Govts OK 2 new expert reports to address biodiversity crisis

GOVERNMENTS attending the 9th session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Sciencepolicy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (#IPBES9) in Bonn, Germany, recently approved two new expert reports to address the global biodiversity crisis.

The reports on “Sustainable Use of Wild Species” and “Values and Valuation of Nature” build directly on the results of the Global Assessment Report released in 2019 during the last meeting of IPBES in Paris, which expressed the alarm on the extinction of a million species of plants and animals within decades.

The meeting held by #IBPES9, an intergovernmental body that assesses the state of biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides to society in response to requests from decision-makers, was attended by experts and representatives of almost 140 countries conferred to advance the necessary scientific evidence in addressing the biodiversity crisis.

Reacting to the reports, Dr. Theresa Mundita S. Lim, Executive Director of the Asean Center for Biodiversity (ACB) said that the region’s biodiversity underpins the Asean’s economic prosperity.

“The Asean region regards nature as part of the solution to the challenges we face today. The region’s healthy biodiversity provides for the vital resources such as water, clean air, flood mitigation and food supply that we all need to survive and thrive. In this regard, the Asean, as a community, is a vital part of ensuring that nature, including its multiple values, is incorporated in the paradigm shift towards sustainable growth,” Lim said in a news statement.

The ACB has been facilitating actions in Asean towards building a good case for investing in nature and biodiversity-related actions, she added.

“Cases and success stories in accounting for the diversity of nature’s values are abundant in the Asean. We look forward to supporting the Member States and working with development partners to foster impactful discussions that embed the diverse values of nature into policy decisions.”

IPBES members from the Asean— Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam—were joined by the ACB Delegation during the ninth session.

According to the report on “Sustainable Use of Wild Species” launched on July 8, 2022, globally, some 50,000 wild species meet the needs of billions of people.

The report elaborates on the status and trends in the use of wild species in the areas of food and feed, materials, medicine, energy, recreation, ceremony, as well as learning and decoration. It also addresses the finding that the exploitation of organisms is one of the most significantdirectdriversofbiodiversityloss.

A pool of experts, including decision-makers, scientists, practitioners, and indigenous and local knowledge holders analyzed interconnected factors that drive the use of wild species to offer recommendations on the necessary elements, enabling conditions, and standards that need to be in place to ensure sustainability.

Dr. Saw Leng Guan, member of the IPBES Multidisciplinary Expert Panel (MEP) and Research Fellow and former director at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia said that: “It is important that the Asean region can use such findings to ensure that the use of our wild species in the region is sustainable,” adding that the context and nuances of the Asean region may be very important at the local level.