Billions of people rely on approximately 50,000 wild species for food, medical uses, and income. A new scientific report stated that humans must make dramatic changes to hunting and other practices killing species to handle a quickening biodiversity predicament.
The report was prepared for the United Nations for four years by 85 expert researchers from 33 countries. It gives advice and instructions on how to use resources sustainably and prevent the species from going extinct. The report was based on thousands of scientific studies and other information, such as the knowledge of the indigenous and local people.
“Half of humanity benefits from and makes use of wild species, and often without even knowing that they’re doing so,” said Marla R. Emery, one of the co-chairs of the assessment. The summary received support from ambassadors from 139 countries Thursday in Bonn, Germany, with the full report ready for publication in a few months.
The new review builds on a detailed 2019 report from the same group that concluded that humans had changed the natural environment so drastically that about one million plant and animal species have almost gone extinct.
But the focus of this latest assessment was to give humans a more hopeful perspective on how wild species can be used sustainably, said Jean-Marc Fromentin, also one of the co-chairs.
Indigenous communities have long included sustainable uses of wild species in their cultural traditions, and an estimated 15% of global forests are managed as “community resources” by Indigenous peoples and local communities.
The report mentioned and suggested the methods used in the hills of the Cordillera region of Luzon, the biggest island in the Philippines. There, “the entire community mobilizes to protect the forest,” according to Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, an Indigenous rights activist who was raised in that area. The practice is called Batangan, a resource management system that includes a shared sense of responsibility between the citizens for observing the diversity of the forests and growing new trees as the older trees age.
“It’s not just about trees, but it’s also about water, species, and microorganisms that live in that area.” Ms. Tauli-Corpuz said.
“If wildlife disappears, our culture is at risk, our lifestyle and our livelihood is at risk,” said Viviana Figueroa, an Argentine Indigenous lawyer, and activist who held discussions with the report writers. “There is still a lot of work to be done, but at least there is some recognition,” Ms. Figueroa said.
Future guidelines ruling the usage of wild species also need to heed the social and historical perspectives of sustainability and whether the benefits from the species are equally distributed. For instance, the vicuña fibers, found in extravagant attires, are highly priced but made by mostly low-income Indigenous societies in South America that contribute to vicuña conservation by letting the species pasture on their combined or private land.
Why are the vicuña farmers suffering from poverty if the fabrics are so expensive? It is because the majority of the money is in the trader’s and attire companies’ hands.
The discoveries from the new report may soon have a direct effect on the international guidelines. The report was in part completed at the request of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, a treaty meant to confirm that the global trade in organisms does not endanger their populations in the wild.
The over-use of wild organisms isn’t the only aspect causing the decrease; human-caused climate change is also a major factor, according to the report. Growing human populations and demand, and technological advances that make many extractive procedures more efficient, will most likely put the species in danger.
The authors of the assessment said they have to consider the profit for both the endangered species and people whose lives depend on them. This way, humans can coexist with the endangered species better, and therefore, our future generations can also have the same resources and observe the same nature we have today.
The report was prepared for the United Nations for four years by 85 expert researchers from 33 countries. It gives advice and instructions on how to use resources sustainably and prevent the species from going extinct. The report was based on thousands of scientific studies and other information, such as the knowledge of the indigenous and local people.
“Half of humanity benefits from and makes use of wild species, and often without even knowing that they’re doing so,” said Marla R. Emery, one of the co-chairs of the assessment. The summary received support from ambassadors from 139 countries Thursday in Bonn, Germany, with the full report ready for publication in a few months.
The new review builds on a detailed 2019 report from the same group that concluded that humans had changed the natural environment so drastically that about one million plant and animal species have almost gone extinct.
But the focus of this latest assessment was to give humans a more hopeful perspective on how wild species can be used sustainably, said Jean-Marc Fromentin, also one of the co-chairs.
Indigenous communities have long included sustainable uses of wild species in their cultural traditions, and an estimated 15% of global forests are managed as “community resources” by Indigenous peoples and local communities.
The report mentioned and suggested the methods used in the hills of the Cordillera region of Luzon, the biggest island in the Philippines. There, “the entire community mobilizes to protect the forest,” according to Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, an Indigenous rights activist who was raised in that area. The practice is called Batangan, a resource management system that includes a shared sense of responsibility between the citizens for observing the diversity of the forests and growing new trees as the older trees age.
“It’s not just about trees, but it’s also about water, species, and microorganisms that live in that area.” Ms. Tauli-Corpuz said.
“If wildlife disappears, our culture is at risk, our lifestyle and our livelihood is at risk,” said Viviana Figueroa, an Argentine Indigenous lawyer, and activist who held discussions with the report writers. “There is still a lot of work to be done, but at least there is some recognition,” Ms. Figueroa said.
Future guidelines ruling the usage of wild species also need to heed the social and historical perspectives of sustainability and whether the benefits from the species are equally distributed. For instance, the vicuña fibers, found in extravagant attires, are highly priced but made by mostly low-income Indigenous societies in South America that contribute to vicuña conservation by letting the species pasture on their combined or private land.
Why are the vicuña farmers suffering from poverty if the fabrics are so expensive? It is because the majority of the money is in the trader’s and attire companies’ hands.
The discoveries from the new report may soon have a direct effect on the international guidelines. The report was in part completed at the request of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, a treaty meant to confirm that the global trade in organisms does not endanger their populations in the wild.
The over-use of wild organisms isn’t the only aspect causing the decrease; human-caused climate change is also a major factor, according to the report. Growing human populations and demand, and technological advances that make many extractive procedures more efficient, will most likely put the species in danger.
The authors of the assessment said they have to consider the profit for both the endangered species and people whose lives depend on them. This way, humans can coexist with the endangered species better, and therefore, our future generations can also have the same resources and observe the same nature we have today.