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Policy > Gran Canaria Declaration on Climate Change: Press Information
Gran Canaria Declaration on Climate Change: Press Information PRESS INFORMATION Download this press release as a Word Doc (50kb) Botanists in Global Action Call to Prevent Mass Plant Extinction
“While the impact of climate change on iconic animal species, such as polar bears, is well recognised,” says Sara Oldfield, Secretary General of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), which is co-ordinating the initiative, “the threat that global warming poses to plant diversity is often overlooked and this could have serious consequences for the future of the planet.” In issuing its ‘Gran Canaria Declaration on Climate Change and Plant Conservation’ the Gran Canaria Group, whose membership is drawn from major biodiversity conservation organisations around the world, including botanic gardens, calls on the international community to take urgent action to protect global plant diversity. The declaration provides specific guidelines for action and recognises the pivotal role of botanic gardens in delivering the conservation message worldwide to their over 200 million annual visitors. Equally important, it says, botanic gardens offer an insurance policy for the future, their collections of wild plants safeguarded as native habitats vanish. Key climate change concerns are also highlighted in the declaration, including the use of natural vegetation in water management and carbon offsetting and the vital defensive work of coastal ecosystems in the face of rising sea levels and extreme weather events. The declaration calls for immediate conservation action to protect plant species most at risk from climate change. And priority must also be given to:
Building on the United Nation’ s successful adoption in 2002 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), following the first Gran Canaria Declaration in 2000, the group argues for a re-definition of the GSPC to respond more effectively to the realities of climate change. It recommends that the BGCI-facilitated Global Partnership for Plant Conservation (GPPC), which supports and is active in implementing the GSPC, be closely involved in this process. The terrifying implications of plant extinctions for the future of humankind and the wellbeing of the planet simply cannot be underestimated, the scientists believe and time, they argue, is running out. A recent study of four of the world’s most important food crops, rice, potato, peanut and cowpea, predicts that climate change over the next fifty years will have a devastating impact on their wild relatives, which harbour the genetic diversity that may enable cultivated crops to adapt to changing climatic conditions. By 2055, says the research, up to a quarter of all potato, peanut and cowpea species could become extinct and over 50% of the land area currently suitable for their cultivation could be gone. “Maintaining the genetic diversity that exists among the wild plant population is absolutely essential if we are to have any chance of mitigating the effects of climate change,” says Emile Frison, Director General of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), a co-signatory of the declaration. “And this is not just a plant problem, but a human one too. Plants are key to human survival, not just for food, but medicines and many other essential materials.” And as environments change faster than plant species can migrate, scientists estimate that in less than 80 years up to half of Europe’s plant species could be under threat and a massive 60% of mountain species may have vanished. “We have to step up to the challenge now, at every level, if we are to make a difference,” warns BGCI’s Sara Oldfield. “ The impact of global climate change on plants and habitats is already being felt and unless we do something about it urgently, the implications for all life on earth are bound to be severe.” September 7th 2006 ENDS NOTES TO EDITORSA PDF of the Gran Canaria Declaration II on Climate Change and Plant Conservation is available at www.bgci.org BackgroundThe Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) was adopted unanimously by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in April 2002, just two years after the first Gran Canaria Declaration. The GSPC has 16 ambitious targets aimed at achieving a series of measurable goals by 2010. The targets are grouped under five headings:
The GSPC is also being used to monitor the CBD’s overall goal to achieve, by 2010, a significant reduction in the current rate of global biodiversity loss as a contribution to poverty alleviation and the benefit of all life on earth. Recognising the urgent need to respond to the global challenge of climate change within the framework of the GSPC, the Gran Canaria Group (drawn from major national and international organisations and institutions engaged in biodiversity conservation) convened in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, in April 2006. The Gran Canaria Declaration II, however, looks beyond 2010 to a timeframe covering the rest of the century. The first Gran Canaria Group met in April 2000, a move that led ultimately to the development and adoption of the GSPC. Membership of the Gran Canaria Group 2006 is as follows: Alberto Gomez-Mejia, Chair National Botanic Garden Network, Colombia Annie Lane, International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Italy Clare Trivedi, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew David Bramwell, Viera y Clavijo Botanic Garden, Spain (Chair) Esteban Hernandez Bermejo, Cordoba Botanic Garden, Spain Huang Hongwen, Wuhan Botanic Garden, China Jameson Seyani, National Herbarium, Malawi Jon Lovett, University of York, UK Juli Caujape Castells, Viera y Clavijo Botanic Garden, Spain Kerry Waylen, Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), UK Oswaldo Tellez-Valdes, UNAM, Mexico Pati Vitt, Chicago Botanic Garden, USA Paul Smith, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Sara Oldfield, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, UK Stephen Blackmore, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, UK Suzanne Sharrock, Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), UK Species NumbersEven today the number of plant species currently in existence is not clear. New species are still being identified and calculating anything like an accurate number is further complicated by the many examples of the same species in different areas being known by different names. Target 1 of the GSPC calls for “a widely accessible working list of know plant species, as a step towards a complete world flora, and it is expected that the working list will be complete by 2008. In the meantime, the best estimate we have of the number of known plant species is around 400,000.How many of these plant species are under threat is also unclear. In 1997, the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) Red List of Plants included some 34,000 threatened species (out of 60,000 evaluated). Since then, the IUCN Red Listing criteria have changed, and only around 11,000 species have been evaluated with the new system. However, of those evaluated, some 8,000 species were found to be under threat. Both of these assessments indicate that well over half of all plants evaluated are at risk. At the national level, we know that around 20% of the UK’s flora is threatened. A global estimate of one in four plant species being under threat of extinction is therefore reasonable. About BGCIBotanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI)Descanso House 199 Kew Road Richmond Surrey TW9 3BW Tel 020 8332 5953 BGCI is the largest international network of botanic gardens and related institutions working collectively for plant conservation and environmental education. Its mission is “to mobilise botanic gardens and engage partners in securing plant diversity for the well-being of people and the planet.” Established in 1987 and with over 550 garden members drawn from almost 120 countries, BGCI provides technical and policy guidance as well as regular up to date information through its newsletters, magazines, conferences and courses. From influencing government policies and priorities to encouraging grassroots action, BGCI’s global reach and professional expertise enables it to achieve real conservation milestones. For all media enquiries, contact David Jeffreys on 020 8840 7931 or e-mail at: david@jeffreyshome.demon.co.uk |
