing collections must therefore be safeguarded, supplemented by particularly important varieties and linked up globally. In doing so it should be ensured that "backup copies" of collections also exist. Support "nature sponsorship" It will hardly be possible to protect biological diversity globally by public financing alone. Therefore the WBGU suggests that the efforts already initiated by various non-governmental organisations to create a privately operated and tax-privileged "biosphere fund" should be supported politically. The objective of such a fund should be to protect available areas of strategic importance for the biological diversity of the Earth, which are not yet under state care. For this purpose a public limited company could be established, whose shareholders would have the right to vote or a claim to profits, for example, through tourism. The WBGU recommends furthermore that the tax liability of foundations in Germany is reduced, for example in the form of an amended foundation law, with tax privileges for environmental foundations. Integrate "bioregional management" in existing area planning The WBGU recommends that the strategy of "bioregional management" is applied to land utilisation. This should be orientated towards the categories "protection before utilisation", "protection through utilisation" and "protection despite utilisation", and aligned with the integration of all important participants. It should be examined as to what extent this approach can be more effectively coupled to the German planning system. Integration of protection and utilisation of the biological diversity can be more easily achieved with bioregional management than solely through measures ordered "from above". This concept is particularly suitable for development co-operation. Implement the Biodiversity Convention more resolutely The Convention on Biological Diversity is currently the central international regulatory instrument for biological diversity. This was brought into being in 1992, and has been ratified by 178 parties up to now. In this convention the contracting parties commit themselves to conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components and benefit sharing . Implementation of these objectives ought to be carried out more energetically in Germany. For this purpose sectored strategies should be developed in the federal ministries, as has already taken place in the Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ). Close co-operation of the federal ministries is an important prerequisite here; therefore the WBGU recommends the setting up of an "Interministerial Working Group for Biodiversity Policy". Obligatory regulation of forest protection Uncontrolled logging is still proceeding, making the realisation of a successful climate policy more and more difficult, and destroying valuable biological diversity. In order to improve world-wide forest protection, in the past the WBGU has called for a forest protocol to the Biodiversity Convention, and still considers this solution to be the most promising one. In a forest convention, to be negotiated and established by the UN-Organisation for Food and Agriculture (FAO), equal rights of protection and sustainable use, like already anchored in the Biodiversity Convention, would have to be reintroduced. However, more important than an agreement is its quick adoption and its legally binding status. Reinforce the MAB programme of the UNESCO The UNESCO programme "Man and the Biosphere" (MAB) provides good conditions for regional implementation of the Biodiversity Convention. In particular the WBGU welcomes the trend to larger, better linked and increasingly crossboundary biosphere reserves. However, the MAB-programme could be used more effectively as an instrument in international co-operation for biosphere protection. Since this programme has no financing mechanism of its own, the states should be encouraged to use the possibilities of the GEF to a greater extent. Intensify bi- and multilateral co-operation Germany is involved to a considerable extent in international biosphere protection, and is the third largest contributor to the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). Germany is also leading in implementing debt for nature swaps. The initiative of the Federal Republic regarding debt relief for the heavily indebted, poor developing countries ("Cologne Debt Initiative") is also expressly welcomed by the WBGU, since it provides the affected countries more scope for action - also for nature conservation measures. Nevertheless, in view of the declining trend in Official Development Assistance by the OECD countries over many years, with at the same time a growing pressure from global problems, greater financial commitment of the international community is absolutlely necessary. With great concern the WBGU noticed that the international community is further away than ever from the 0.7% target. In the opinion of the scientists an increase in funds for German development co-operation to a target figure of 1% of the gross national product is desirable, in accordance with the resolutions of the Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro, and is appropriate to the urgency of the problems. The German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) The WBGU was established by the Federal Government in early 1992 as an independent scientific advisory council. The following reports have appeared so far in the "World in Transition" series: "Basic Structure of People-Environment Relations" (1993), "The Threat to Soils" (1994), "Ways Towards Global Environmental Solutions" (1995), "The Research Challenge" (1996), "Sustainable Management of Freshwater Resources" (1997), and "Strategies for the Management of Global Environmental Risks" (1998). The 1999 Annual Report "Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Biosphere" is forthcoming. The Council also prepared special reports on the occasion of the climate summits of Berlin (1995) and Kyoto (1997 and 1998), and a special report on "Environment and Ethics" (1999).   Please direct your queries to: WBGU Secretariat Reichpietschufer 60-62, 8th Floor D-10785 Berlin Germany Tel. +49 30 263948 12 Fax +49 30 263948 50 Email: wbgu@wbgu.de All press releases and reports can be downloaded at http://www.wbgu.de.

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