Conference
home Programme
ReNED Conference: Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity
in Developing Countries
Objectives
This conference aims at contributing to the understanding of the importance
of biodiversity in terms of maintaining or developing ecosystems services such
as fisheries, forest products, genetic resources for agriculture, pollination
of crops and fruit trees, carbon sequestration in soils, water, human health,
and eco-tourism. The conference addresses five key concerns:
- The importance of biodiversity for maintaining the quality and quantity
of ecosystem services.
- The value of biodiversity in relation to ecosystem services. To whom is
this value important?
- Sustainable financing mechanisms and community based management systems.
Which types of payments are appropriate in terms of institutional set-ups,
the role of local population, etc, and what are the needs for support?
- Biodiversity and ecosystem service monitoring. How can appropriate monitoring
systems be designed in order to ensure sustainability of the system and the
desired impact on the biodiversity and people?
- How do we develop and maintain institutional capacity and good governance
in the South regarding these topics?
The conference will:
- be a forum for exchange of knowledge, information and views between Danish
and international researchers, development assistance professionals and NGO
staff on the issue of ecosystem services and biodiversity in developing countries.
- contribute to the formulation of research and development assistance strategies
concerning ecosystem services and biodiversity.
- promote cross-sectoral and multi-disciplinary research and development
assistance activities in order to assist developing countries in developing
capacity and improving their management of ecosystems and biodiversity.
The conference will seek to bring together researchers from Denmark and abroad
as well as development assistance and NGO staff for an informal and debate-oriented
conference, addressing both issues of general interest and topics related to
specific regions.
Background
All human beings rely upon the services of ecosystems and manipulate them either
directly (farming, mining, fishing, hunting, water, extraction of forest products,
deposition of waste and sewage) or indirectly (emission of green house gases)
in order to sustain life. The rural poor in the Third World, in particular,
rely upon these services for food, clothing, medicine, construction, fuel wood,
water and as a source of income.
Some of these services are considered free of charge, such as free access to
beaches and resources in marine areas, access to terrestrial habitats and extraction
of non-timber forest products in developing countries. By the implementation
of the Convention on Biological Diversity (www.cbd.org) some guidelines for
the transfer of genetic resources and intellectual property rights were agreed
upon by most countries. A utilitarian perspective was applied after Rio-92,
and this has been further developed into the concept of “Ecosystem Services”.
This concept arose because a major part of the World biodiversity is found
in the ecosystems of the tropics where many people rely on the services provided
by natural habitats. Tropical rain forests and coral reefs are the most diverse
ecosystems of the earth and about half of the global human population lives
in or near by these ecosystems and population growth rates are high. Despite
the rich ecosystems, poverty – particularly in rural areas – is predominant
in many African, South and Southeast Asian, and Latin American countries. The
North, on the contrary, is rich regarding GNI and relatively poor in biodiversity,
but utilizes many of the services provided by the ecosystems of the South.
The living organisms, their genetic variation and the ecological complexes
of which they are part constitute the biological diversity or biodiversity,
and they are integral parts of the ecosystems and fundamental for the functioning
of these. Biodiversity is vital for sustainable development and the major reasons
for that are as follows (see also Barrow 2005: p. 98-114, cited below):
1. The environment is changing and challenges agricultural crops, livestock,
and pharmaceutical products. New pests and diseases evolve and create new demands
for pest control and medicine. Material from organisms is constantly needed
to meet these demands.
2. Genetic material is needed in the development of new crops, drugs & antibiotics,
new races of fish, crustaceans and mollusks for aquaculture, bacteria and yeasts
for fermentation or biological treatment of waste.
3. Biodiversity has a philosophical and ethical value, it may inspire new ideas
and scientific advances, and humans have a moral/ethic obligation to protect
it.
4. Sustainable development dictates that we should pass on to the coming generations
at least the same amount of biodiversity as we enjoy at present.
5. Habitats/environments, whose biodiversity have been degraded, may be less
resilient and recover slowly. Degradation may also result in changes in local
climates (e.g. rainfall pattern) and erosion and its side effects (landslides,
unclear water, silt, etc.).
6. In the developing world, biodiversity is important for ensuring resources
for local communities. Communities near these biodiversity areas benefit from
the services provided by the area, but some services also benefit people further
away.
7. Intact ecosystem services may also prevent conflicts related to scarcity
of resources.
These issues have guided the formulation of the five key concerns of this conference
listed under the objectives.
- Barrow, C. J. 2005. Environmental Management and Development.
Routledge Perspectives on Development, Oxford 276 pages.
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