Enviro ministers pledge to fight extinction

KUALA LUMPUR – Environment ministers from around the world last week renewed their commitment to cut rates of extinction in six years and urged the United States to ratify a key UN pact to preserve biodiversity.

In a declaration adopted at the end of a two-day ministerial meeting here, the ministers said they were “alarmed that biological diversity is being lost at an unprecedented rate as a result of human activities”. The 74 ministers “reconfirm our commitment to more effectively and coherently implement” programs to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss but called for more money to do so.Thousands of species are believed to become extinct each year, although scientists disagree on the numbers.The website of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) says “an estimated 34 000 plant and 5 200 animal species face extinction”.The ministers also reaffirmed the role of indigenous communities in conservation and pledged to work towards the “development of an effective international regime on access and benefit-sharing” of genetic resources.But they stopped short of saying whether the framework would be voluntary, as preferred by rich nations, or legally-binding as demanded by developing countries fighting biopiracy.- Nampa-AFPThe 74 ministers “reconfirm our commitment to more effectively and coherently implement” programs to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss but called for more money to do so. Thousands of species are believed to become extinct each year, although scientists disagree on the numbers. The website of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) says “an estimated 34 000 plant and 5 200 animal species face extinction”. The ministers also reaffirmed the role of indigenous communities in conservation and pledged to work towards the “development of an effective international regime on access and benefit-sharing” of genetic resources. But they stopped short of saying whether the framework would be voluntary, as preferred by rich nations, or legally-binding as demanded by developing countries fighting biopiracy. – Nampa-AFP