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UN Biodiversity Summit: World must act on wildlife

news release

The world must take action on biodiversity as a priority to avert an ecological catastrophe, Friends of the Earth warned today (Monday 6 October 2014) as the international community gathers for the start of a UN convention on the issue in South Korea.

World Governments are failing to make any meaningful progress on the pledge they made in Nagoya, Japan in 2010, to protect and restore nature and ecosystems by 2020.

Friends of the Earth’s Nature Campaigner Sandra Bell said:

“Our natural environment is fundamental to the well-being of people and the economy, but unless we take urgent action to protect and restore it we will face an ecological disaster.

“The UK is failing too – only seven per cent of its most important sites for nature are in a good condition.

“The UK Government must do far more to protect our precious wildlife. A good start would be to strengthen the forthcoming National Pollinator Strategy to halt the worrying decline in our wild bee species.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1.  The twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity is taking place in Pyeongchang, in South Korea, 6 – 17 October 2014.

2. A Friends of the Earth briefing on the UN Biodiversity meeting is available.

3. Campaigners from Friends of the Earth Europe and Friends of the Earth International will be in Pyeongchang.

4. Friends of the Earth calculated that only 7% of  priority habitats are in good condition using the official UK report summary:

5. Only 0.03% of the UK’s GDP is spent on helping to maintain our biodiversity:

6. In the UK wild bee species are declining due to multiple pressures including habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change.  Bees are essential to producing many of our healthiest foods as well as pollinating many of the flowers we enjoy in our parks and gardens and they are an integral part of supporting other wildlife by pollinating the plants they need for food and shelter.  The Government has committed to producing a National Pollinator Strategy but Friends of the Earth is calling for the draft to be strengthened and for the NPS to be published as a matter of urgency in order to move to implementation of measures to reverse bee decline.

7. It is not just in the UK that bees are in trouble and the implications for food production are deeply worrying.  A worldwide scientific study earlier this year showed that crops are heavily reliant on wild bees for pollination and that this service could not be replicated by using managed honeybees.  The authors warned that if the global decline in wild bee species continues it could threaten agricultural yields at a time that we need to feed a growing population.

8. For more than 40 years we’ve seen that the wellbeing of people and planet go hand in hand – and it’s been the inspiration for our campaigns. Together with thousands of people like you we’ve secured safer food and water, defended wildlife and natural habitats, championed the move to clean energy and acted to keep our climate stable. Be a Friend of the Earth – see things differently. To find out more visit www.foe.co.uk or follow us on Twitter @wwwfoecouk

For press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust

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