http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=41258
05 November 2002 08:21
BDT
Time to apply the brakes before we go
over the cliff
30 September 2000
If humanity carries
on its present course, 11,000 species
of plants and animals will be extinct in the foreseeable
future. The common analogy is that of the slippery slope
steepening until it becomes a precipice. We have not reached
the cliff yet, but it will become harder to avoid it.
The new "red list" of endangered species, published
this
week, confirms that the diversity of life on the planet
faces its greatest threat since the catastrophe which wiped
out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
There are three
possible responses to this supremely
important environmental crisis, the first of
which can
be quickly dealt with. That is the view that enough species
will adapt to the explosive growth of human population to
allow ecological business as usual. While it is true that
many life-forms are surprisingly resilient and can adapt
to changing conditions, it is a complacent view which cannot
be sustained.
Earlier this week we
reported that several species of great
ape face imminent extinction. Of course, there are many
micro-organisms upon whose survival the complex ecology
of mammals depends, but apes pose a more immediate and
- because of their genetic closeness to humans - more
starkly moral challenge.
The second
response is to declare that it is already too
late for most of the species on the list and to focus the
global conservation effort on trying to slow the rate at
which species are wiped off the face of the Earth. But
this is too pessimistic.
The third response
is to seek to save every single
species, from the orang-utan to all 100 kinds of moss
and liverwort. That would be expensive. The compilers
of the red list say that "human and financial resources
must be mobilised at between 10 and 100 times the current
level". This approach may be derided as unrealistic.
But just because something is impossible, does not mean
it should not be attempted. We will not succeed, but
that objective would help dramatise the scale of the
effort needed.
The three causes
of extinction, in order of importance,
are habitat loss, hunting (and fishing) and the importation
of species from their natural areas. In each case, the
imperative is to change the economic incentives operating
so that local people gain more by preserving habitats and
stocks than by depleting them.
As with the attempt
to slow down global warming, the bill
for the rich countries of the world, including this one,
will be high. But it is one that must be paid.
