Biodiversity loss a crisis forgotten January 20, 2010, 2:23pm Finally, the world’s forgotten crisis – biodiversity loss – will get full attention. The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. The goal of IYB is to raise public awareness of the importance of biodiversity and the consequences of its loss. This is also an opportunity to celebrate successes in achieving a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 – the target set by countries which are signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Leading this observance is the CBD Secretariat based in Montreal, Canada. In Southeast Asia, the focal institution is the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity. National celebrations will be spearheaded by each country’s environmental agencies. Biodiversity encompasses all life on Earth, from the smallest insect to the biggest whale. Biodiversity is the web of life that includes the full-range of ecosystems, species living within such ecosystems, and the genetic variety of those species produced by nature or shaped by humans. However, the natural world is not the just the collection of magnificent and wonderful species. We depend on the vast biodiversity around us to supply our daily needs. Biodiversity brings enormous benefits to mankind. We depend on the basic products provided by nature such as water, food, medicine, shelter, clothing, products of businesses and industries, and a host of ecosystem services that protect us from climate change and other harsh environmental conditions. However, this wellspring of life is highly threatened. In Southeast Asia, over 1,000 out of 64,800 known species of plants, mammals and marine life forms are endangered, including the Philippine Eagle, the Visayan Wrinkled Hornbill, the Philippine Tarsier, and the Tamaraw, among others. The entire Philippines has been classified by Conservation International as a biodiversity hotspot. The world, including the Philippines, is losing its biodiversity at unprecedented rates due to deforestation, large-scale mining, massive wildlife hunting, pollution, and other irresponsible human activities. This poses a significant threat to humankind – food security, health, livelihood, and the world’s overall capacity to provide for our needs and those of future generations. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported that out of more than 10,000 different plant species used for food by humans over the millennia, barely 150 species remain under cultivation. Of these, only 12 species provide 80 percent of the world’s food needs and only four – rice, wheat, corn and potatoes – provide more than half of human’s energy requirements.

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