14 DAY TRIAL // A leading group of experts with the Paris-based international program of biodiversity science, called DIVERSITAS has published a new strategic approach to meeting goals set for protecting biodiversity in the coming decade.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) proposed a daring plan a few years ago, in regards to methods of protecting biodiversity on the planet. The approach was not exactly successful.
Although some objectives set for 2010 have been met, the vast majority have not. There are poor results, considering that this year is The International Year of Biodiversity.
For 2020, experts have already proposed a new set of 20 goals. Which of them will be pursued is to be decided in Nagoya, Japan, between October 18-29, 2010.
This is when the 10th CBD conference of the parties (COP) tales place. Ahead of the meeting, the DIVERSITAS group is proposing a new strategic approach, that may contribute to getting many of the proposed objectives completes.
The proposal is published in a paper called “Ecosystem Services for 2020,” which appears in the October 15 issue of the esteemed journal Science.
“While there is still time, it is critical to design the 2020 targets and their indicators in ways that give them a reasonable chance of success,” explains Charles Perrings.
The scientist holds an appointment as an ecosystem services expert at the Arizona State University, in the United States. He is also the leader of the DIVERSITAS team, which also includes ASU scientist Ann Kinzig.
Additional experts in the group come from the United States, Argentina, Sweden, Chile, Japan, England, France and Germany.
“The 2010 CBD goal was unrealistic,” adds Perrings. He adds that future goals need to be specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic and time-bound (SMART).
“And while the 20 proposed goals for 2020 are more specific about where to go to reduce the rate of loss of biodiversity, there are critical oversights that need to be considered by the Nagoya conference delegates and beyond,” the expert adds.
Perrings is also a professor at the ASU School of Life Sciences, and the co-director of the ecoSERVICES group in the ASU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
“The development of a strategic plan supported by targets, indicators and actions is a very positive step,” Perrings adds further.
The CBD has been created alongside the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, and represents international commitment to stem species loss and the effects of global warming.