'Society Should Work With Govts To Protect Biodiversity'

New Delhi, Oct 15, IRNA - Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) executive secretary Braulio Ferreira de Souza Sunday called upon people to join hands with governments in the protection of biodiversity. The first target of the strategic plan of Aichi Biodiversity Targets for the 2011-2020 period is to ensure that by 2020, at least all the citizens in the world know about the values of biodiversity and what each one of us can do to protect biodiversity, he said. "It is very important for the implementation of this first target. We have to understand that to protect biodiversity, our society needs to be partners in this endeavour. It's not all the responsibility of government alone...it is the responsibility of all of us," he said during the presentation of RBS Earth Heroes Awards in Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh state Sunday evening, pti reported. "One of the main challenges that we face in order to reduce biodiversity loss and reach Aichi Biodiversity Targets, is to convince all stakeholders, including local communities and businesses that preventing biodiversity loss is an essential step to maintain and improve human well-being," he pointed out. "The fact that biodiversity continues to decline reflects that we do not sufficiently give attention to our production and consumption activities on biodiversity. It also reflects the facts that other activities often take precedence and distracts from the caring of our planet earth," Braulio Ferreira said. The passion and efforts towards conservation of wildlife is truly inspirational at a time when an estimated 34,000 plants, 5,200 animal species, including the world's bird species, many crops species are facing the risk of extinction. 45 per cent of regional forests of earth are gone, 10 per cent of coral reefs have been destroyed, he said. "The local community-based conservation efforts in sustainable management of natural resources need more emphasis globally. We can learn a lot more on these approaches. The initiatives here in India can be an inspiration for all the parties (countries)," Ferreira said. RBS Foundation, a non-profit organization, promoted by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), in association with Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), announced the winners of the RBS 'Earth Heroes' Awards for 2012. Eight individuals/institutions from the field of wildlife and conservation, who have demonstrated exemplary work on the ground and who can inspire others, were chosen by an independent jury for the RBS 'Earth Heroes' Awards, RBS foundation Director N Sunil Kumar said. The UN biodiversity meeting kicked off Monday in Hyderabad, to discuss the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-20, its 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the status of biodiversity in world's oceans among others. The eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), to be held from October 8-19, 2012 would review issues like the progress of the strategic plan, process of integration of biodiversity conservation in national policies by governments, the Aichi targets, resource mobilization, marine and coastal biodiversity and the ratification of Nagoya Protocol. Over 160 countries are expected to participate in COP 11 and a ministerial segment is planned from October 16 to 19 where heads of state and ministers of environment will engage in discussions related to key themes of the conference. COP 11 comes just two years into the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity, which is dedicated to implementation of our global strategy for biodiversity. During the meeting, a 'Heads of Agencies' meeting will be convened, where key institutions and international organizations will discuss their commitments in support of the biodiversity agenda./end