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We have to protect the Earth, not just for us but for future generations.
Yugratna Srivastava at the UN High-Level Summit on Climate Change
TUNZA
the UNEP magazine
for youth. To view current
CONTENTS
and past issues of this Editorial 3
publication online,
please visit www.unep.org
Big ask 4
United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) What next? 6
PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel (254 20) 7621 234
Fax (254 20) 7623 927 Trees, not words 7
Telex 22068 UNEP KE
E-mail uneppub@unep.org
www.unep.org Vote for a voice 8
ISSN 1727-8902
Meet the TYAC 8
Director of Publication Satinder Bindra
Editor Geoffrey Lean
Special Contributor Wondwosen Asnake Natural mimicry 10
Youth Editors Karen Eng, Joseph Lacey
Nairobi Coordinator Naomi Poulton
Head, UNEPs Children and Youth Unit Natures R&D 11
Theodore Oben
Circulation Manager Manyahleshal Kebede
So you think we know it all? 12
Design Edward Cooper, Ecuador; Richard Lewis,
Trinidad and Tobago
Production Banson Keeping the pieces 14
Front cover photo UNEP
Youth Contributors Shaikha Alalaiwi, Bahrain; Yaiguili Diversity counts 15
Alvarado Garca, Panama; Walid Amrane, Algeria;
Hannah Aulby, Australia; Alok Basakoti, Nepal;
Marisol Becerra, USA; Florencia Caminos, Argentina; Life in depth 16
Nigel Chitombo, Zimbabwe; Lisa Curtis, USA; Kate
de Mattos-Shipley, UK; Linh Do, Australia; Felix
Finkbeiner, Germany; Edgar Geguiento, Philippines; End of the line 17
Mirna Haidar, Lebanon; Alex Hirsch, USA; Joon
Ho Yoo, Rep. of Korea; Margaret Koli, Kenya; Kyu
Hwan Lee, Rep. of Korea; Joeri Lagrou, Belgium; The big ideas 18
Diego Le Gallou, France; Alonso Lizaraz, Venezuela;
Nolana Lynch, Tobago; Richard Merritt, USA; Kevin
Odhiambo Ochieng, Kenya; Emilio Perez Campanelli, Youth in the eld 20
Argentina; Maribel Delia Ramos Cruz, Bolivia; Gista
Rukminda, Indonesia; Lea Simma, Sweden; Tan Sijie,
Singapore; Heather Smith, USA; Sara Svensson, The forgotten kingdom 21
Sweden; Yugratna Srivastava, India; Anne Walraven,
Netherlands.
Other Contributors David Ainsworth, CBD; Janine
Seven invasive species 22
Benyus, Biomimicry Institute; George Dufeld,
Arcane Pictures; Cary Fowler, GCDT; Stefan Hain,
UNEP-WCMC; HyunJin Jeon, UNEP Regional Ofce
for Asia and the Pacic; Martin Jenkins, UNEP-
WCMC; Jonathan Loh, WWF/ZSL; Rosey Simonds
and David Woollcombe, Peace Child International.
Printed in the United Kingdom
The contents of this magazine do not necessarily re-
ect the views or policies of UNEP or the editors,
nor are they an ofcial record. The designations em-
ployed and the presentation do not imply the expres- UNEP and Bayer, the German-based around the world and develop new
sion of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP
concerning the legal status of any country, territory international enterprise involved youth programmes. Projects include:
or city or its authority, or concerning the delimitation in health care, crop science and TUNZA Magazine, the International
of its frontiers or boundaries. materials science, are working Childrens Painting Competition on
together to strengthen young peoples the Environment, the Bayer Young
environmental awareness and engage Environmental Envoy in Partnership
UNEP promotes children and youth in environmental with UNEP, the UNEP Tunza
environmentally sound practices issues worldwide. International Youth/Childrens
globally and in its own activities. This Conference, youth environmental
magazine is printed on 100% recycled paper, The partnership agreement, renewed networks in Africa, Asia Pacic,
using vegetable-based inks and other eco- to run through 2010, lays down a Europe, Latin America, North America
friendly practices. Our distribution policy aims basis for UNEP and Bayer to enlarge and West Asia, the Asia-Pacic Eco-
to reduce UNEPs carbon footprint. their longstanding collaboration to Minds forum, and a photo competition,
bring successful initiatives to countries Ecology in Focus, in Eastern Europe.
2 TUNZA Vol 7 No 3
International EDITORIAL
Year of F
ive times in the last half billion years or so of the
Earths history, its entire web of life has been ripped
apart by a mass extinction, in which up to 95 per cent
of its species may have been lost. After each one, it took
W
ith more than half of us living in towns
and cities, spending less and less time in ever, one species is threatening all the others, as humanity
direct touch with the natural world, it is not increasingly takes over and destroys the worlds natural
altogether surprising that a recent UK survey revealed habitats. Extinctions have, of course, always happened; only
that children have trouble identifying common wild about 3 per cent of the species that have ever lived are alive
creatures. Thirty-seven per cent could not identify today. But now they are occurring at 1,000 or even 10,000
a bee more than a third mistook it for a wasp and times the natural rate. Half of all the worlds current species
some even confused it with a y. And worryingly, only are expected to disappear by the end of the century. To say
26 per cent often go for walks in the countryside. They that the effects would be devastating does not even begin
are not alone. Another survey found that two thirds to do justice to the consequences.
of European citizens didnt know the meaning of
biodiversity, the term we use to describe the variety Early this century the worlds governments repeatedly
of life on Earth and the natural patterns it forms. promised to avert this growing disaster within the decade.
European heads of state resolved in 2001 that biodiversity
Thats why the Convention on Biological Diversity decline should be halted with the aim of reaching this
(CBD) supports UNEPs highly successful Billion objective by 2010. The following year, Parties to the
Tree Campaign, and encourages hands-on learning Convention on Biological Diversity now made up of over
experience through its Green Wave initiative. 190 countries committed themselves to a significant
reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by the same date,
Part of The Green Wave is a campaign for youth world- and the worlds governments adopted the same target
wide to plant a tree at 10 oclock in the morning local at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in
time on 22 May the International Day for Biological Johannesburg.
Diversity creating a green wave across time zones.
Another part of The Green Wave is a biodiversity photo Yet we now stand on the threshold of the target date and
contest that aims to help young people take an inter- nothing has changed. If anything, the rate of loss has
est in nature on the eve of 2010, the International Year increased; the approach of the sixth great extinction has
of Biodiversity. speeded up. This whole-scale failure is a betrayal of the
planet and of our, and succeeding, generations. We must
The goals of this signicant year are to raise do everything we can to ensure that this wasted decade
awareness of the importance of biodiversity and of is not repeated, that the world finally slows and then halts
steps that can be taken to prevent its loss. As Ban the appalling rate of artificial extinction, for the sake of life
Ki-moon said in a June 2009 message: There is no on Earth itself.
better place to start raising awareness and inspiring
action than in schools and families I encourage
students, parents and teachers to ride The Green
Wave and spread the word. I would like to second
the Secretary-Generals words and call on youth
everywhere to join in the ght to save our most
precious resource: biodiversity.
Dr Ahmed Djoghlaf
Executive Secretary
Convention on Biological Diversity
For more info, see http://greenwave.cbd.int
Biodiversity 3
Big ask
T
he vast conference room buzzed Mr Steiner then opened up the
with the energy and voices of discussion to the youth, asking what
800 young people between the they already do, and what young
ages of 10 and 24, representing more people could offer.
than 100 countries. As they huddled
at circular tables in groups of 10, Marisol Becerra, from the United
language, age and cultural barriers States of America, told how her com-
disappeared as they focused on a single munity youth project in Chicago main-
task: finalizing a statement asking world tains a Google map documenting the
leaders on behalf of the worlds 3 citys toxic sites, such as coal-fired
billion young people to take decisive power plants, and the health problems
action against climate change at the they cause. I hope that everyone here
Copenhagen talks in December 2009. and in Copenhagen makes public
health a priority, she added.
The week-long Tunza International
Children and Youth Conference, In my province, a company pro-
in Daejeon, Republic of Korea, in posed building a coal-fired power
August, was one of the largest ever plant, which my organization then
international gatherings of young stopped by actively opposing it, said
people calling for climate change Edgar Geguiento. Then our province UNEP
action. UNEP combined its childrens was struck by an oil spill, the biggest
conference and its youth conference in the Philippines, which destroyed contributed to the proceedings in
for this Global Town Hall to support much biodiversity. But for three years real time via the web.
the United Nations-led Seal the Deal afterwards, local youth organized and
campaign. cleaned up the river. We have the As each table agreed on changes,
power to change the world. volunteer facilitators sent them via
Seal the Deal set out to galvanize laptops to a designated group the
public and political support for a fair When Mr Steiner asked what young Theme Team who collated com-
and comprehensive global climate people would do if negotiations at ments and redrafted the statement
agreement in the last few months Copenhagen failed, the answers from on the spot. After three hours, the
before Copenhagen. It included an around the room were swift and revised document was ready. Wireless
online petition and rallies in 100 capi- forceful. All agreed that giving up is keypads let the entire room vote on
tals around the world. not an option. each change, and the final version was
read out to a cheering crowd.
Young peoples voices will and must Intergovernmental conferences have
be heard because they will inherit never greatly influenced my work, Hannah Aulby, from Australia, ap-
the outcomes of our actions, says UN said Linh Do, who started a cam- preciated how the process and tech-
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. paign to change a million light bulbs nology gave each participant an
in Australia. If nothing comes out of equal voice. It was very democratic.
Copenhagen, I will feel even more At other conferences Ive attended,
Future leaders motivated to continue my current the strongest personalities, loudest
During the Tunza Conference, UNEPs environmental work it will be that voices or most sophisticated lobbying
Executive Director Achim Steiner led much more urgent. powers got their way.
a dialogue between young people and
a panel that included Korean Prime Building steam Delegate Joon Ho Yoo, from Busan,
Minister Han Seung-soo, Environ- During the eight weeks before the Republic of Korea, enjoyed the oppor-
ment Minister Lee Manee and eco- Global Town Hall meeting, young people tunity to work directly with younger
adventurer David de Rothschild. around the planet had hammered out people. I was surprised that, although
a draft statement using the new web- they were younger than me, they had
I believe you, the future leaders of the based networking platform http://unite so many innovative ideas. I learned a
world, will do the best job of looking forclimate.org. Then, in Daejeon, par- lot from them.
after our fragile planet Earth, said ticipants considered each item in the
the Prime Minister. There is an old draft, debating changes and additions. Finalizing the statement was the
Chinese adage, A crisis poses danger, More than 200 young people in 15 culmination of a day filled with im-
but it also presents opportunity. I cities around the world including passioned discussion about climate
hope we will all make the wise choice Cuernavaca (Mexico), Nairobi (Kenya), change, the active role youth are
to seize the moment and turn this Canberra (Australia), Bangkok (Thailand), already playing, and their hopes for
crisis into an opportunity. Vancouver (Canada) and Athens (Greece) the future.
4 TUNZA Vol 7 No 3
Karen Eng UNEP UNEP
In many ways this process of coming The youth statement is made on behalf of the worlds 3 billion people under
to an agreement on a final text mir-
rors what will happen in December the age of 25, and asks governments, citizens and youth to commit to taking
in Copenhagen, said Achim Steiner,
action on climate change. Here are some excerpts. For the full text, visit
who pledged to take the statement
to the September 2009 High-Level www.unep.org/tunza.
Summit on Climate Change convened
by the UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon. The statement was also sent
to government leaders throughout
Listen to our voices
the world.
The future needs strong vision and leadership.
It is very important to include the
voice of children and youth in every We, young people 3 billion of the world population are concerned and frustrated
environmental decision. It is our that our governments are not doing enough to combat climate change. We feel
request to all politicians that they that radical and holistic measures are needed urgently from us all.
please take this statement into consi-
deration in Copenhagen, said 13- We request our governments to:
year-old Yugratna Srivastava from have strict laws and enforcement against those who pollute and degrade the
India (pictured with Al Gore on the environment;
front cover), who addressed the High- transition toward a green economy;
Level Summit on behalf of the worlds make engaging environmental education mandatory in schools and universities.
young people, and presented the
statement. We appeal to all citizens of this planet to:
develop and promote the infrastructure and use of public transportation and eco-
Never give up friendly alternatives;
Sealing the Deal is important, be- engage in environmental campaigns and education;
cause it would acknowledge climate commit to sustainable lifestyles to reduce carbon footprints.
change to be a critical global issue,
said Walid Amrane, from Algeria. But As young people, we will:
if nations cant agree, civil society engage in environmentally friendly activities especially planting, nurturing and
particularly young people will protection of trees;
have to initiate a bottom-up process. communicate environment and climate change through the media and social
Individuals will have to spread in- networks like uniteforclimate.org, Facebook and Twitter, and develop environmental
formation, support innovation and websites;
change minds. We must not be support and promote the efforts of the UN Secretary-General to Seal the Deal in
victims, but actors. Copenhagen.
Biodiversity 5
What next?
C
onferences are one thing, but what happens once like a spiders web: if some parts are destroyed, the whole
they are over? After the Global Town Hall (see pages web loses balance, said Kyu Hwan Lee, from the Republic
4-5), Tunza youth delegates got down to working of Korea.
out what to do next. They held regional and sub-regional
meetings, where they caught up on each others projects and Field trips such as to Uam Historical Park and a cultural
discussed action plans for the next two years. centre that taught traditional tea making rounded off the
UNEP
mangos ripen in January instead of June, she reported. As
a region, we have much to do, made harder because we
speak English, French, Portuguese and Spanish, so we are all
translating for each other. week. Heather Smith from the United States went to a local
river to learn about freshwater fish. We used traditional nets
Each regions plans reflected on the last 100 days before made of bamboo and string to catch fish. One person holds
Decembers Copenhagen Conference, including educating the net under the water, while the other splashes to herd fish
and mobilizing young people, asking governments to Seal into it. The guide told us about the individual species and
the Deal, and spreading the word through the internet. explained their roles in the ecosystem.
Delegates also found out what their peers were doing in Emilio Perez from Argentina said. When I go home, Ill visit
other parts of the world. They heard, for example, about the education minister to ask for environmental education to
Ella Bella Constantinides striking Miss Earth pageant in be added to school curricula. I had this idea before I came,
South Africa, recognizing young womens environmental but attending the Tunza conference has given me resources
commitment and involving them in activities like planting and tools such as contacts, the youth statement and printed
community vegetable gardens and conserving wildlife. materials like TUNZA magazine. Being associated with UNEP
means I am more empowered. Maybe now Ill have a voice.
6 TUNZA Vol 7 No 3
Platform heals
Anne Walraven, the European Tunza Advisor from the
Trees, not words
Netherlands, has just launched an online platform that Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP, along with the United
Nations, supports 11-year-old Felix Finkbeiner, who has pledged
consolidates details of youth environmental initiatives in to plant a million trees in Germany. You too can join his quest for
climate justice. Visit www.plant-for-the-planet.org
one place. The idea originated in the European regional
meetings at the 2007 Tunza Youth Conference, she says. I
met someone who was doing a similar project but we didnt
know about each other. Now the project has gone global.
See www.bigmamma.net
Fishy business
Maribel Ramos works with a Bolivian youth environmental
organization, Quanrakyu, which focuses on protecting one
of the countrys most important wetlands, Lago Uru Uru.
The lake used to be full of fish, but now local people cant
eat them, thanks to litter and mining waste, she said. My
group visited schools, talking about ecological hazards. The
local government took notice and decided to clean up the
lake, with our help. We also teach school children how to
make things out of recycled rubbish.
Sprouting bulbs
Richard Merritt, from the United States, calls his Lets Raise
P TA LK ING
a Million campaign an urban ecological student project.
STO AN TING
Students replace incandescent bulbs with energy-saving ones
START PL
UNEP
Biodiversity 7
Vote for a voice
You are giving these young people a mandate to represent awareness among young people, advising UNEP on ways
you, said Theodore Oben, Head of UNEPs Children and to better engage youth, and helping to build and facilitate
Youth Unit, to 220 youth delegates assembled in Daejeon, networks around the globe. They also lead youth direct-
Republic of Korea, as they prepared to elect the new action campaigns in their regions.
Tunza Youth Advisory Council (TYAC). Meanwhile, UNEP works to give the TYAC and
The election, which took place at the Tunza International through it the youth of the world a voice at international
Youth Conference, generated excitement. After getting environmental negotiations, such as its annual Governing
to know each other over the course of the Conference, Council meetings.
delegates selected two peers from each of UNEPs regions The people you are electing today speak at most of
Africa, Asia and the Pacic, Europe, Latin America and these forums, explained Oben. Young people have a seat,
the Caribbean, North America, and West Asia for two- just like every minister, and make their voices heard,
year terms of ofce. Global indigenous youth also won telling leaders things that they usually dont hear.
representation for the rst time, bringing membership of So you need to make sure to choose a group who
the council to 14. will speak on your behalf and keep you informed
Among their responsibilities are raising environmental afterwards.
Meet the TYAC: just after the election, the new members spoke to TUNZA.
GLOBAL INDIGENOUS AFRICA change negotiations, as well as
afterwards. Whatever decisions are
Yaiguili Alvarado Garca (Kuna), Walid Amrane, Algeria made there, it will be just the beginning.
Panama
I plan to promote
Indigenous people more youth ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
are very connected participation at
with nature, so the decision- Linh Do, Australia
everything that is making level at
lost in biodiversity intergovernmental One of my goals
affects us. There are climate is to engage
networks of indigenous negotiations. I more with the
organizations, but will also actively indigenous people
theyre not connected support the Seal of Australia, to
to UNEP and youth the Deal campaign in the run-up to help their voices
movements like Tunza. Engaging the Copenhagen. But my rst priority is be heard. I also
worlds indigenous youth wont be to consolidate the African network, want to make
easy: every other region has a UNEP improving communication and sure that the
ofce, for example, but we dont. The exchanging information on lessons Pacic islands
rst step is to start making links. learned. often forgotten about in Australia
are always given consideration in
Lea Simma (Sami), Sweden Kevin Odhiambo Ochieng, Kenya environmental discussions.
8 TUNZA Vol 7 No 3
EUROPE Florencia Caminos, Argentina climate movement in the United
States right now, PowerShift, but
Joeri Lagrou, Belgium I have been its not linked with the UNEP
working with youth movement, so Ill be making
I am already Tunza since 2007, this a priority.
planning a meeting and the Latin
of young European American region
environmentalists. has a lot of things WEST ASIA
Building networks to say about
helps everyone environmental Mirna Haidar, Lebanon
stay focused protection. As a
and motivated. TYAC member, My hope is to
Governments are I look forward to the opportunity to help the youth
also more likely to work with the other global regions to of my region to
listen to young people if we gather exchange project ideas. get involved in
in greater numbers. In the run-up to the environment,
Copenhagen, we organized a tree- rather than
hugging campaign for 350.orgs day North America violence
of action on 24 October. Were also and conict.
looking for ways to engage the media, Marisol Becerra, United States Unfortunately,
an important way to get in touch with of America because of the
many people at once. political situation, its difcult for
My priority is them to work together. But children
Diego Le Gallou, France to establish and youth have the spirit of peace
communication and hope. When it comes to the
I plan to go to with environment, we should all be
Copenhagen and environmental present.
send information justice
from within the organizations. Shaikha Alalaiwi, Bahrain
Climate Conference Id also like to
to activists. Many strengthen the My priority is to
decisions are made North American lead my region
behind closed doors, youth environmental base. My region by organizing
and its important emits much of the worlds pollution, workshops and
for citizens to know which affects the rest of the world. conferences, as
what governments are doing. Yet theres very little representation education and
from this region here at the Tunza information are
Conference. key. I also want
LATIN AMERICA AND to encourage ties
THE CARIBBEAN Lisa Curtis, United States between youth
of America of different countries in my region,
Alonso Lizaraz, Venezuela so that together we can help resolve
Im looking climate change issues peacefully.
I hope that I can help forward to
create a more unied gathering youth
network of youth leaders in North
within the region. America to work
I know I have the with Tunza youth
support of my peers; from all UNEPs
together were going regions. There
to do a great job. is quite a strong Photos: Karen Eng
Biodiversity 9
Natural mimicry
F
abrics that respond to changing product and 96 per cent waste. Thats which any innovation can be judged.
temperatures by opening and how we make things. Does it promote life? Does it t with the
closing like pine. Strong bres This approach has caused bio- environment? Will it last?
produced without heat or toxins, just diversity loss, climate change, water Organisms have gured out a way
as a spider spins its web. Films that shortages and agricultural systems to do the amazing things they do while
help capture water on buildings by that rob soil of nutrients. Destroying taking care of the place that will take
mimicking the bumpy shell that the its own habitat doesnt bode well for care of their offspring, says Benyus.
B Schwan/Biomimicry Institute
Namib desert beetle uses to collect the continuing success of the human So could humanity.
water from fog. species. Why is such a common-sense idea
Thats why we should ask, how only now catching on? Benyus thinks its
Such is biomimicry, just a few exam- does life meet our needs?, says Benyus. a convergence of several factors. First is
ples of this emerging discipline that Nature works at optimum efciency, she scientic capacity. Biological knowledge
studies nature and applies its designs points out, taking and expending only is doubling every ve years, she says,
and processes to meet human needs, as much energy as necessary, and emit- and for the rst time in history, we have
sustainably. ting waste into a system where it is instruments to observe the shiver of a
And what better teacher? Animals, recycled to nurture something else. neuron in thought or to watch in colour
plants and microbes are consummate The secret is that life creates as a star is born.
engineers. Theyve found what works, conditions conducive to life. It builds Another factor is communication
what is appropriate and most important soil, cleans air, cleans water and mixes technology, facilitating exchange across
what lasts on Earth, says Janine the cocktail of gases that we need disciplines. The Biomimicry Institutes
Benyus, president of the Biomimicry to live. Thats what ecosystems do: they asknature.org, for instance, aims to
Institute based in the garden city of create more and more opportunities for organize biological information accord-
Missoula, Montana. life, while meeting their own needs. ing to its design and engineering
The natural world is the result Valuing nature as a source of ideas function, making it freely available to
of 3.8 billion years of research and rather than just goods both provides designers, architects, engineers or
with high pressures and treat them with the blueprint and running away with
chemicals. They end up with 4 per cent it. Biomimicry also sets a standard by
10 TUNZA Vol 7 No 3
NATURES R&D
3 Termite mounds remain at a near-constant 31C, while
outside temperatures range from 3C to 42C. Architects
and engineers modelled their ventilation system on this
when building the nine-storey Eastgate Building in Harare,
Zimbabwe, which needs no air-conditioning and uses 90
per cent less energy than conventional buildings of the
same size.
M Campbell/Biomimicry Institute
Biodiversity 11
So you think we know it all?
Biological diversity (or biodiversity in its abbreviated form) is a term used to describe the complexity
of life on Earth. Not only does it refer to the variety of species, but also the diversity of genes and
of ecosystems. Although we have just begun to familiarize ourselves with the vastness of the natural
world, human activities are putting biodiversity on the line.
12 TUNZA Vol 7 No 3
Terrestrial ecoregions
WWF, the global conservation organization, identies 200 terrestrial ecoregions dened as ecosystems with wide varieties
of endemic species (those found nowhere else on Earth) and a priority for conservation. The WWF study found 47 per cent of
these terrestrial ecoregions to be endangered or in a critical condition, 29 per cent to be vulnerable and the rest stable.
Just 45,000 known species have been assessed for their conservation status and 38 per cent of these are threatened with
extinction. But efforts to conserve biodiversity are being made. Around 12 per cent of the worlds land surface lies within a
protected area, and species like the grizzly bear, the bald eagle and the green sea turtle have been brought back from the
brink of extinction.
Philippines
167 mammals, 61% of
which are endemic.
Roughly 80 per cent of the developing world relies on Tropics/ Coca Local anaesthetic
subtropics
biodiversity for remedies, while the majority of drugs can be
linked to plants, fungi and bacteria. Most food crops depend Europe Common thyme Anti-fungal
on genetic diversity to provide them with a regular infusion Europe Foxglove Cardiotonic
Source: UNEP-WCMC
Biodiversity 13
Keeping the pieces
Through the ages, people have relied on more than 10,000 plant species for food.
No longer. Barely 150 are now cultivated, and only 12 provide 80 per cent of all
humanitys supplies.
14 TUNZA Vol 7 No 3
Diversity counts
W
hat isnt counted is often thought not to count.
And adding up the worlds wildlife can provide
a good measure of the Earths well-being.
environmentalist Aldo Leopold said, The first rule of Species index (1970=1.0) One planet Earth
Biodiversity 15
S
eas and oceans may cover 70
per cent of the Earths surface,
but their depths ensure that
they provide a staggering 99 per
cent of its inhabitable space. Yet we
know almost nothing about the life
of the deep sea, further, that is, than
200 metres down. And it plunges at
its deepest point in the Mariana tend to live longer and reproduce less
Trench near Guam in the northwest frequently, so they take much longer
Pacific to 11,000 metres, deeper to recover from damage, says Hain,
than Mount Everest is high. pointing out that an orange roughy
(otherwise known as deep-sea perch)
Some experts say we know less now caught and eaten could easily
of the deep sea than the moons have hatched in Napoleons time.
surface, says Stefan Hain, Head of
UNEPs Coral Reef Unit. That is hardly Acidification of the oceans caused
surprising, for the moon is almost as by rising emissions of carbon dioxide
inhospitable as the deep sea: sunlight is making it increasingly difficult for
does not penetrate down there and plankton and crustaceans to make
temperatures fall as low as 4C. shells. This will have a huge impact
on marine life, he says, adding: What
Photos: NERC/National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
Humanity has so far only explored will become of the organisms that
about 5 per cent of the deep sea. depend on them, including us?
But, says Hain, this unknown world
is starting to open up through such Scientists continue to make import-
technological developments as re- ant discoveries. Cold-water corals,
motely operated vehicles (ROVs), for example, provide habitat for
which can photograph and video at thousands of previously unknown
as much as 4,000 metres down. species. Potent chemicals in deep-
sea sponges may hold anti-cancer
Deep-sea creatures, however, are well drugs. Such findings just scratch the
adapted to life in silence and darkness. surface of what is yet to be revealed
So, Hain points out: Using an ROV providing one more reason to protect
is like driving a jeep into a jungle the deep seas.
to observe animals with headlights
blazing and music on full-blast. The Attempts to establish marine pro-
larger, more mobile organisms are tected areas are gaining momentum,
long gone before they are in range. concentrating on the most biologically
significant areas. The strategy, Hain
16
depth
TUNZA Vol 7 No 3
fishing fleets after depleting tradi-
tional species increasingly exploit
deeper waters. Deep-sea species
has some kind of undiscovered aspect
or mystery. Its a whole new world
down there.
End of the line
C
od used to be so plentiful off the Newfoundland seabed, damages it and destroys corals. Clover, a farmers
coast that early European visitors reported that they son, likens it to ploughing elds seven times a year, pointing
hardly have been able to row a boat through them. out that not many crops would survive such treatment.
They found that if they just lowered a basket over the side
of a boat they could pull it up thick with the sh. The lm devotes much attention to the bluen tuna, which
is increasingly threatened with extinction. It shows the
Now these waters are empty. The cod fishery which European Union setting a bluen tuna shing quota of
peaked at 810,000 tonnes a year in 1968 suddenly 29,500 tonnes a year, twice the 15,000 tonnes that scientists
collapsed and had to be closed in 1992, throwing some recommend as the maximum if collapse is to be avoided,
30,000 people out of work. And it still has not recovered. and three times the 10,000 tonnes that they believe would
Indeed the very ecology of the sea seems to have changed, allow the species to recover.
becoming dominated by shrimp and crab, rather than
by fish. And it also shows how Mediterranean shermen out even
these lax limits to take 61,000 tonnes of bluen a year
Scientists now fear that overshing is doing to the worlds equivalent to a third of the entire population of the sh. Too
oceans what it did to the sea off Newfoundland, and to a generous quotas, and illegal shing beyond them, bedevil
host of species besides cod. A team led by Dr Boris Worm of other sheries too, such as in the North Sea.
the University of Dalhousie in nearby Nova Scotia, concluded
in 2006 that global sh stocks had been in steep decline for But when fishing is properly controlled, stocks can
almost 20 years. If the trend were to continue, it added, the recover. So-called no-take zones, for example, do not
oceans could be empty of edible sh by the middle of the just allow fish to recover inside them, but often repopulate
century, a disaster for the more than a billion people who surrounding waters. And a new paper co-authored by Dr
rely on them for protein. Worm shows that good management is rebuilding stocks
off California, Chile, New England, northwest Australia
Put simply, there are too many people and too many boats and Mexico, among other places. Though these remain
hunting too few sh. A new lm, The End of the Line, drops in the proverbial ocean, he sounds an optimistic
based on a best-selling book by British journalist Charles note. When people understand crises, changes start to
Clover, reports: Global shing capacity could catch the happen, he says.
world catch four times over.
Consumers can help by choosing to eat only sustainably
Modern technology, like radar and vast nets, mops up sh. sourced sh and by pressurizing governments to set sen-
So-called bottom trawling, which drags nets along the sible quotas and then enforce them.
Biodiversity 17
The BIG ideas
Martin Jenkins Struggle for existence
Almost everyone agrees that the world at the start of Central to this notion was the struggle for existence. All
the 21st century is not in great shape. Many sober- individuals competed with others of their own and other
species to survive and reproduce. Individuals varied in how
minded scientists argue that we stand on the brink of
successful they were depending on how well they were
environmental catastrophe, with only a decade or two adapted to their environment. Some of the reasons for this
to put our house in order, or face the consequences. variation lay in characteristics that could be passed on from
How we respond to the challenges climate change, one generation to another. The best adapted individuals
deforestation, pollution, overshing to name a few naturally tended to have more offspring than the less well
depends not only on our political will but also on our adapted, so that gradually individuals with particularly
successful traits would become much commoner in the
scientic understanding of how the world works. In the
population. The others would eventually die out, having been
past two centuries two scientists have played a huge out-competed by their more successful relatives.
part in improving this understanding. One has had such
a profound impact on the way we think that it is hard to One conclusion from this was that extinction was natural;
imagine how people saw the world before. The other, it was a fact of life. Another was that all living species,
much more recent, presented ideas that many people, including humans, were the descendants of now extinct
forms. We were just another species, subject to the same
including many scientists, still nd hard to grasp, but
rules as all other living things (including the possibility of
which may have an even more direct bearing on what extinction), something that many people with strong religious
we should be doing in the face of environmental crises. convictions nd hard to accept to this day.
18 TUNZA Vol 7 No 3
Gaining acceptance
Many conventional scientists have had huge problems coming
to terms with this idea. They could not see how the biosphere
could behave as a self-regulating entity and still obey the
laws of physics, chemistry and biology as they understood
them. In particular, they could not square the idea with
Darwinian notions of natural selection acting on essentially
selsh individuals. However, Lovelock and his colleagues have
used simple models, most famously Daisyworld a planet
populated by two kinds of daisy to show that it is perfectly
possible for organisms behaving in a normal Darwinian way to
have a Gaia-like effect. With the help of Daisyworld and other
models and studies, the Gaia hypothesis is gaining ground,
Bruno Comby, Creative Commons although it still meets with some resistance.
Biodiversity 19
Biosphoto/N-A Petit/Still Pictures
Imagine walking sandy beaches, the sea lit by the moon. Indonesias islands teem with so much life that it hasnt
A trail of footprints appears, but from turtles, not people. even been thoroughly catalogued. Every summer, around
Following them leads to treasure: their eggs. 70 undergraduates from the forestry department at Bogor
Agricultural University visit one of Indonesias protected
Last summer I led eight Rover Scouts from Singapore areas to help collect biodiversity data. The students focus
to the Setiu Wetlands in Malaysia to help WWF conserve on lesser-known species important to maintaining eco-
turtles. The wetlands are an important nesting ground system balance, especially birds, small mammals, rare and
for two endangered species, the painted terrapin and medicinal plants, and insects.
the green turtle. When we spotted eggs, an experienced
WWF ranger dug them out carefully to incubate them in a I was at Betung Kerihun National Park, West Kalimantan.
hatchery protected from poachers and pollution. We identied wildlife, monitored species population and
density, and identied and measured vegetation. We also
By day, we planted 1,000 mangrove trees along the banks interviewed local indigenous people to collect traditional
of the Setiu River, and helped locals with much-needed knowledge about uses of plants and animals for medicine,
building work. Biodiversity loss is often related to human food and fuel.
needs, so nding sustainable ways to meet them is crucial.
But the best moments were watching newly hatched turtles Student explorations yield up-to-date information that uni-
emerging from the sand, and releasing them to the sea. versities and conservation organizations can use, while
Sometimes, nature needs a helping hand. giving young people important eld-research experience.
Tan Sijie, Singapore Gista Rukminda, Indonesia
Poverty has forced many people in my community of WWF has worked in China to protect the giant panda for
Victoria Falls to overexploit natural resources, harming decades. I joined a project in the Minshan region that
local biodiversity. They often, for example, cut down focuses on restoring giant panda habitat while preserving
the endangered mukwa tree (African teak Pterocarpus the culture and livelihoods of local people. My job was to
angolensis) for fuel and to carve sculptures to sell to edit reports and newsletters.
tourists, who also buy the fur and ivory of poached animals.
I learned a lot about strategies to protect pandas,
In 2007 I initiated a campaign to increase community including reconnecting corridors between their habi-
awareness. The term biodiversity is relatively new here, so tats that had been blocked by human activity, and
I used accessible approaches like storytelling, nature walks strengthening local peoples capacity to manage resources
and tree planting, using the slogan for every tree you cut, sustainably.
plant three. I also organize drawing competitions in local
schools, and have produced a play. I did once see pandas close up, during a photography
workshop. It was an unforgettable experience. I feel hon-
My message is: Taking from nature is not enough, we must oured to have been given the chance to help protect this
give back. beautiful animal.
Nigel Chitombo, Zimbabwe Alex Hirsch, United States of America
Mcphoto/Still Pictures
20 TUNZA Vol 7 No 3
The forgotten kingdom
Kate de Mattos-Shipley
F
ungi an estimated 2 million species including loss has killed millions of trees and is believed to be a major
mushrooms, toadstools, yeasts and moulds form factor in the decline of forests.
a forgotten kingdom of life, often overshadowed
by more conspicuous and celebrated plants and animals. Fungal species in Europe and most likely elsewhere are
Though often associated with decay and disease, they themselves declining catastrophically, even suggesting that
are an enormously diverse and vitally important group of a mass extinction is under way. Understanding the threats to
organisms without which the giant ecosystem we call home fungi, and how they can be protected, is essential if this is to
could not function. be reversed.
They are best known as the yeast for bread and fermenting With each species lost, humanity loses sources of potential
beer, or the wonderful collection of mushrooms and trufes new medicines, chemicals and food, as well as links to the
that tantalize the taste buds. But such services are just a hint food webs and ecosystem processes that are essential for
of what fungi really provide. clean water, clean air and healthy ecosystems. Fungi may
not look too good on a poster, but without them the human
They are vital in medicine, producing some of the top-selling race could not and would not exist.
antibiotics, including penicillin. They also provide drugs to
control cholesterol, to stop rejection of transplanted organs
and to help with childbirth. And now, the morel, long prized FACTS ON FUNGI
by cooks, is being studied for its pain-relieving and even
cancer-curing properties. Unlike most animals and plants, which have only two
genders, some mushrooms are known to have over 28,000!
Weve all been warned about eating poisonous mushrooms,
but actually they cause fewer deaths than bee stings or For every human on the planet it has been estimated that
lightening strikes. And some of their toxicity can be usefully there are more than 2 tonnes of fungi.
harnessed as biocontrol agents against specic insect pests.
The largest organism in the world is an Armillaria ostoyae, or
Fungi also provide natures own recycling plant. Without them honey mushroom, in the Malheur National Forest in Oregon
everything would be buried under piles of animal and plant a fungus the size of 1,665 football elds. Experts estimate it
remains. In fact they will decompose any organic matter to be at least 2,400 years old, but it could be 7,200.
whether a cardboard box, paint, a leather jacket, jet fuel or
even the TNT used in explosives and offer huge potential The Jack oLantern mushroom (Omphalotus olearius), like
for cleaning polluted land, even of radioactive waste. reies and some marine bacteria, is bioluminescent.
People have even used the mushrooms as lights.
Between 80 and 90 per cent of plants rely on symbiotic fungi
to break down their food for them. But these fungi are being Kate de Mattos-Shipley is researching fungi at the University
harmed by air pollution turning soils acidic; their resulting of Bristol, United Kingdom.
Biodiversity 21
invasive
7 species
Invasive species are the second most important threat to biodiversity, after habitat loss: 80 per cent of all the worlds
endangered species are thought to be threatened by them. The problem is as old as travel itself: rabbits, which originated
in Spain and Portugal, were spread around the Mediterranean by Phoenician traders 3,000 years ago. Many alien species
were deliberately introduced to new habitats, but modern trade and transport have vastly increased the pace and range
of this biological pollution. Species arrive as stowaways on planes, boats, in cargo and especially in the ballast water
carried by tankers.
A comb jelly
Fisheries in the Black Sea collapsed in the 1980s and 1990s
thanks to the arrival of a small, attractive marine creature,
Leidys comb jelly from the western Atlantic. A voracious
consumer of plankton, it can double in size in a day, grow to
maturity in two weeks, and then produce 8,000 offspring daily.
By late 1988 less than a decade after it rst arrived a single
cubic metre of Black Sea water could contain as many as 500
jellies; in all, the sea contained about a billion tonnes of them
and most of the sh that made up the seas traditional catch had
disappeared. Introducing a particular plankton has now helped
control them, but they have also hit the Caspian Sea.
R Dirscherl/WaterFrame/Still Pictures
A mosquito
Used tyres have spread the disease-carrying Asian tiger
mosquito round the world from its native Southeast Asia; it now
inhabits Europe, both Americas, the Caribbean, Africa and the
Middle East, though surveillance programmes in Australia and
New Zealand have managed to stop it becoming established
there too. It travels as eggs, larvae or pupae in the small pools
of rainwater that accumulate inside tyres carried around the
world in ships, and can transmit a host of pathogens including
yellow fever, west Nile virus, dengue fever, St Louis encephalitis
and chikungunya fever.
A knotweed
At home in eastern Asia, where it is naturally controlled by
other species that evolved alongside it, the Japanese knotweed
is treasured. Its stems are eaten as a spring vegetable, it is
used as a laxative in herbal medicine, and its owers provide
important nectar for bees at a time of year when little else is
out. But abroad in Europe and North America where it was
introduced as an ornamental plant it is a menace. Able to grow
3 metres high in just a few months and so tough it can sprout
through pavements it quickly forms dense thickets, stiing
other plants on which insects depend, and damaging buildings,
ood defences and drainage systems.
22 TUNZA Vol 7 No 3
An ant
Hide your i-Pod! Lock up your computer! The crazy Raspberry
ants are coming. The tiny reddish-brown ants which get their
name from their fast, random movements and an exterminator
called Tom Raspberry who rst noticed they were a problem
are spreading through Texas after arriving on a cargo ship,
nobody knows from where. They are not attracted to ant baits
and are immune to over-the-counter poisons. Most remarkably,
they head for anything electronic and eat its insulation,
knocking out computers, electricity meters, burglar alarms,
telephone exchanges, even a sewage works, and are now
heading towards NASAs Johnson Space Center.
www.epestsupply.com
A mussel
It may only be the size of a ngernail, but the zebra mussel
causes $5 billion worth of damage every year in the United
States alone. The striped molluscs spread by attaching
themselves to the bottoms of boats, including leisure craft,
crossing seas and making their way across land when the
vessels are moved on trailers. Originally from lakes in south-
east Russia, they now plague North America, the United
Kingdom, Sweden, Spain and other countries. In moderation
they are benecial, removing pollution as they lter feed. But
with each female producing up to a million eggs a year they
quickly foul boats, clog up pipes, block water intakes and stie
other underwater life.
Wolfgang Poelzer/WaterFrame/Still Pictures
A snake
Sometimes it travels in the wheel well of aeroplanes, some-
times in ships cargo holds, but the brown tree snake is a
particularly destructive stowaway. Native to northeast Australia
and Papua New Guinea, it rst arrived on the Pacic island of
Guam as a result of US military operations after the Second
World War. Since then it has driven to extinction all the islands
breeding seabirds, 10 out of its 13 species of native forest birds,
two out of its three indigenous mammals, and six out of its 12
lizard species. It is now spreading to other vulnerable Pacic
islands and has reached as far as Japan, Singapore, Spain and
the United States of America.
A starling
Starlings are only mentioned once in Shakespeare, in Henry IV
Part I. But that one line was responsible for a continent-wide
invasion. In the late 19th century a group called the American
Acclimatization Society introduced the birds mentioned by the
bard into the New World. A hundred starlings were released
in Central Park, and quickly spread. Now there are some 200
million of them, competing with native species, harming crops
and shorting electric power lines with their copious droppings.
But as an article in The New York Times concluded: It is not
their fault that they treated an open continent much as we
ourselves did.
Biodiversity 23
I choose the happy life, do you?
Thats the title 9-year-old Ludmila Balovneva (left), from Novosibirsk, Russia,
gave her painting (above) a weeping planet encircled with smoke, or a
smiling Earth encircled with flowers. Where I live, everything is polluted,
said Ludmila. There is broken glass and rubbish everywhere. And the trees
get cut down. I wanted to depict two ways of developing the world. The clean
way and the dirty way. Its about the future.
UNEP
Ludmilas picture was the overall winner of the 18th International Childrens Painting
Competition on the Environment organized by UNEP, the Foundation for Global Peace and
Environment, Bayer and Nikon which attracted a record 2.4 million entries from children
in 89 countries. The winners were unveiled at the Tunza International Children and Youth
Conference in Daejeon.
What we see in these paintings is that children are aware of the challenges facing the
planet, said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner. Given the opportunity, they can
contribute to solutions. We can all learn a great deal from the insight children have about
our world and our responsibility.
Get painting!
The theme for the 19th competition, also announced in Daejeon, is Biodiversity to mark
2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. Entries may be submitted to the UNEP
regional ofces up to 15 April 2010.