Geneva, 19 August 2011
- A UN-backed meeting of global conservation
experts has concluded in Geneva with important
decisions to protect
a number of endangered species, including
the launch of a trust fund to ensure the
long-term survival of the African elephant
population.
Several countries have
already contributed to the multi-donor technical
trust for the implementation of an African
Elephant Action Plan, and more were encouraged
to do so by the participants of the meeting
of the Standing Committee of the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
"We expect that
donors will hear the urgent needs of Africa
and support the implementation of the African
Elephant Action Plan," said John E.
Scanlon, Secretary-General of CITES, whose
secretariat is administered by the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP).
"The target is
to raise US$100 million over the next three
years to enhance law enforcement capacity
and secure the long-term survival of African
elephant populations," he added.
Elephant conservation
and new financial mechanisms were among
several issues on the agenda of the week-long
meeting, in addition to measures to reduce
current levels of poaching of rhinos, tigers
and other big cats, illegal trade in mahogany
and other timber species, the fate of sturgeon
and the caviar trade, and the sourcing of
reptile skins used in the leather industry.
The committee considered
recent findings concerning African and Asian
elephants, poaching levels and illegal trade
in ivory.
It also recognized rhinoceros
poaching and illegal trade in their horns
as a major challenge that requires innovative
approaches, with one delegation describing
the situation "as almost out of control."
All populations of rhinoceroses
are suffering from poaching, particularly
those in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC), India, Mozambique, Nepal, South
Africa and Zimbabwe, with the illegal trade
in rhinoceros horns appearing to be the
main motive.
According to a report
submitted by the South African Government,
a total of 174 rhino have been illegally
killed in South Africa alone during the
first six months of 2011. Poaching levels
in South Africa have risen dramatically
in recent years: 13 rhinos poached in 2007,
83 in 2008, 122 in 2009 and 330 in 2010.
A total of 122 suspected rhino poachers
have been arrested in South Africa since
January 2011, 60 of them in the Kruger National
Park, which is the protected area that has
suffered the biggest losses.
The committee also reviewed
efforts by Peru in establishing reliable
timber verification systems, and new rules
for introducing marine species from international
waters, among other topics.
Some 175 States have
joined CITES, an international agreement
that entered into force in July 1975 and
aims to ensure that global trade in specimens
of wild animals and plants does not threaten
their survival.
+ More
Investing in Ecosystem
Services Vital to Improving Food Security,
says UN
Nairobi/Stockholm, 22
August 2011 - Recognising healthy ecosystems
as the basis for sustainable water resources
and stable food security can help produce
more food from each unit of agricultural
land, improve resilience to climate change
and provide economic benefits for poor communities,
according to a new report from the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and
the International Water Management Institute
(IWMI), in partnership with 19 other organizations.
The report shows how
managing and investing in the connections
between ecosystems, water and food, through
diversifying crops, planting trees on farmland
and improving rainwater collection and other
practical steps, could help avoid water
scarcity and meet the growing food demands
of a global population set to reach 9 billion
by 2050.
An Ecosystems Approach
to Water and Food Security, which was launched
during World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden,
says that policymakers should consider farmland,
fisheries and other agricultural areas as
"agroecosystems", which provide
sources of food as well as performing diverse
ecosystem services such as water purification
and flood regulation.
Declines in these 'regulatory'
ecosystem services - leading to problems
such as a loss of soil nutrients or increased
vulnerability of crops to disease - have
already begun to adversely affect agricultural
productivity. Exacerbated by climate change,
these declines could result in crop yields
that are up to 25% short of demand by 2050,
greatly impacting poor communities worldwide.
One of the main challenges
in boosting current levels of food production
is the availability of water, which is needed
for livestock, crop irrigation and fisheries
and other agricultural uses.
Groundwater levels,
for example, are declining rapidly in several
major breadbaskets and rice bowl regions
such as the North China plains, the Indian
Punjab and in the Western USA. Maintaining
healthy, resilient ecosystems to ensure
water availability for agriculture and other
ecosystem services is thus essential for
long-term food security.
In many parts of the
world, increases in food production through
intensive farming methods have come at the
expense of other ecosystem services, such
as biodiversity, pollination or soil erosion
protection, caused by pollution from agricultural
run-off or the diversion of water from rivers
to farmland.
The UNEP-IWMI report
shows how an ecosystems-based approach to
agriculture can restore this balance and
result in a more efficient use of water,
a reduction in the 5-10 million hectares
of farmland that are lost each year to degradation,
fewer yield losses as a result of pests
and increased benefits to poor communities
dependent on farmlands, rivers, forests
and other ecosystems for their food and
livelihoods.
But for this shift in
thinking to take place, several changes
are required to the way ecosystems, water
resource management and food security are
approached by planners and policymakers.
A New Approach
Written by over 50 contributors
from 21 organizations, and using case studies
from China, Guatemala, Jordan and other
communities, the report recommends changes
to three specific areas - environmental
protection, water resources management and
food production (eg. farms, fisheries and
livestock) - which are needed to improve
food security and reduce stresses on water
supply.
The report also sets
out recommendations for drylands, wetlands,
crop systems, fisheries and livestock systems.
Drylands support one
third of the world's population, up to 44%
of the world's cultivated systems and about
50% of the world's livestock. Water scarcity
and land degradation are the most prominent
constraints for food production in these
areas. Desertification also poses a major
environmental problem. The report says opportunities
exist to increase the productivity of agroecosystems
in drylands, such as:
Creating corridors to
promote the movement of livestock, which
can reduce overgrazing and land degradation
caused when animals are confined to small
areas.
Diversification of land
to integrate crop, tree and livestock production
and promote soil fertility through manure,
crop residues and provide tree fodder for
feed.
Cultivation of local
plants better adapted to dry conditions,
which can capture benefits from infrequent
rainfall and control erosion in areas too
dry to support traditional field crops
Wetlands such as lakes,
rivers and mangroves, support multiple,
high-value ecosystem services, many of which
are vital for agriculture, such as water
storage and water quality control (eg. purification
and retention of nutrients).
However, agriculture
is a major cause of wetland loss worldwide
through water use and land conversion. In
Asia, for example, over a third of mangrove
habitats have been lost since the 1980s
due mainly to shrimp and fish farming and
deforestation.
UNEP, IWMI and partners
recommend several steps to help realign
agriculture improved and wetland policies.
Reducing pollution of
wetlands through improved practices for
the use of fertilisers and pesticides
The use of buffer strips
between land and water to protect rivers
and lakes from potentially harmful run-offs.
Providing alternative
drinking sites for livestock away from sensitive
wetlands
Improving monitoring
and assessment of environmental changes
to wetlands
Opportunities exist
in specific food production systems, such
as crops, fisheries (aquacultures) and livestock,
to take into account the interconnections
between agriculture and ecosystems services.
The resulting "agroecosystem"
approach can improve food security and nutrition
by diversifying food sources, while also
improving sustainability. Key recommendations
from the report include:
Incorporating trees,
hedgerows and other natural vegetation in
agricultural landscapes to connect forest
habitats, provide more insects for crop
pollination and reduce soil erosion
In livestock systems,
using crop residues and tree fodder for
animal feeds to reduce water use
Invest in animal health
measures to help reduce the need for bigger
herds and, subsequently, reduce water use
for maintaining livestock
As well as improving food security, an ecosystem
services approach to agriculture can also
help raise living standards and income.
The Peruvian Amazon, for example, is home
to indigenous communities that rely on forest
ecosystem services for their food supply,
livelihoods and cultural practices. Recently,
conservation groups have been working with
local people to develop agricultural and
economic resources. Through better ecosystem
management, some 600 families saw their
incomes increase, mainly through revenues
from more productive fish farms and agroforestry.
Increased food production came hand-in-hand
with conservation plans, which were developed
for 16 forest communities.
In its recommendations
to government ministries and other policymakers,
the report states that closer collaboration
between authorities in agriculture, environment,
forestry, fisheries and other sectors is
essential if ecosystems are to be placed
at the centre of food security efforts.
This may also include incentives - such
as paying farmers to plant and maintain
trees on their land - to bolster ecosystem
services and their long-term contribution
to water and food security.
Africa Water Atlas
During World Water Week,
UNEP will also launch the French edition
of the Africa Water Atlas. Using hundreds
of 'before and after' shots, detailed maps
and satellite images from 53 countries,
the atlas show the problems facing Africa's
water supplies, such as the drying of Lake
Chad and the erosion of the Nile Delta,
as well as new, successful methods of conserving
water.
Some of the most arresting
images in the atlas include green clouds
of eroded soil and agricultural run-off
in Uganda, pollution from oil spills in
Nigeria and a 3km segment of the Nile Delta
that has been lost to erosion.
Research carried out
by UNEP for the atlas shows that the amount
of water available per person in Africa
is declining. But as well as highlighting
these water challenges, the atlas maps out
new solutions and success stories from across
the continent. It contains the first detailed
mapping of how rainwater conservation is
improving food security in drought-prone
regions. Images also reveal how irrigation
projects in Kenya, Senegal and Sudan are
helping to improve food security.
Notes to Editors
To download the UNEP-IWMI
report, An Ecosystems Approach to Water
and Food Security, as well as the background
document Ecosystems for Water and Food Security,
visit: www.unep.org or www.iwmi.org/ecosystems
