Tambuling Batangas Publication May 22-28, 2019 Issue | Page 6

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May 22-28, 2019
UN report calls for global efforts to save species from extinction;
ASEAN in forefront of conservation
ONE million plant and animal species are facing extinction
due to human activities, with agriculture as one of the
biggest threats to Earth’s biodiversity and ecosystems.
This summarises the findings of the Global Assessment
Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services by
the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Backed
by the UN, IPBES is the intergovernmental body which
assesses the state of biodiversity and of the ecosystem
services it provides to society, in response to requests from
decision makers. The Report, which was released on 6
May 2019 during the IPBES meeting in Paris, is the most
comprehensive ever completed, the first intergovernmental
report of its kind, and builds on the landmark Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment of 2005.

The Report said about 75 per cent of land and
66 per cent of oceans have been “significantly altered”
by people, driven in large part by the production of food.
Crop and livestock operations currently co-opt more than
33 per cent of Earth’s land surface and 75 per cent of its
freshwater resources. The Report identified agricultural
activities as some of the largest contributors to human
emissions of greenhouse gases. They account for roughly
25 per cent of total emissions due to the use of fertilisers
and the conversion of areas such as tropical forests to grow
crops or raise livestock such as cattle. Agricultural threats
to ecosystems will only increase as the world’s population
continues to grow, according to the Report. Other notable
findings of the Report include:
•
Land degradation has reduced the productivity of 23
per cent of the global land surface; up to USD 577 billion
in annual global crops are at risk from pollinator loss; and
100 to 300 million people are at increased risk of floods
and hurricanes because of loss of coastal habitats and
protection.
•
In 2015, 33 per cent of marine fish stocks were
being harvested at unsustainable levels; 60 per cent were
maximally sustainably fished, with just seven per cent
harvested at levels lower than what can be sustainably
fished.
•
Plastic pollution has increased tenfold since 1980;
300 to 400 million tons of heavy metals, solvents, toxic
sludge and other wastes from industrial facilities are
dumped annually into the world’s waters; and fertilisers
entering coastal ecosystems have produced more than 400
ocean ‘dead zones’.
•
Negative trends in nature will continue to 2050
and beyond in all of the policy scenarios explored in the
Report, except those that include transformative change –
due to the projected impacts of increasing land-use change,
exploitation of organisms and climate change, although
with significant differences between regions.
•
The next biggest threats to nature are the exploitation
of plants and animals through harvesting, logging, hunting
and fishing; climate change; pollution and the spread of
invasive species. The average abundance of native plants,
animals and insects has fallen in most major ecosystems by
at least 20 per cent since 1900 because of invasive species.
•
An estimated five per cent of all species would be
threatened with extinction by 2 °C of warming above pre-
industrial levels — a threshold that the world could breach
in the next few decades, unless greenhouse-gas emissions
are drastically reduced. Earth could lose 16 per cent of its
species if the average global temperature rise exceeds 4.3
°C. Such damage to ecosystems would undermine global
efforts to reduce poverty and hunger and promote more-
sustainable development.

During a press conference launching the summary
of the Report, Ms. Anne Larigauderie, IPBES executive
secretary, said biodiversity should be at the top of the
global agenda alongside climate change as the two are the
biggest threats to human and species survival.

Mr. Robert Watson, IPBES chair, said, “Without
transformative changes to the world’s economic, social,
and political systems to address this crisis, the IPBES
panel predicts that major biodiversity losses will continue
AFFIDAVIT OF ADJUDICATION OF SOLE HEIR

Notice is hereby given that the estate of the
late ARTURO S. ADAPON who died on July 19, 2019,
Leaving a parcel of Land covered by Transfer Certificate
of Title No. T-528872 situated at Brgy. Prinza,
Calamba City, Laguna, Technically known as Lot 25,
Blk. 5, of the subd. Plan Psd-04-077581 containing
an area of FIFTY (50) SQUARE METERS has been
extrajudicially settled by his heirs, as per Doc. No. 28;
Page No. 15; Book No.V Series of 2019; NOTARY
PUBLIC Atty. GREGORIO E. MAUNAHAN.
Tambuling Batangas
May 22, 29 & June 5 2019
to 2050 and beyond. We are eroding the very foundations
of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and
quality of life worldwide.”

In an interview by Science Magazine with Dr.
Theresa Mundita S. Lim, executive director of the ASEAN
Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), about the impact of the
new IPBES Report, Dr. Lim said, “The global assessment
provides useful figures and case illustrations that will allow
policy makers all over the world, including in the ASEAN
Member States, to better visualise the state of the world’s
and ASEAN’s biodiversity and natural resources, and their
impacts to human survival. The Report also provides good
rationale, as well as suggestions for developing national,
regional, and global policies and actions that can address
gaps and guide future work that may possibly improve or
reverse current situations.

As the final version of the Report will be released
at the end of the year, Dr. Lim suggested some areas for
improvement: “Though capacity building measures and
policy support continue to be vital for various national
agencies and implementing entities involved in biodiversity
conservation, there remains a need to generate and present
the science and scientific assessments necessary for policy
development and corresponding actions. Law makers
and leaders will respond to data and information that can
directly link biodiversity loss to human well-being and
survival.”
Dr. Lim added that to enable any country to continue
to
progress, but at the same time protect its rich
and unique biological resources, consolidated information
serving as sound basis for making decisions on trade-
offs, and striking the balance between conservation and
development, would be a most useful contribution that a
body like IPBES can provide.

“The Report needs to be broad enough to
encompass various national and regional situations. More
details will still have to be generated and provided later
on, which should be able to support specific on-the-ground
actions. Thus, assessment may have to eventually be
scaled down at the regional and at the country level”, Dr.
Lim suggested.

Dr. Lim said the Report will guide the ASEAN
Member States (AMS), supported by the ACB, in
developing recommendations for the Post 2020 Global
Biodiversity Framework. “The IPBES Report is very
timely as the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) are currently in the process of developing
a global biodiversity framework that will succeed the
Aichi Biodiversity Targets after 2020.”

She reported that the AMS, supported by ACB,
have already conducted two consultative sessions, the
first in Manila last April, and the second in Lao PDR, this
month, where representatives of the AMS called for a
more quantified goal on maintaining ecosystem integrity,
with a clear set of spatial indicators and a clear agreement
on the level of commitment among the AMS.

The Report emphasised that the world needs
transformative change if life on Earth is to be safeguarded
and people are to continue to receive the services and
benefits that nature provides. On this issue, Dr. Lim
said the ASEAN consultation participants agreed on:
(1) transboundary cooperation which considers internal
boundaries, not just regional; (2) linkages among pillars
such that cross-sectors should be part of the action plans
with flexible mechanisms to allow different sectors to be
engaged in each other’s activities; and (3) transformation
of mindset such that ASEAN may be aware of what it can
provide to the region, given its myriad of challenges post-
2020.

“The ASEAN Member States have already
identified an over-arching vision for biodiversity in the
ASEAN region that we hope to achieve by 2050. Our
vision is more descriptive, suggesting that there needs
to be quantifiable targets that will preserve and enhance
ecosystem integrity in the ASEAN region. We also
discussed possible tools and measures which may be
used to achieve the vision for 2050. These include: (1)
mainstreaming biodiversity; (2) resource mobilisation; (3)
communication, education and public awareness; and (4)
integrating diverse perspectives,” Dr. Lim reported.

She agreed with the Report’s recommended
actions for sustainability and pathways for achieving them
across and between sectors such as agriculture, marine
systems, and freshwater systems, among many others.

In agriculture, the Report emphasised the
promotion of good agricultural and agroecological
practices; multifunctional landscape planning, which
simultaneously provides food security, livelihood
opportunities, maintenance of species and ecological
functions; and cross-sectoral integrated management.

In marine systems, the Report highlighted the
ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management,
spatial planning, effective quotas, marine protected areas,
protecting and managing key marine biodiversity areas,
reducing run-off pollution into oceans, and working
closely with producers and consumers.

In freshwater systems, policy options and actions
include more inclusive water governance for collaborative
water management and greater equity; better integration
of water resource management and landscape planning
across scales; promoting practices to reduce soil erosion,
sedimentation and pollution run-off; increasing water
storage; promoting investment in water projects with
clear sustainability criteria; as well as addressing the
fragmentation of many freshwater policies.

Dr. Lim said the AMS are already implementing
some of the Report’s recommendations, specifically on
protected areas and the campaign against overutilisation
of resources. For example, the ASEAN Heritage Parks
Programme manages a regional network of representative
protected areas to generate greater collaboration among
ASEAN Member States in preserving their shared
natural heritage. As part of ASEAN’s campaign against
overutilisation of resources, some AMS, supported by
ACB and Germany, are implementing a project promoting
biodiversity-based products as an Economic source for the
improvement of livelihoods and biodiversity protection.

She added that the ACB and the AMS are currently
preparing the third edition of the ASEAN Biodiversity
Outlook, which will complement the IPBES Report, by
focusing on the status of biodiversity and ecosystems in
the ASEAN region and the conservation achievements,
actions and next steps for the AMS in ensuring the
conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems.

Dr. Lim said the Report’s recommendations
will further guide the AMS in enhancing its current
conservation programmes and crafting new policies and
programmes that will further strengthen ASEAN actions on
protected areas, ecosystem services, species conservation,
invasive alien species, mainstreaming biodiversity in
different sectors, ecosystem restoration, access and benefit
sharing, communication, and knowledge management for
biodiversity conservation. These and future programmes
will ensure the conservation of the region’s biodiversity
and ecosystems, as the ASEAN region is in the forefront of
global conservation and sustainability, serving as home to
20 per cent of the world’s know plant and animal species.
(Rolando A. Inciong/ACB)
MMDA hauls over 168 tons of campaign trash
By Jimmyley E. Guzman
MAKATI CITY – Over 168 tons of campaign trash
were hauled by the Metropolitan Manila Development
Authority (MMDA), a day after the May 13 midterm
elections.

“We target to rid the major roads in the metro
of campaign materials and spruce up public schools until
this week in preparation for the opening of classes next
month early,” said MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim.

According to MMDA’s Metro Parkway Clearing
Group (MPCG) report, the collected campaign materials
of varying sizes is equivalent to 23.42 tons and filled up
seven dump trucks.
MMDA’s cleaning operation teams also removedselection
materials pasted on concrete walls and fences in major
thoroughfares with the use of scraper and sprayer.

MPCG chief Francis Martinez, said they
confiscated 134,700 pieces, equivalent to 145 tons, of
election-related materials in various areas in Metro
Manila under the “Oplan Baklas” operation before the
elections.

“All in all, we have collected so far 168.84 tons
of campaign trash this midterm elections,” said Martinez.

MMDA’s ‘Oplan Baklas’ campaign started
last March 1 until the Election Day, May 13, wherein
campaign materials placed outside the designated areas
of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) were
removed.

The MMDA said, the collected campaign
materials will be sorted and recycled.

“Those who need tarpaulins to have them
recycled into bags, place mats, school supplies and other
useful items can coordinate with us,” said Martinez.

He added though that this year’s collection is
lower compared to 2016 national elections where they
collected 206 tons of campaign materials.

The MMDA said that Manila, Quezon City,
Parañaque and Makati produced the most number of
campaign materials.