[enviro-vlc] Use protected areas to save species, IUCN urges Convention on Biological Diversity

[Vern Weitzel]

http://cms.iucn.org/what/species/index.cfm?uNewsID=975

Use protected areas to save species, IUCN urges Convention on Biological Diversity

21 May 2008 | News - News story

Governments should strengthen protected areas as a way to save their countries’ 
species. That was the message from IUCN as the Convention on Biological 
Diversity (CBD) starts to discuss protected areas at its ninth meeting in Bonn.

Protected areas now cover 11.63% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface, but David 
Sheppard, Head of IUCN's Programme on Protected Areas, says he is concerned that 
significant gaps remain, particularly in marine, freshwater and coastal areas.
He says that this meeting should call for a renewal of political commitment to 
strengthen protected areas to conserve biodiversity. The meeting should also 
call for countries to step up efforts to make sure protected areas are being 
managed effectively, according to IUCN.

“We need parties to the CBD to recognize the benefits of protected areas to 
their national economies and well-being of their local populations,” says David 
Sheppard. “They need to fund the protected area system accordingly.”

IUCN is also calling for the CBD to address the failure to increase the number 
of Marine Protected Areas in the High Seas. Currently, protected areas in the 
marine environment are less than 1% of the waters under the jurisdiction of 
coastal states and virtually non-existent in the high seas (areas beyond 
national jurisdiction).

The 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ includes 41,415 species of which 
16,306 are threatened with extinction. Protected areas are an essential means to 
address this crisis and this must be better recognized and supported within the 
CBD, according to IUCN.

RELATED LINK
Interview with David Sheppard at CBD in Bonn
http://cms.iucn.org/news_events/events/cbd/audio/index.cfm?uNewsID=973