22 May 2007

Biodiversity in grave danger

"There's little to celebrate on today's International Day for Biological Diversity, given that global warming is causing massive species extinction, fish stocks could be exhausted in our lifetime and Japan now wants to include the endangered humpback whale in its annual "scientific" catch," Green Party Conservation Spokesperson Metiria Turei says.

The theme this year is Biodiversity and Climate Change, and according to the United Nation's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, climate change is likely to be the dominant direct driver of biodiversity loss by the end of the century.

"There is strong scientific agreement that we are experiencing the largest mass extinction since the disappearance of the dinosaurs. The current trend has 30 percent of all known species vanishing before the end of the century. That's up to 150 species a day becoming extinct," says Mrs Turei.

"Climate change and biodiversity are intricately linked - climate change is creating conditions that plant and animal life cannot react to quickly enough to survive, and in turn, the loss of species will increase the rate at which climate change occurs. By protecting biodiversity resources, we can lessen the impact of climate change.

"Warming oceans are having a terrible impact on marine biodiversity. Combined with over-fishing, some research suggests fish stocks will be effectively wiped out by 2048. Coral bleaching is causing die-offs amongst coral reef communities right across the globe. The reduction in plankton means oceans absorb less carbon dioxide, just as mass deforestation pushes more carbon into the atmosphere.

"I just hope that the importance of preserving biodiversity is at the forefront of the thinking of those attending the International Whaling Convention meetings beginning next week. It's expected that Japan will once again push for an end to the moratorium on whaling.

"More than a thousand whales will be hunted and killed by whaling nations this year, quite aside from the 300,000 whales and dolphins that drown in fishing nets, and the incalculable number that are killed by pollution, ship strikes, the impacts of sonar or climate change. It seems unconscionable that the international community allows this slaughter to continue.

"I can only echo Chris Carter's advice to the Japanese, that if they do include 50 humpback whales - an endangered species - in their catch this year, it will be seen as a highly provocative act.

ENDS

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