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| Sunday, 22 May 2005 |
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'Bio-diversity: Life insurance for our Changing World' Message of Environment and Natural Resources Minister, A.H.M. Fowzie It gives me great pleasure to release this statement to commemorate the World Bio-diversity Day that falls on 22nd May 2005. It is a fitting occasion to reflect on our responsibility to safeguard our bio-diversity as the precious heritage for future generations. Today, Bio-diversity is the 'green gold' and it is the source of the essential goods and ecological services that constitute the source of life for all. Looking at the cultural side of bio-diversity I must say it is a very important heritage for all population in the world. It provides people with livelihoods and ensure food security. The conservation and sustainable use of bio-diversity contributes to overall sustainable development and poverty alleviation. The Convention of Bio-diversity was adopted after Earth Summit in 1992. The Ministry in charge of the subject of Environment is the National Focal Point of the Convention and it has full responsibility to implement the articles of this convention. The convention establishes three main goals namely conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from the use of genetic resources. The world is changing faster than before. Growing human populations and expanding consumption are placing great pressure on biological diversity. Before the beginning of last century the bio-diversity of our country remained with little loss. Changing priorities beginning with colonial influences have caused immense damage to the diversity. It has been further aggravated by the growing populations which increasingly seek the consumerist way of the life. The theme of this year's World Bio-diversity Day is 'Bio-diversity: Life Insurance for our Changing World.' The theme invites the people to look at bio-diversity beyond its value for short-term consumption, extraction and direct use. The message for the year is very simple. Bio-diversity is the life insurance of life itself. More specifically diversity within species helps a given species survive rapid changes in the surrounding ecosystem. Diversity between species increases the resilience of ecosystems by enhancing functions and providing multiple sources for ecosystem services. To arrest or slow down the loss of biodiversity, my Ministry has already taken action to prepare and implement the Framework Bio-diversity Conservation Action Plan. At present Ministry is updating this framework to prepare a practical as well as realistic Action Plan. The conservation related agencies such as Departments of Forest Conservation and Wildlife Conservation under my ministry play an important role to promote in situ conservation including declaration of protected areas for more than 24 per cent of the countries land area. While the Department of National Zoological Garden implements programs on ex-situ conservation of faunal diversity. We know that in the past, actions and programmes that promoted conservation and the sustainable use of biological diversity have limited the bio-diversity loss. This is promising, but we are not doing enough. To further reduce and to stop the loss of bio-diversity will require a whole host of new and stronger actions. Sustainable human development, remains the primary goal and we need to strengthen the range and power of our ability to respond to bio-diversity loss. The size of the task ahead of us is so great that the 2010 bio-diversity target which was approved by the country parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, will only realistically be achieved in national and regional level if we engage in substantial efforts. This sobering conclusion is not hopeless. Human kind can choose to act now for the conservation and sustainable use of bio-diversity. Bio-diversity is everybody's concern and therefore I wish in this important World day to encourage the achievement of our conservation goals through broad community participation. Our endeavour, today, is protected our natural life insurance for the sake of protecting all life in our changing world. |
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