By Shalini Dhyani and Madhav Karki, on 22 May 2020.
As we encroach on nature and deplete vital habitats, increasing numbers of species are at risk. That includes humanity and the future we want
UN Secretary General – António Guterres
As we commemorate the 27th International Day for Biodiversity, we are reminded of the fact that disturbing Nature beyond a limit can harm humanity. The year 2020 is considered a super Year for biodiversity, and the global biodiversity community is working hard for global adoption of a new post-2020 commitment to safeguarding the natural world for the safeguard of all life in the era of new normal. While we need to learn the new lifestyle of social distancing, masking, maintaining good sanitation, we also need to live closer to Nature as in the deserted nature parks and public places, we will encounter more wildlife and other facets of Nature. This is indeed the new normal situation for both human and Nature.
The entire humanity is fighting the COVID19 pandemic with all its will power and collective efforts while accepting and reflecting on the historical injustice and harm done to Nature in the quest for a better quality of human life. However, this crisis is a stark reminder to all of us that human behaviour and actions towards Nature need to undergo transformative change. While we are writing this reflection, we express our deep sadness for the lives lost and wish all our readers maximum safety and good health and also wish to build immunity against the COVID19 by finding solutions in Nature recognising that as of today there is no vaccine and effective drugs to prevent this viral diseases. Our special concern and prayers are also for people in India, and Bangladesh coasts who are hit hard by one of the strongest cyclones – Amphan.
Amphan has left a trail of destruction, and some lives have been lost. We hope the hard-working and resilient coastal community in Odisha, West Bengal in India and Bangladesh will come out of this natural calamity stronger as such cyclone have been happening more frequently in this region. We are also concerned as Amphan has also hit the world-famous trans-boundary coastal biodiversity hotspot of Sunderbans. Besides being the large mangrove area around the India-Bangladesh border, it is also home to four million people. This is too early to say anything about how much devastation has happened, but certainly, we will hear more on the damage after the cyclone subsides. We hope that the people, ecosystems, and wildlife in these areas can come out strong from this devastation.
After the release of IPBES Asia Pacific Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in 2018, followed by the release of Global Assessment (GA) Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in 2019, there has been huge global awareness on the loss of species due to illegal trade in wildlife and degradation of ecosystems. In the most comprehensive global assessment after the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in 2005, the GA reported that close to a million species were threatened with extinction. The global decline was considered to be at rates unprecedented in human history. The year 2020 was supposed to witness one of the important landmark years when the post-2020 biodiversity strategy was to be decided in the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at Kunming, China to address series of issues related to the implementation of the Convention and its Protocols. The slogan for the post-2020 strategy meeting was “Ecological Civilisation: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth”. However, the COVID19 pandemic battle during the last six months has brought the world to a standstill situation putting barriers on our efforts to make the super biodiversity year a super year for Nature.
With this emerging grave situation due to pandemic, there has also been a call for a scientific investigation to find out whether or not this crisis has emerged due to human beings’ actions in causing more and more wildlife habitat encroachment and degradation. The year 2020 has become the year that will be remembered long in human history in which more questions are being raised regarding the way humans have been treating Nature. The year will also be remembered for having scientific reflections on the ongoing rampant loss of biodiversity across the world, opportunities to value the loss, and restore with solutions that are more Nature friendly and transformative so that we reduce if not reverse the adverse socio-ecological and economic impacts. 2020 is going to be the year when, more than ever, we all will realise the need for a global framework that will “flatten the curve of global biodiversity loss”; the way the entire world is trying its best to “flatten the curve of COVID 19” for protecting humans and all life on Earth. We do hope that the post-2020 biodiversity strategy and policy framework will work in ensuring reduced contact with wild species and reducing pressure on our vital ecosystems.
IPBES global assessment report, 2019, concluded that it was not too late, but there was an urgency projected to start at earliest from local to global and through ‘transformative changes’. Nature can be conserved only if it is restored and used sustainably in the coming decades. The world needs to make transformative changes both at individual and society levels; we need to make a fundamental shift in our dealings with Nature with, system-wide reorganisation including redefining paradigms, goals, and values while keeping uncertainty in mind. Nevertheless, it is expected that entire humanity is capable and trying to “Build Back Better” by increasing the resilience as we recover from this pandemic. “Build Back Better” slogan has been referred mostly in Disaster Risk Reduction approaches due to the frequency of many natural and human-induced calamities. Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2015 also endorses Nature-based Solutions (NbS) or ecosystem-based approaches that provide more sustainable solutions having less or no negative impacts and bring co-benefits.
The theme of the 2020 International Day of Biodiversity is clear with its slogan: “Our solutions are in nature”. This theme is apt to the IUCN CEM community as it emphasises the hope, solidarity, and the importance of working together at all levels from local to global to build a future of life that dwells in harmony with Nature. Illegal trafficking and trade of wild species have been a major concern since long, and habitat degradation has widened the gap by increasing human-wildlife conflicts. In the last decade, the rapid increase in the frequency of zoonotic transmission be it HIV, SARS, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, Nepha have all indicated towards the transmission of these diseases from wild animals. It is time to acknowledge the fact that restoring the habitats of wild species, reduced degradation, and deforestation along with conserving and managing the species in their own healthy ecosystems and habitats can help humanity in the long run. The importance of nature conservation, reducing deforestation and degradation, imposing a strict ban on the illegal trade of wild species, and habitat conservation should be the priority, and the entire world stands in solidarity to ensure the reduced transmission of any life-threatening disease from wild species to humans. Many countries have already committed to imposing a strict ban on wild meat trade. After the declaration of UN decade on Restoration from 2011–2030 post-SDGs, 2015 and also IUCN supported Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) under the Bonn Challenge targets should be the next priority for all the nations. Especially, highly populated, and poverty-ridden developing and underdeveloped countries in South Asia will need special handholding to achieve the restoration targets before 2030.
IUCN Commission on Ecosystems Management (CEM) has played a pivotal role for last almost a decade in endorsing and spearheading the global movement on mainstreaming Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and providing solutions to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. Under the larger umbrella of NbS are arrays of approaches right from FLR, EcoDRR, EbA, Green Infrastructure, Natural Infrastructure, and Protected Area Management, Restoration, etc. that are capable of bringing solutions to many existing and emerging environmental challenges. NbS also brings many co-benefits to improve human well-being by providing them with livelihood benefits. This is time again been affirmed and reaffirmed that we need more NbS because “Our solutions are in nature”.
While, we are writing this piece for our CEM S. Asia members and beyond to our Asia wide member colleagues during the pandemic times we have also tried to look into how people are trying to get back to Nature and study Nature-based solutions for not only to meet their food, water, and energy needs but also for getting aesthetic, cultural and psychological benefits. Sustainable use of wild species is needed to be realised at all levels as never before. We observed that foraging for wild edibles is gaining prominence from rural to urban areas, although it needs to be done in a sustainable manner. People are searching for food in their backyards, looking for nutritious lesser-known wild edibles that were earlier ignored because of prominent market forces and availability of exotic food items on their plates. People are also spending more time in their gardens, using the opportunity to maintain their backyards and kitchen gardens feeling a closeness to Nature, which is something that we have gained back in these testing times of lockdowns and social distancing. These as some of the positive pictures that will be remembered as we march towards the new normal world where we hope that humanity will appreciate Nature, Nature’s contributions to human well-being. We urge all that living in harmony with Nature has to be our way of life in the future because our solutions are nowhere better found than in Nature itself, provided we maintain ecosystem integrity and biodiversity value.
Shalini Dhyani, PhD, is Senior Scientist with CSIR – National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur, India. Shalini is also Regional Chair of IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management South Asia.
Madhav Karki is the Executive Director and founder of the Centre for Green Economy Development, Nepal. Madhav is also the Deputy Chair of IUCN Commission on Ecosystems Management.
Disclaimer: Views expressed here are their own and have nothing to do with the organisations they are affiliated.