A German-based research network has released a set of recommendations to enhance conservation efforts, ranging from transforming food systems to improving monitoring, in an attempt to better inform nature policies at a national and European level.
Published by Leibniz Research Network Biodiversity, the report aims to provide policymakers with concrete advice to effectively conserve and sustainably use biodiversity, while also advancing the debate on the German National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan (NBSAP).
“We are already exceeding planetary limits, both in terms of global warming and in the loss of biological diversity,” said Kirsten Thonicke, lead author and deputy head of department at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), who coordinated the research network.
“Protecting biodiversity can make a significant contribution to mitigating climate change, for example through species-rich forests and rewetted moors that store carbon. Only if greater focus is placed on measures to protect biodiversity can it be possible to combat both crises at the same time.”
The study – which brought together 64 experts spanning academia and civil society – focused on 10 critical areas:
- Achieving climate and biodiversity protection together
- Enabling a healthy life on a healthy planet
- Considering undiscovered biodiversity
- Ensuring free access and open use of biodiversity-related data
- Protecting land and resources
- Linking linguistic, cultural, and biological diversity
- Harmonising the diverse use of forest ecosystems
- Transforming agricultural and food systems
- Reducing biodiversity impacts from food consumption
- Releasing transformative change through international collaboration
Source: Leibniz Research Network Biodiversity
TRADE-OFFS
“Many actions that conserve biodiversity also have positive effects on climate change mitigation and adaptation, while far fewer actions that protect climate help biodiversity,” said the study.
To effectively tackle this dual crisis, researchers recommended prioritising the protection and restoration of ecosystems that serve as refuges and carbon sinks, such as seagrass meadows, forests, and wetlands.
“Biodiversity loss and climate change are one indivisible crisis now so severe as to be a global health emergency,” the study added.
“The loss of biodiversity threatens the full range of life-supporting services provided by ecosystems. This has multiple direct and indirect implications for the health of life on Earth, and exacerbates existing health inequities worldwide.”
Cross-sector collaboration between biodiversity and health policies should be strengthened, said the report, calling for a joint effort from the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The report also addressed the monitoring challenges leading to data gaps and bias in biodiversity assessments.
While free access and open use of biodiversity-related data could help bridge this gap, the study warned that monitoring approaches must be developed to estimate threats to hidden biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.
“The focus should be put on ecosystem-based habitat management rather than single-species and habitat-focused practices, in order to acknowledge the great hidden part of organisms and their contribution to nature-based solutions for people,” the study said.
“The amount of hidden biodiversity is much larger than estimated. Ignoring hidden diversity means neglecting more than half of the species-level diversity and hence is incompatible with the goals of the German National Biodiversity Strategy.”
SHAPING NBSAPS
When making decisions on land use and spatial planning, policymakers should prioritise the conservation of biodiversity and natural resources, the study stressed.
“Biodiversity and the protection, restoration, and development of natural resources should be reflected in all land-use discussions, decisions, and spatial planning processes at all levels, starting with international and national conservation area planning.”
As well, the report emphasised the critical role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in conservation efforts.
All nature restoration and protection initiatives affecting their lands should be planned and carried out in collaboration with IPLCs, the study said.
“This should explicitly be reflected in the ongoing revisions of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans,” it stated.
Participatory decision-making should also be applied in public forests, while private forest-owners should be incentivised to boost the integration of biodiversity-enhancing measures into forestry practice.
At the same time, the report recommended deploying incentives to foster the reorganisation of the agricultural and food sector, and abolishing subsidies harmful to nature.
“The goal should not be the preservation but the transformation of agricultural and food systems,” it said.
“Price dictates of food corporations, large dairies, and large slaughterhouses must be abolished. In addition, targeted education and training based on scientifically proven facts have a fundamental role to play.”
Based on recent research showing the impact of meat production on biodiversity, the study emphasised the need to shift toward more plant-based diets, and reduce food loss and waste.
“Consumption of animal products is responsible for 75% of the land area used and for 77% of the impacts on biodiversity,” it said.
The network asked for measures and monetary incentives to support sustainable consumption and production, and compulsory biodiversity reporting for companies, in order to make consumption impacts transparent.
By Sergio Colombo – sergio@carbon-pulse.com
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