Alliance For Global Conservation

Save a Species, Save a Life

August 24th, 2010

Bi-partisan bill will advance global conservation polices that protect the economy, national security and public health

WASHINGTON (June 18, 2010) – Senators from both parties yesterday introduced the Global Conservation Act of 2010 S. 3508 that would, for the first time, place the strategic and diplomatic resources of the U.S. government behind efforts to address extinction and natural resource depletion worldwide. Companion legislation (H.R. 4959) was introduced on March 26 in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Protect millions of square miles of land and sea,
Address illegal and unregulated fishing around the world,
Safeguard the natural sources of fresh water to several major population centers around the world,
Stop the worst wildlife trafficking operations, and
Stabilize environmental destruction trends in areas vulnerable to conflict and instability.

The bill identifies a coordinator in the executive branch to ensure action and encourages the administration to secure additional funding and support for a global conservation strategy from other countries—including European nations, Japan, China, and India.”Thanks to the work of Senators Udall and Brownback, this landmark bill represents a major step forward in efforts to address worldwide resource destruction and species loss,” said Wise. “The legislation lays out a common-sense strategy that will help protect the world’s most ecologically and economically important wilderness and marine areas and promote global security.”Healthy terrestrial and marine ecosystems are critical to food security and disaster prevention. An analysis by David Pimentel at Cornell University concludes that wild species such as birds and insects provide US$100 billion worth of pest control services to world agriculture every year. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, healthy coral reefs reduce the impact of large storms on coastal populations, a protective function valued at US$9 billion a year.

The destruction of natural areas can come at a tremendous cost. Research by the World Resources Institute has found that medicines derived from natural sources, including 10 of the world’s 25 top-selling drugs, have a market value of US$75-$150 billion per year. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, current extinction rates could eliminate at least one prescription drug from entering the market every two years.

“Fields, trees, streams, and wildlife are essential for rich and poor countries alike,” according to Kenneth Arrow, Professor of Economics Emeritus, Stanford University and Nobel Laureate in Economics. “Wealthy societies depend on clean water, recreation, and storm and flood control. And the poorest communities in the world rely on nature for their livelihoods and sometimes their very survival.”

The Alliance for Global Conservation—a coalition of some of the world’s major conservation organizations including Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, the Pew Environment Group, Wildlife Conservation Society and the World Wildlife Fund—is working to prevent the destruction of the world’s remaining natural ecosystems for the species and human communities that depend on them.

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BALTIMORE SUN

By Karen Lips

HI_233499r Amphibians are going extinct around the globe. As a scientist specializing in frogs, I have watched dozens of species of these creatures die out. The extinction of frogs and salamanders might seem unimportant, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. These animals regulate their local ecosystems, consume and control populations of mosquitoes and other insects that spread disease, and potentially point the way to new drugs for fighting diseases such as cancer and HIV- AIDS. Their fate is inexorably linked to our own.

The biggest danger to most species today is habitat loss. But a new threat, specific to amphibians, has spread across the globe. From the Panamanian jungles to the Appalachian Mountains, entire species of frogs and salamanders are disappearing at an alarming rate. But it’s not too late to implement global conservation policies that could mean the difference between survival and extinction.

This epidemic is due to a disease called chytridiomycosis, caused by a microscopic fungus that lives in water and moist soil. Animals that live primarily in cool, moist environments are the perfect target for the deadly pathogen.

This disease does not respect boundaries between countries or those that identify protected areas. We have already officially lost more than 120 species, but the real number is likely much higher, as lack of research funding limits the necessary investigations required to officially declare a species extinct or to even identify many of those that can be distinguished only through genetic analyses.

Such extinctions can devastate nature’s ecosystems, but humans will feel the loss too. Biomedical researchers have relied on animals to help understand and treat disease in humans for generations. Indeed, two of my colleagues recently found some chemicals that are naturally produced in the skin of various frog species that can kill the HIV virus, certain kinds of cancers and other microbial pathogens.

When species go extinct, our list of ingredients for products and pharmaceuticals shrinks, potentially erasing cures before they are discovered. And with one in three amphibians currently in danger of extinction, researchers are now locked into a high-stakes race with the clock.

U.S. policymakers should get serious about saving amphibians. Most of the world’s frogs live in developing countries, which lack the economic resources to protect their habitats and fight the spread of the fungus. Additional U.S. funding for labs already working on innovative potential cures would be a fabulous investment. It is also critical that the U.S. and other developed nations provide financial support to help protect frog habitats in the developing world. Rampant destruction of wetlands and tropical forests around the world could leave many frog species with nowhere to call home.

Beyond that, leaders in Washington should move to create a national strategy to address the overall global species extinction crisis. Currently, with more than six federal agencies involved in international conservation, we still lack any coordination or overarching strategy.

Meanwhile, all over the world, we are losing our rich diversity of plant and animal species at an unprecedented rate. The services provided by amphibians go far beyond their aesthetic appeal. Frogs and salamanders, like the other wild inhabitants of our planet, make the world a better place.

Scientists have concluded we have only a decade to substantially scale up conservation efforts to address this extinction crisis, or face irreversible losses. While time is short, there is still an opportunity to preserve the bounty of nature we have remaining – a task that’s critical not only for nature’s sake, but our own.

Karen Lips is an associate professor of biology and director of the Program in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her e-mail is klips@umd.edu.

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ROME (GA) NEWS-TRIBUNE

BY ETHAN ZOHN and JENNA MORASCA

WOPA070612_D017r © Marthen Welly/TNC-CTC Recently, millions of Americans tuned in to witness the crowning of the winner of Survivor: Gabon– Earth’s last Eden. Over the course of 12 weeks the contestants dealt with all the challenges that nature, the producers and their fellow competitors could throw at them — an experience we both know all too well. At risk was the ultimate title of ”Sole Survivor,” a $1 million prize and a host of life-changing opportunities that the winner can only scarcely imagine.

Yet amid the attention surrounding the close of this season’s Survivor, it’s important the public also be aware of a very different survival struggle going on today.

According to the World Conservation Union, more than 16,000 species, plants and animal alike, are in danger of extinction, largely because of human activities. If we don’t stop this onslaught on nature, scientists warn that two-thirds of the planet’s 10 million species could face extinction by the end of the century — a situation that puts the term ”being voted off the island” in a whole new light. While the picture may look gloomy, however, there are steps leaders in Washington can take to create real-life ”immunity idols” for species — tools the international community could use in this struggle.

Participating in Survivor was an incredible experience. Living off the land, waking up with lions and giraffes or toucans and pink dolphins in your backyard — it gives you a very different perspective on nature. It showed us how fragile life can be. Gabon is, indeed, one of the Earth’s ”last Edens” because modern society has destroyed all but a few remnants of wild nature. According to the United Nations, over the last 300 years global forest area has shrunk by almost half. Coral reefs in the Caribbean have been reduced by roughly 80 percent over the last 30 years. And more than 75 percent of the world’s marine fish have been fished to the brink of extinction.

In the Amazon, according to Brazilian officials, roughly 290 square miles of forest was destroyed in August alone, more than double the amount from last year. And if you think this won’t impact Americans, think again.

Roughly 20 percent of the planet’s oxygen is produced by the Amazon rainforest. But perhaps more important is its treasure trove of plants.

Just one square kilometer of the Amazon contains over 75,000 types of trees. And while extinction of an obscure tree might not seem important, native plant species provide a vital tool in combating diseases, with half of the most prescribed medicines in the United States derived from natural compounds. The drug vincristine, for example, from an obscure flower in Madagascar, is one of the most effective current treatments for childhood leukemia.

Forests also hold water, preventing both catastrophic floods and droughts, while healthy coral reefs reduce the impact of large storms on coastal populations. Small investments in conservation can translate into huge savings in lives and property. But we needn’t sit back and passively and watch this crisis unfold like a drama on TV. We still have a chance to make a difference.

In conjunction with efforts to address the climate crisis, leaders in Washington over the next two years should take steps to ensure that our nation has a plan to address this global species extinction crisis. An excellent first step would be adopting a national global conservation strategy and then planning for how all U.S. government agencies involved in conservation abroad could advance that goal. The Obama administration should also start a global dialogue on how the international community can provide the resources to protect the world’s most ecologically and economically important species-rich land and marine areas. Together, these tools could literally make the difference between life and death for what’s left of the natural world and those species on the brink of survival.

To win at Survivor you not only have to learn how to outwit, outlast and outplay your opponents, but how to live in balance with the game’s most influential player — Mother Nature. If we’re all going to win this ultimate survival challenge we have to put on our game faces now. TV shouldn’t be the only place where future generations can experience the wonders of Africa, the Amazon or any of our planet’s remaining Edens.

Ethan Zohn is the winner of Survivor: Africa; Jenna Morasca is the winner of Survivor: Amazon.

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