By Shalini Dhyani and Madhav Karki, on 03 June 2021.
The World Environment Day (WED) is being observed this week with the theme of ‘Ecosystem Restoration’. It is aimed at resetting our relationship with Nature. It will also mark the formal launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030, which is particularly important for the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) as we are expected to be one of the important contributors to its success. This year’s WED celebration attaches a particular significance as the World is facing multiple crises—pandemic, climate, biodiversity and pollution along with the persistent crises of poverty and hunger in our part of the World. We are truly living in the New Normal era of our civilisation, and to deal with these crises, there is urgency and necessity to make sure we are able to face the challenge by re-imagining the possibilities, reframing our conservation models and engaging in multi-stakeholder partnerships to build a greener, cleaner and sustainable ecosystems, resilient infrastructures and healthy society, all of which are interconnected and need to be pursued synergistically.
WED is the United Nations’ flagship day for promoting worldwide awareness and action for the environment. On the eve of this year’s Day, the Executive Director of UNEP has said, that “In 2021, we must take deliberate steps to move from crisis to healing and in so doing, we must recognise that the restoration of nature is imperative to the survival of our planet and the human race”.
Therefore, CEM, with our mission of working “as a source of advice on the environmental, economic, social and cultural factors” to sustainably manage natural resources and biodiversity, has a major role and responsibility in re-imagining and redoubling our conservation efforts by resetting our relation with Nature. We need to raise greater public awareness of the critical importance nature plays in our lives by contributing an array of ecosystem goods and services and Nature’s contribution to improved human well-being. From the air, we breathe to the water we drink and the food we eat, it is all Nature’s contribution to humanity. In recent years, it is observed that there is a growing disconnect between human-nature relations that needs reconnection by re-imagining human survival without Nature’s contribution and support. The pandemic crisis has very clearly brought to the fore the critical necessity of maintaining ecological balance by protecting wildlife habitats so that animals do not spill over to humans. The habitat destruction and unsustainable use of natural resources have been recognised as major drivers of biodiversity loss and the emergence of viruses causing pandemics. While climate change was considered one of the mega drivers of biodiversity loss, strongly accelerated by unsustainable land-use change, exerting a damaging impact on ecosystems further resulting in many emerging threats to humanity. COVID-19 pandemic and regular emergence of zoonotic diseases have thus become important as yet another consequence of ecosystem degradation.
Since the emergence COVID-19 pandemic, countries across the World—rich and poor—struggle to cope with the crisis. The devastation seen in terms of millions of infections, thousands of deaths, displacements of millions of migrant workers, and devastation of economies, not to speak of the loss of livelihoods of the poor, has given the World a huge shock. On the verge of these devastations are mostly developing and underdeveloped countries that are insufficiently prepared to withstand these severe effects and aftermaths. Millions were affected due to insufficient health care and food supplies for more than a year that still continues. The second surge of the pandemic has been much more disastrous than the first wave, especially for South Asia. India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka have been the hotspots of this calamity. To make the sufferings even more intense, two cyclones—Tautke and Yaas just during the last two weeks—hit the Indian coasts causing major sufferings and economic loss. Overall, South Asia is now a disaster hotspot where frequencies and intensities of natural and human-induced disasters are increasing and hitting the marginalised communities really hard. We can safely say that the South Asia region faces multi-dimensional vulnerability while also facing economic fragility due to pandemic. This provides stark lessons for all of us the cataclysmic consequences of wanton destruction of natural habitats and breaking down of ecological integrity.
Therefore, regional countries have to think very hard and fast and start re-imagining and recreating a much different relationship with Nature. We need to plan a green, resilient and inclusive socio-ecological production system wherein we address climate warming and habitat degradation and contribute to accessible and quality health care and sustainable food and nutrition security. And in this task, a well-conserved and sustainably used nature can be our partner as there are a suit of Nature-based solutions that can address all the four crisis provided countries work in cross-scale and cross-disciplinary engaging with multi-stakeholders.
The IPBES report on Biodiversity and Pandemics released in 2020 provided enough evidence on the emergence of COVID-19 due to massive land use land cover changes, deforestation and habitat degradation for urbanisation, industrialisation, agriculture intensification followed by the trafficking of threatened wild species and unsustainable use of wild species (NTFPs, hunting, timber extraction, commercial fisheries).
Re-imagining conservation and restoration as the theme, WED 2021 encourages communities to introspect their actions considering the devastation we have faced in the last one and a half year. After a dedicated decade of Aichi Targets (2010–2020) to enhance awareness and follow up on short-term targets of nature conservation that came to an end, many targets were still insufficiently addressed by many nations. Postponed CBD COP to 2021 in Kunming, China, is to decide the next course of action known as Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to stress the urgency of setting up the priorities for restoration of degraded landscapes is going to take place in October 2021. IUCN World Conservation Congress was also postponed from 2020 to January 2021 and now shifted to September is also to decide the IUCN agenda for 2021–2024. It is very clear that all the global environmental organisations are emphasising and focusing on improving ecosystem health by accelerating the pace of ecosystem assessments across the World and rapidly implementing restoration projects (Forest Landscape Restoration, Area-based Management, Green Infrastructure, EcoDRR, EbA etc.). South Asia has many biodiversity hotspots (mountains, coastal areas, drylands, islands etc.) that are threatened and facing hidden collapse, and in need of immediate attention by global conservation agencies to undertake ecosystem health assessments in these countries and regions to protect them from untimely collapse and loss of indigenous centres of biodiversity and species loss.
UN has already dedicated 2021–2030 as the decade of restoration, and IUCN CEM has been spearheading Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for addressing many societal challenges that after being recognised by CBD, are not thankfully widely recognised by UNFCCC, UNCCD, Ramsar convention and also in Sendai Framework for DRR. The launch of global standards in 2020 and regional launches in the latter part of the year have already generated sufficient momentum on NbS in the region. Corporates, Government, NGOs, Civil Society organisations are keen on the concept and have started discussing its wider applicability and potential to solve important societal and environmental issues (DRR, water issues, food security, safe habitat etc.). There is a growing need to mainstream NbS in policy planning and strongly implementing these plans.
IUCN CEM South Asia brought some of these cases and discussed in detail what are major opportunities, gaps and challenges in implementing NbS in natural and rural ecosystems and landscapes. One thing was clear: different agro-climatic zones of the region have different requirements and potential. Hence, customised location-specific NbS can play a big role in restoring ecosystems and bringing co-benefits, and that is how people and communities can be engaged in nature conservation. Agroforestry practices developed by traditional communities across Asia are seen as another area to ensure restoration and conservation that helps in providing alternatives. It can also ensure realising and localising many SDGs and Climate targets as promised in Nationally Determined Targets (NDC) of various countries. These are new ways and measures how many more can be involved in re-imaging conservation and restoration.
It has been very clear that restoration efforts can be better addressed by developing a much-sophisticated understanding of contemporary trends (well highlighted by IPBES regional assessment and global assessments, 2018 and 2019) of the subject with a multidisciplinary approach. Re-imagining conservation and restoration demands linking all-inclusive restoration efforts that can revolutionise restoration efforts and bring transformative changes1.
Restoration efforts that are not only forced and implemented by governments but also involve communities, local people (urban and rural), corporates, students and researchers, youth in all disciplines have the potential not only to initiate but also implement and monitor to raise a more healthy and resilient ecosystem. Involving IPLCs can help choose the right species and propagate them successfully, giving the local communities alternative livelihoods (seed collection, germination, propagation, plantations and monitoring them). An approach that ensures a place-based attachment and develops a nature connection that climate-sensitive restoration planning can bring in. Restoration no longer should be a subject-specific experts area of work and involvement; it is now an effort where multi-stakeholder involvement will be required to ensure larger success in conservation, sustainable use of wild species with stress on access and benefit-sharing (ABS) to ensure IPLCs get equitable sharing of benefits.
Likewise, youth should be accorded equal participation and mainstreamed in conservation and restoration actions, emphasising intergenerational partnerships for the sustainability of these activities by realising the global targets of UN Decade on restoration. Environmental conservation, clubbing with hands-on experience in restoration activities, should be integrated with the school curriculums to develop an informed generation on the importance of the environment and conservation. Involving youth and children in conservation efforts can ensure transformative changes expected.
Let us also not miss the loss of urban ecosystems and biodiversity that needs to be paused and reversed in the new normal considering India and China in Asia are projected to be the centres of urbanisation in 2020. The loss of these green and blue spaces is already alarming, and if not sufficient attention is given, it will be impossible to control the disasters (drought, groundwater depletion, heat islands, air pollution etc.). These urban green places were a great place of psychological solace in COVID times; hence to ensure there is no demand-supply gap to access these green spaces and the cultural, regulating and provisioning benefits they should be well integrated not only in urban planning but also there should be sufficient financial support. The involvement of urban dwellers, youth, and citizen scientists can really improve the urban scenario and can improve how we re-imagine conservation in the new normal.
Lastly, while we wish all a thought-provoking and introspecting WED 2021 celebration, what is important is to make sure that you use consolidated and practical knowledge and give some thought on your role and contribution in developing a healthy connection with Nature that helps saving pollinators, threatened ecosystems and endangered species, but also by reducing your ecological, carbon and water footprint. Also, we have to ensure that realising a successful ecosystem restoration means improving the current and future status of both people and the planet. Let this World Environment Day be a walking-the-talk day that takes action on front line, discussing it with people around you and ensuring net gain of biodiversity through your own small restoration efforts at a local level.
Dr Madhav Karki is Deputy Global Chair IUCN Commission on Ecosystems Management. He is Executive Director and founder of the Centre for Green Economy Development, Nepal (CGED-Nepal) and an Expert Member of the Govt. of Nepal’s Environment Protection Council. He is a member of the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel of IPBES, and he has co-chaired the Regional Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in the Asia Pacific Region of IPBES in 2018.
Dr Shalini Dhyani is a Senior Scientist with the Critical Zone Research Group of Water Technology and Management Division at CSIR-NEERI, Nagpur. She is also South Asia Regional Chair for IUCN Commission on Ecosystems Management and IPBES (Inter-Governmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), Lead Author for Asia Pacific Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Assessment and ongoing Global thematic assessment on Sustainable Use of Wild Species.
Disclaimer: Views expressed here are their own and have nothing to do with the organisations they are affiliated.