BIODIVERSITY is life resource on the planet earth. To protect and conserve biodiversity of the earth the international community celebrates Biodiversity Day on May 22 each year under the auspices of the United Nations with an objective to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversityrelated issues.
Based on a priority issue and concern, every year a different theme is assigned to celebrate the day with an aim to attract a global focus for local and global action.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), adopted in 1992, is a major international platform to outline guidelines and initiatives through coordinated efforts to protect and conserve biodiversity of the world for their continuous flow of services and benefits to the environment and human well-being. The theme for the International Biodiversity Day (IBD) in 2009 is invasive alien species (IAS), one of the greatest threats to biodiversity with cross-sectoral implications.
Designation of IBD 2009 on the theme of invasive alien species provides 191 parties to the CBD and those dealing with IAS an opportunity to raise awareness of the issue and increase practical action to tackle the problem and to “prevent the introduction of, control or eradicate those alien species, which threaten ecosystems, habitats or species.” Environment and poverty nexus in developing countries have accelerated loss of biodi versity and environmental degradation that would largely affect ecosystems and millions of people who are dependent on natural resources by obtaining a wide range of benefits for their subsistence and livelihood in the world.
In addition, the population boom has not only resulted in an economic upheaval but rather it is also the primary cause of environmental degradation and loss of important biodiversity. In this quest, it is amazing and pathetic that humans have started trespassing territory or usurping rights of other living creatures in terms of habitat shrinkage and fragmentation as the price of socio-economic and technological development.
Ecologically important areas have been encircled and en croached upon by human beings as evident from dwelling of people in hilly or rich natural resource areas. The anthropogenic interference with natural phenomena will bring most of the biodiversity to the brink if casual factors contributing to their depletion and extermination are not addressed and mitigated.
That the unabated contributing factors remain unchecked, biologists estimate that 30 to 50 per cent of the species will face extinction by the middle of the the 21st century.
The climate change scenario and the habitat loss are the two major contributing driving forces to the decline of biodiversity of the world. In addition to this, some direct and indirect drivers, including over-harvesting, invasion of alien species, land use change, urbanisation, growth in human population, industrialisation, deforestation, untreated wastewater discharges, and pollution will further accelerate the loss of biodiversity having socio-economic and ecological impacts on a large scale.
There is a dire need to fulfil our obligations under global and national pledge to conserve slipping biodiversity for availing continued services that it renders for maintaining ecological processes and human wellbeing. Organisations and agencies responsible for conserving biodiversity need to conduct intensive and extensive conservation and awareness programmes to protect biodiversity, which is a symbol of our recognition, e.g. ‘markhor’ is a national animal, ‘chakor’ is a national bird, and ‘deodar’ is a national tree.
Markhor is known the world over for its trophy hunting programme in the NWFP. We need to protect our national symbols of pride and recognition. MOHAMMAD NIAZ Deputy Conservator NWFP Wildlife Department Peshawar