The World Conservation Congress, hosted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world's most influential organization, adopted a resolution in Marseille on the 10th calling for the designation of 80% of the Amazon and 30% of the Earth's surface (both land and marine) as protected areas to halt and reverse the loss of wild species. While the IUCN does not set global policy, its recommendations have formed the basis for UN treaties and conventions. They will help shape the agenda for upcoming UN summits on food systems, biodiversity, and climate change. Saving the Amazon: COICA, a coalition of organizations representing over two million indigenous peoples from South American countries, presented a provisional motion at the congress calling for the designation of four-fifths of the Amazon basin as protected areas by 2025, which received overwhelming support. "Indigenous peoples must defend our homeland, and we must also defend the planet. This motion is a first step," said Jose Gregorio Diaz Mirabal, COICA's general coordinator and leader of the Curripaco people of Venezuela. Over the past 20 years, the Amazon has lost approximately 10,000 square kilometers of forest annually due to deforestation, much of it caused by deliberate fires to clear land for commercial agriculture or grazing. Scientists warn that this destruction, combined with climate change, could push the world's largest tropical forest to an irreversible "tipping point," transforming it into a savannah-like landscape. "30% by 2030" Another resolution, fiercely debated and ultimately adopted by IUCN members (government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and indigenous groups), calls for 30% of the Earth's land and oceans to be protected within 10 years. The resolution mandates that these areas be "biodiversity hotspots" rich in flora and fauna, and subject to rigorous monitoring and enforcement. Many scientists and conservationists have even advocated for a more ambitious "Half-Earth" goal. Brian O'Donnell, director of the Campaign for Nature, said the resolution, which will lead to a nature conservation treaty at the UN Biodiversity Summit next May, "is a clear message to world leaders that they must agree to the '30x30' target at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations, respecting the rights of indigenous and local communities." Today's extinction rate for plant and animal species is 100 to 1,000 times higher than the normal background rate, widely considered a mass extinction event, similar to only five other times in the past 500 million years. Regarding deep-sea mining, the 1,400 members of the IUCN overwhelmingly adopted another resolution recommending a moratorium on deep-sea mining and reforms to the International Seabed Authority (ISA), an intergovernmental regulatory body. Industry insiders believe that independent rocks on the seafloor, approximately 5 kilometers below the ocean surface, are rich in manganese, cobalt, and nickel, minerals needed for more environmentally friendly electric vehicle batteries. However, scientists counter that seafloor ecosystems at these depths are fragile and, if damaged, could take decades or longer to recover. The resolution received support from over 80% of government bodies and 90% of non-governmental organizations and civil society groups. "The calls for a moratorium on deep-sea mining are a clear signal that there is no societal consensus on deep-sea mining," said Jessica Battle, director of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Deep Sea Mining Initiative. Source: Environmental Information Center
