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7 Infrastructure for Sustaining Biodiversity-Society
Pages 411-480

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From page 413...
... Today, such access is denied to much of mankind. At the global level, we face the pervasive reach of poverty, uncertainty over food security and the resource base, and increasingly diminished if not lost natural habitats and ecosystems.
From page 414...
... The deforestation of tropical rain forests, the greatest cause of species extinction, is expected to continue. Some 50% of the world's species (estimated at 10-100 million)
From page 415...
... Biological resources provide the most important contributions to livelihoods and welfare: food, medi' cines, health, income, employment, and cultural integrity. Over 80% of the world's population depends partly on traditional medicines and medicinal plants, and some 60% of plant species (35,000)
From page 416...
... In the case of the rural poor, biological resources are often the most important source of economic and social well-being in the form of food supplies, medicine, shelter, income, employment, and cultural integrity. Successful biodiversity conservation also depends on sound policies and effective institutional and social arrangements.
From page 417...
... Some ex situ facilities notably zoos and botanical gardens offer important op' portunities for public education and contribute substantially to taxonomy and field research.
From page 418...
... In cooperation with the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (The World Conservation Union/IUCN) , World Resources Institute, Conservation International, World Wildlife Fund-US, and the World Bank.
From page 419...
... Envir Sust Devel Stud Monogr Ser 11. Washington DC: World Bank.
From page 420...
... This essay explores the many ways in which indigenous peoples relate to each other and to components of the ecosystems in which they play an essential role.) ~ Indigenous peoples are members of communities that to a large extent follow their own cultural rules and their own social and economic practices and often also elect their own local leaders.
From page 421...
... Commonly, a distinction is made between climax or mature rain forests that have ever wet environments and monsoon or seasonal secondary forests that have a marked dry period, but this is an oversimplification. In reality, all tropical forests are dynamic, subject to con' stant processes of natural disturbance caused by a series of biotic factors (such as insects and vertebrates)
From page 422...
... could have lived in mature for' ests without cultivating plants or domesticating animals or could have lived inde' pendently of their agricultural neighbors, with whom they exchanged forest products for food crops (Harlan 1995; Hladik and Dounias 1993; Piperno and Pearsall 1998:76-8~. Those who argue against the possibility of foragers living in' dependently portray the tropical rain forest as having limited food resources, es' pecially wild starches and animals with adequate fat reserves (Hart and Hart 1986; Headland 1987; Bailey and others 1989~.
From page 423...
... Recent excavations of 10 archaeological sites in the Ituri Forest of the northeastern Congo Basin confirmed that hunter-gatherers who exploited wild vegetable-oil resources were living in the African tropical rain forest in the 11th millennium BC, during Pleistocene times (Mercader 1997~. Today, hunter-gatherers might not consume as much wild food, simply because it is less work to obtain cultivated foods through trade.
From page 424...
... Common opinion has it that none of the major crops origi' nated in tropical forests that most economically important plants came from areas with low species diversity, such as the Middle East (or southwestern Asia) , Eurasia, Mesoamerica, the Andes, and North Africa.
From page 425...
... It also must be explained with reference to particular historical experiences that have shaped social processes, such as the systems of belief, the technologies used, and the division of labor by gender. Turning now to Southeast Asia, a few distinct groups of hunter~gatherers re' main in the tropical forests of Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Sumatra, and Borneo.
From page 426...
... In fact, "by substituting a diverse assemblage of cultivated plants for the wild species of the forest this type of polycultural conuco stimulates much more closely than monocultural plots do the structure and dynamics of the natural forest ecosystem" (Harris 1971:481~. The same parcel may be cultivated for 2-3 years and then lie fallow for 5-20 years to restore its fertility.
From page 427...
... It is difficult to find swidden farmers anywhere in tropical Africa who do not grow commercial crops as well, on a more permanent basis, such as oil palms, cocoa, coffee, and tea in the highlands. Growing single crops (monocrops)
From page 428...
... Hence, the particular social history of an individual group, including its relations with its neighbors, and not only environmental constraints or direct contact with nonindigenous peoples, can contribute substantially to the shape of its future. INDIGENOUS FORMS OF AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION Agricultural production can be increased by applying ever larger amounts of la' bar to improving small parcels that are cropped permanently, rather than by en' larding the amount of land that is cultivated.
From page 429...
... These enduring social institutions are not simply defined by productive relations; they are the principal explanation of why and how the Chiripa have survived as an ethnic group. Thus, agroforestry can allow indigenous peoples to participate in the national economy without irreversible damage to the environment, provided that they have the right social institutions in place.
From page 430...
... Clearly, then, indigenous peoples have the capacity to transform tropical rainforest environments without destroying their biodiversity. "Cultural knowledge leads to different land-management practices that increase biological diversityprotection of sacred forests, building and maintaining hedgerows, planting a diversity of crops and varieties, and protecting plants in the forest" (Brush 1996:2-3~.
From page 431...
... Since then, conditions have changed; the world's tropical forests and the people living within them are increasingly under threat from overpopulation; from land-hungry peasants, unskilled migrants, loggers, miners, and cattle ranchers; from government projects to build roads and dams; and from commercial plantations and crop monocultures. Cultural diversity is being reduced even faster than biological diversity.
From page 432...
... In every instance, the general rule should be "to put more faith in the rural population, the people whose way of life depends on how well they manage their biological resources" (McNeely and Ness 1996, p 64~. Everywhere, but crucially in the world's tropical forests, fulfilling cultural needs and conserving biodiversity must proceed hand in hand.
From page 433...
... 1990. Monospecific dominance in tropical rain forests.
From page 434...
... 1992. An introduction to tropical rain forests.
From page 435...
... reported that 485 animal species and 585 plant species are known to have become extinct since 1600. Although this is an extremely high level of extinct tion for plants, the average rate of extinction is 0.5% of all species per centurywhat is more alarming is the increase in these rates half of all those extinctions occurred within the last century.
From page 436...
... This figure is al' most certainly an underestimate, in that the IUCN lists only species known to science. With the rapid destruction of tropical rain forests, ecosystems in which roughly one new plant species is discovered for every hundred collected, many unknown plant species are disappearing.
From page 437...
... VANISHING CULTURES A variety of animal species ranging from social insects to chimpanzees can be said to have societal structures complete with communication systems, but human cultures are distinguished by the complexity of the languages used. The ability to use language, symbolic systems of vocalization that have sophisticated grammar and syntax, is one of the characteristics of our species.
From page 438...
... believes that the coming century "will see either the death or doom of 90% of mankind's languages.', As the rate of extinction of species is but a crude index to the actual loss of the world's genetic diversity, so is the rate of disappearance of languages only a rough estimate of the world's vanishing cultural diversity. If we accept that both the biological and cultural diversity of the world are imperiled, then it seems that ethnobiology, the study of the interaction between human culture and biodiver' sity, will assume increasing importance in the future.
From page 439...
... The potential importance of using indigenous knowledge to unlock the benefits of biological diversity is what led the international community to include preservation of traditional knowledge in the Convention on Biological Diversity drafted in Rio de Janeiro. CONSERVATION Linnaeus not only invented modern botanical nomenclature and ethnobotany; he also served as a pioneer of conservation.
From page 440...
... In addition, the US House of Representatives recently passed the Tropi' cat Forest Conservation Act of 1998 (HR 2870) , which not only facilitates the exchange of international debts for conservation of rain forests, but also requires consultation with indigenous peoples in the use of funds for conservation.
From page 441...
... Although universities have been slow to meet the demand for ethnobotanical training, botanical gardens offer a unique setting for students and custodians of traditional knowledge to meet and discuss strategies for protecting both species and cultural biodiversity. Most countries of the world have botanical gardens, and those gardens should work now to fill the breach in ethnobotanical training, emphasizing the relationship between endangered plants and vanishing cultures.
From page 442...
... 1997a. Nafanua: saving the Samoan rain forest.
From page 443...
... He directed that someone open a back door which led out to a garden and that all of us stand absolutely still. Within minutes the pigeon flew down to the lobby floor and from about 10 feet away stood inspecting Colonel van der Post with that sideto-side movement that pigeons employ when sizing up a situation.
From page 444...
... As the hunter in The Hunter and the Whale explained: One of the reasons why nature, and animals in particular, were so important to us today was because they are a reminder that we could live life not according to our own will, but to God's' (van der Post 1987~. Such is our context this afternoon: pigeons, humans, aquifers, apartment buildings and rain forests, stubborn camels, and stars in particular, the structural interdependence and interconnectedness of all creatures.
From page 445...
... and Mrs. America and the families of Japan and Europe we'll hold off asking Africa, the Far East, Latin America, and China for the moment if we ask these "developed" folks where in their lives they honestly rate the importance of religion and the crisis of the environment, I think the answers to both will be lukewarm.
From page 446...
... Of course, as in most marriages to' day, there had already been a number of overnight stands and some closeted at' tempts at cohabitation. For example, Gregory Bateson, Rene Dubos, Margaret Mead, Carl Sagan, James Lovelock, and 2 dozen other environmental scientists and scholars had regularly preached at New York's Cathedral of St.
From page 447...
... It was to be under the formal patronage of the archbishop of Canterbury on the religious side, joined by the Dalai Lama, Cardinal Koenig of Vienna, Mother Teresa, and the high priest of the African rain forest and on the political side by two senior senators, Sat Pal Mittal of India and Manuel Ulloa of Peru. Most astonishing was the arrival of a delegation from the Soviet Union that included archbishops, rabbis, imams, cosmonauts, the president of the Supreme Soviet, and Gorbachev's chief nuclear adviser, Evgeny Velikov, who headed up the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
From page 448...
... But on the last day, Carl Sagan and Evgeny Velikov asked all the assembled world religious leaders to join their American confreres and add their names to the "joint Appeal of Religion and Science," bringing the total to 300. And every session was opened by either a prayer or a chant or a moment of silent meditation from the religious traditions of the planet.
From page 449...
... On the wall behind the podium stood a colossal 12-ft statue of Lenin, the only decoration in this exceedingly austere chamber, and on the rostrum were eight chairs: Gorbachev in the center flanked by Archbishop Pitorim, Angie Biddle Duke, Senator Manuel Ulloa, Akio Matsumura, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, Carl Sagan, and me. To the astonishment of all 1,200, the session began when a skinny saffron-robed swami from India, who happened also to be a well-known microbiologist, mounted the podium, rapped the floor with his walking stick, and slowly began to chant "am." The entire room joined in the om-ing, and I wondered what Lenin thought from his lofty perch above us.
From page 450...
... , the new joint appeal held its first conference, be' ginning at New York's Museum of Natural Science and continuing at the cathedral, where 24 top religious leaders met Jewish, Roman Catholic, Evangelical, mainline Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox leaders, and executives of the historic catty black churches to be briefed by no less than Peter Raven, E.O. Wilson, James Hansen, Sherwood Rowland, Henry Kendall, Anne Whyte, Beverly Davison, Steven Jay Gould, Ann Druyan, and, of course, Sagan, Gore, and Wirth.
From page 451...
... By fall of 1992, we were laying the groundwork for the new child of the Joint Appeal, a brand new baby to be called the National Religious Partnership for the Environment and to be composed of four religious partners: the Roman Catholic Church, the three denominations of Judaism, the National Council of Churches (including all the mainline Protestant, Orthodox and black churches) , and the Evangelical Christians (including the Southern Baptists and all the Pentecostal churches)
From page 452...
... But whatever the sources, it must produce a profound urgency that turns our whole lifestyle and life orientation upside down for the long haul not for 2 years but for 2 millennia. It must be an urgency that converts us and makes us gladly adopt a positive asceticism that can literally preserve Earth and all life on it.
From page 453...
... Today, there are more Moslems than Presbyterians in Houston, Texas, and more mosques than Anglican churches in Birmingham, England. All life today is urbanized and every city worldwide is increasingly an implosion of the planet's religious, racial, and cultural diversity into new demographic containers of connectedness.
From page 454...
... We really want to do everything to make our given connectedness visible and understandable in all its beautiful di' versity so that everyone can learn to appreciate both the forest and the trees, both the pigeons and the stars. Now let me end where I began with our two stargazers, Laurens van der Post and Carl Sagan.
From page 455...
... Americans have lived with messages about environmental Armageddon since the first Earth Day, and they continue to be bombarded with fearful messages ranging from water pollution to destruction of the rain forests. How do we reconnect the American public with the natural world and engage its involvement in stemming the biodiversity crisis?
From page 456...
... In an age of sound bites and slogans, the word provides us with a challenging starting point for public education. Focus-group research commissioned by the Communications Consortium Media Center (CCMC)
From page 457...
... In the last 10 years, the public has consistently supported government action to protect the environment, and the 1996 poll indicated that large majorities are in favor of maintaining strong clean water (85%) and endangered species (76%)
From page 458...
... The poll identified responsibilities to family and saving Earth for future generations as the most widely held values that form attitudes toward the environment. Other values such as respecting God's Creation, aesthetics, personal use and enjoyment, patriotism, and a belief in nature's rights were fundamental to segments of the public but not as broadly held as responsibility to family and future generations.
From page 459...
... Educators and communicators need to be able to illustrate biodiversity so that it can be seen and understood. For example, if Americans cannot distinguish between a pine plantation and a healthy natural forest, they will have difficulty grasping the value of biodiversity.
From page 460...
... , and this is perhaps the fundamental principle from which strategies for public education about biodiversity can begin. This and similar principles, such as the value of keeping all the "connections," can provide a framework for public awareness, through which the public can evaluate and respond to rapidly changing information and debates about policy.
From page 461...
... The fraying tapestry of life on Earth respects neither human institutions nor the challenges of working across traditional boundaries of specialty, discipline, and expertise. At the Biodiversity Project, we are persuaded by the daily, if not hourly, disappearance of species and by the rapid destruction of habitat throughout the globe that the urgency of this issue demands creative new responses.
From page 462...
... Hence, we chose a strategy to bring them together: Columbia Uni' versity, the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Botanical Gar' den, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and Wildlife Preservation Trust Interna' tional. SCOPE Much has been written about how education and training in environmental conservation should be delivered (Iacobson 1995~.
From page 463...
... By providing education and training programs that extend from high~school stu' dents to high level environmental managers, CERC hopes first to generate inter' est among and identify those high~school and college students who have the great' est aptitude for environmental conservation. Second, we hope to provide unique opportunities to build the capacity of future environmental leaders at the level of graduate students and midcareer professionals.
From page 464...
... Wildlife Preservation Trust International (WPTI) , working through local conservation scientists and educators, conducts interdisciplinary, small-scale projects at the grassroots level in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa.
From page 465...
... Graduates of this major have a strong foundation in the life sciences and an exposure to relevant fields in the social sciences, such as economics and anthropology. This major also provides the necessary training for students who wish to pursue graduate studies, such as the new biodiversity-conservation-based Ecology and Evolutionary Biology PhD program offered by CERC, the Conservation Biology MA program offered by
From page 466...
... The 2'year, standalone MA program emphasizes the biological sciences but includes a basic foundation in environmental policy. After taking specially developed MA core courses in the natural science of conservation biology and the social science of environmental policy, students have the option of tailoring their remaining coursework to follow either an academic or a professional track.
From page 467...
... The certificate program, co-organized with SIPA, includes the completion of six courses and one internship, participation in a problem-solving workshop, and preparation of one interdisciplinary research paper. Outside the CERC program, we also offer a parallel certificate in conservation biology for social-science PhD students, to give candidates in the social sciences a strong foundation in areas of biology that will enable them to contribute as much as possible to the formulation of sound environmental policy.
From page 468...
... , which was created to help high-level conservation managers from countries of high or unique biodiversity in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and eastern Europe to develop strategies to carry out their individual mandates for conserving biodiversity. The curriculum includes sessions on strategic planning, on emerging techniques such as conservation genetics, in systematics research, in population biology, and in resource economics.
From page 469...
... CONCLUSION The Center for Environmental Research and Conservation is an ambitious experiment to meld the many strengths in science and policy of its member institutions into a cohesive effort that can make a difference globally in the education and training of both current and future environmental leaders. It is a model worth trying in other regional centers of biodiversity research in the United States and
From page 470...
... New York NY: Columbia Univ Pr.
From page 471...
... Humankind has a long history of destroying its natural capital, especially soil and forest cover. The entire Mediterranean region shows the effects of siltation, overgrazing, deforestation, and erosion or salinization caused by irrigation (Hillel 1991~.
From page 472...
... Natural capitalism includes four distinct yet intertwined patterns of change. The first is a shift from an economy based on incremental improvements in human productivity to one emphasizing dramatic and in some cases radical gains in resource productivity increases of a factor of 4-10, which means getting 4-10 times as much wealth from the same resources.
From page 473...
... All four are interrelated and interdependent, and all four generate numerous other effects in the environment, finance, resources, and society. RADICAL RESOURCE PRODUCTIVITY Radical resource productivity means getting the same amount of work or ser' vice from a product or process while using 75-90% less resources.
From page 474...
... In food, it will mean dramatic reductions in input of fuels and chemicals with increasing yields. To create breakthroughs in radical resource productivity, chemists, materials scientists, process engineers, biologists, and industrial designers are reexamining the energy, materials, and manufacturing systems required to provide the specific qualities strength, warmth, structure, protection, function, speed, tension, motion required by products and end users.
From page 475...
... Nevertheless, they and thousands more are lining up like salmon to swim upstream toward a world of radical resource productivity. SERVICE AND FLOW Beginning in the middle 1980s, Swiss economist Walter Stahel and German chemist Michael Braungart began to imagine a new industrial model that is now slowly taking shape.
From page 476...
... Braungart and McDonough's system is essentially an industrial system that mimics the nutrient cycles that maintain life on Earth. INVESTING IN NATURAL CAPITAL Businesspeople are familiar with the traditional definition of capital as accumulated wealth in the form of investments, factories, and equipment.
From page 477...
... A capitalistic system needs all three types of capital: financial capital in the form of money, investments, and monetary instruments; manufactured capital in the form of infrastructure, machines, tools, and factories; and natural capital in the form of resources, living systems, and ecosystem services. The industrial sys' tern is a transformation of natural capital in the form of energy, metals, trees, soil, water, and so on, into human~made capital: goods, highways, cities, transport sys' tems, houses, food, and services, such as health and education.
From page 478...
... Knowing that freshwater tables are falling in China, Africa, India, and North America, that forest cover continues to shrink by about 17 million hectares per year, that topsoil losses are about 26 billion tons a year, and that thousands of lakes worldwide are biologically dead can become numbing. Seeing the problem in the context of the whole system makes clear the need to move toward upstream solutionsresource productivity, biomimicry, service-and-flow, and restoring natural capital.
From page 479...
... At the same time, it is already fueling the next industrial revolution. The patterns of change that underlie natural capitalism appear to be the only known way to improve ecological health, create net economic growth, and pro' vice meaningful employment in a world where one~third of the workforce 1 bil' lion people and increasing is marginalized, with no decent work or no work at all.
From page 480...
... 1999. Natural capitalism: creating the next industrial revolution.


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