UN Decade on Biodiversity Launched by President Aquino in Manila, Philippines

In response to the 10^th Conference of Parties (COP10) held in Nagoya, the United Nations has declared 2011 to 2020 as the “UN Decade on Biodiversity”.  Details can be found in http://www.cbd.int/doc/strategic-plan/UN-Decade-Biodiversity.pdf . The Decade on Biodiversity was launched by the President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines with the secretary general of the CBD Dr Ahmed Djoghlaf in Manila (Details in PhilStar.

Click here for the video of the launch.

The main purposes of the UN Decade on Biodiversity are to:

• Highlight the importance of biodiversity for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
• Emphasize the need to achieve the full implementation of the objectives of the Convention (CBD) and other biodiversity related conventions, organizations and processes.
• Reaffirm the importance of raising public awareness on biodiversity related issues.
• Stress the need to build on the momentum achieved by the celebration of the International Year of Biodiversity 2010

There is a great diversity of spiders in Hainan Island. So far we have found 4 un-described species. (Photo credit: S Villareal)

The 5 strategic goals of the UN Decade on Biodiversity are

1. address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society;
2. reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use;
3. improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity;
4. enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services;
5. enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity building.

The Hainan Project contributes directly to the 5 strategic goals to conserve arthropod biodiversity and ecosystem services in rice ecosystems. The research the project conducts will establish the baselines both the arthropod richness, the impact of farm practices such as heavy insecticide use on ecosystem services. The discovery of new species in Hainan Island indicates the inherent richness in biodiversity.  In addition, baseline farmers’ knowledge attitude and practice (KAP) with regard to pest management and biodiversity conservation and the challenges will be documented.

Further links

ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity
http://beta.aseanbiodiversity.org/

Biodiversity and Human Well being
http://www.greenfacts.org/en/biodiversity/

 

Initiatives for Green Economy, Evaluating Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and Decoupling Resource Use and Environmental Impacts from Economic Growth

by
K.L. Heong, International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines

In the last post on IPBES we discussed about the initiative to establish a global platform to link agriculture and environmental protection. There were several earlier global initiatives along this direction and one is the GEI (Green Economy Initiative). The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in 2008 developed the green economy concepts aimed at improving human well-being and social equity that will significantly reduce environmental risks and ecological scarcities and will be low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive. The main activities are:

1. Produce the Green Economy Report that will analyze the macroeconomic, sustainability, and poverty reduction implications of green investment in a range of sectors from renewable energy to sustainable agriculture and providing guidance on policies that can catalyze increased investment in these sectors.
2. Provide advisory services on ways to move towards a green economy in specific countries.
3. Engage a wide range of research, non-governmental organizations, businesses and UN partners in implementing the Green Economy Initiative.

The Green Economy can contribute to poverty alleviation, can create new jobs and new investment opportunities.

Related to the Green Economy Initiative is the TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) study hosted by UNEP. At the meeting of the environment ministers of the G8 countries in Potsdam in March 2007, the German government proposed a study on ‘”The economic significance of the global loss of biological diversity” as part of the so-called “Potsdam Initiative” for biodiversity. The analyses indicate that maintaining healthy ecosystems is often the less expensive option and so TEEB suggests a shift in focus to discover and work with the range of ecosystem services.

Recently in February 2011, the Green Economy and Environmental Governance reform was backed by world’s environment ministers in Nairobi (click here for details).

UNEP on May 12, 2011 released the report entitled  ”Decoupling: natural resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth” urging for the “decoupling” of economic growth rates from rates of natural resource consumption and for humanity to “do more with less”.

The International development community is now preparing for the next Earth Summit, the Rio +20 in June 2012 in Brazil. This major sustainable development conference to mark the 20^th year after the Rio summit will provide opportunities to accelerate and to scale-up a global transition to a low-carbon and resource-efficient Green Economy.  The vision for Rio+20  – System change for green economy and poverty reduction was presented at the UN Headquarters in New York on May 6 2011.

IPBES – Inter Governmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to be Established

by
K.L. Heong, International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines

Threats to biodiversity loss and deterioration of ecosystem services are becoming apparent in many parts of the world. The recent publication by the United Nations Environment program (UNEP), the Third Global Biodiversity Outlook 3 (GBO-3) warned that biodiversity losses are in an increasing trend.  Most of the goals for MDG 7 on environmental sustainability will not be met, unless radical and creative actions are taken. Some essential ecosystem services will approach “tipping points”. The Millennium Assessment (MA) identified key concerns and issues and the follow meeting particularly the 3^rd Ad Hoc meeting in Busan, Korea also known as the Busan Outcome recommended that the IPBES should be established to address the issues.  For more information on IPBES click here. The IPBES proposal was further endorsed in Nagoya. The international workshop, Leipsig Nested Network Workshop 11 – 13 May 2011, sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), met to discuss and develop the purpose, structure and work packages of the IPBES.

Participants in the Leipsig Nested Network Workshop 11-13 May 2011

Among the concerns raised in the meeting was the inadequate participation from developing countries in such inter-governmental panel. Although IPBES will take a form that is rather similar to IPCC, it will provide provisions to be inclusive and encourage participation from developing countries.  The “P” in IPBES was changed to “Platform” representing its role as an open discussion facilitator rather than an instructional panel.  This will also be a potential platform for integration of ecological concepts into agriculture to develop eco agricultural practices for sustainable development.

Second Exploration of Arthropod Biodiversity in Rice Ecosystems on Hainan Island

by
J. Catindig, S. Villareal, A.T. Barrion, International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines
D.C. Cai, Hainan University, P.R. China

Group picture of exploration team

The second arthropod biodiversity exploration on Hainan Island was conducted from March 28 to April 9, 2011. This was a follow up of the first exploration in 2010 where 4 or 5 species of un-described spiders were found. Eight sites were investigated, namely: DAPO, Lingshiu, Sanya, Jian Feng Li Rainforest (Yulingo), Danzhou Campus, Song Tao Reservoir in Danzhou, Xihua Xincun Village at Dacheng Town in Danzhou, and Hongwei in Hakou. Arthropods were collected by several techniques, such as sweep nets, pitfall traps, yellow pan traps, hand picking, blow-vac suction machine, and light traps.  Professors and students from Hainan University and Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences joined the expedition.

A large diversity of butterflies, moths, beetles and hoppers were found.

In this exploration, considerably large numbers of colorful moths and butterflies were collected by the light traps. A number of new records and undescribed species of spiders are likely. In the first expedition, 4 new species of spiders were found and one of them fully described and published. This time we also took pictures of more than 100 species of spiders, beetles, bugs and hoppers, and moths and butterflies. We now go through the time consuming tasks of sorting, identifications and counting in the next few months.

In this exploration we also assessed farmers’ practices with regards to biodiversity conservation and a total of 80 farmers from Lingshiu, Sanya, Danzhou, and Haikou were interviewed. Prof. Cai and colleagues assisted the surveys. From the interviews, we found that most farmers sprayed their rice field two to three times early in the season for protection against rice leaffolders.

Students interviewing rice farmers in Sanya and Lingshiu

 

 

Arthropod Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Conservation in Hainan – Huge Challenges Ahead

by
L. Wang, Hainan University, Haikou, P R China
M.M. Escalada, Visayas State University, Baybay, Leyte, Philippines
K.L. Heong, International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines

Hongqi rice area, Hainan Island with high habitat biodiversity and potentials for ecosystem services

Ling Shui rice area, Hainan Island with low habitat biodiversity and highly vulnerable to planthopper invasions.

Many rice growing areas in Hainan are established in the valley bottoms and are surrounding by forest habitats. These non rice habitats are potentially rich in predators and parasitoids that can render ecosystem services and reduce vulnerability of the rice fields to planthopper outbreaks.  However, farmers’ frequent prophylactic insecticide applications are threats to biodiversity and the service they provide. Ecological engineering techniques, which involve increasing bund flora to provide nectar resources to beneficial arthropods and reducing prophylactic insecticide use, can be applied to improve pest management as well as to reduce insecticide use. We conducted a baseline survey of 411 farmer respondents in Yun Long and San Men towns, Haikou City, and Xin Po and Ti Meng towns in Ling Shui county in Hainan Island to assess farmers’ attitudes toward pests, pest control and biodiversity conservation in December 2010.  Here are some preliminary findings.

Farmer interview in Ling Shui county

Negative attitudes

We found that only 10% of the farmers interviewed were prepared to practice ecological engineering by growing nectar-rich flowers on the rice bunds; 63% were unwilling and 38% uncertain. Most (78%) felt that the bunds in Hainan are too narrow for growing beneficial flowers on them and it would be extra work (61%).  Besides, farmers often burn crop residues or apply herbicides which would affect the bund vegetation.  A large proportion also felt that increasing bund flora would be a waste of time (57%).

Attitudes that favor the frequent use of insecticides would be another set of challenges (Table 1).  While 63% of the farmers believed that all insects are pests, they also believed that insecticide would kill beneficial arthropods (58%). Perhaps the biggest challenge might be the close association of insecticide use to high yields (83%).  This is contradictory to scientific findings that there were either no effect or negative relationships between insecticide use and yields.  Only 31% believed that insecticide use could cause more pest problems and frequent spraying would cause hopper outbreaks (36%). And to manage planthoppers most (67%) believed that they must use prophylactic spraying.

Table 1:  Farmer beliefs favoring insecticide use (expressed as % cases “true”).

Beliefs	% farmers
All insects are harmful to rice crop	63.1
Insecticide sprays always increase yields	83.5
When planthopper are present I must spray	85.5
No other way except insecticides to control planthoppers	73.9
Hybrid rice need more insecticide sprays	55.5

Interviewing a woman farmer in San Men town, Haikou City

Positive attitudes

On the other hand, farmers were aware that increasing flora would benefit bees (86%), would increase beneficial arthropods such as spiders (53%), would help keep planthopper populations low (67%) and would reduce insecticide use (52%). Farmers also felt that flowers on the bunds would beautify the rural setting (71%) and even improve health (65%). In addition farmers believed that insecticide spraying would harm their health (55%), that flowers on the bunds would help bees (81%) which would be important to pollinate fruit trees (91%).  In addition most farmers (71%) believed that flowers on the bunds would make fields look beautiful, improve health (65%), help keep beneficial organisms (57%) and help in lowering planthopper populations (67%). These positive attitudes can be key issues for communication campaigns to focus on.

A pesticide retailer in Hainan with a wide range of products packed as FMCG sachets

Policies and pesticide marketing

Besides farmers’ attitudes major challenges for change would be in the highly dominant pro pesticide policies and marketing in Hainan.  Pesticides are sold as FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) with numerous names, packaging and poor labeling.  One product was named Da Xiao Tong Sha or “Big Small, Kill All”. The marketing strategies for FMCG mainly focus on emotional buying and no thinking is generally needed.  Pro pesticide policies include categorizing pesticides as consumer items, price subsidies, free hand-out distributions and facilitating their use as inputs in production systems.  Pro ecosystem service policies on the other hand values ecosystem services, puts on an environmental tax on pesticides and categorizing pesticides as a non-FMCG and implementing licensing programs for distributors. Unless pro pesticide policies are modified, huge challenges to implement biodiversity and ecosystem services conservation techniques will remain as they are the biggest obstacles to sustainable development.

RAMSAR – The Convention on Wetlands Celebrates 40th Anniversary

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. Adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 the treaty celebrates its 40th anniversary on February 2, 2011. This is the only global environmental treaty that deals with a particular ecosystem. Wetlands include swamps and marshes, lakes and rivers, deltas and tidal flats, near-shore marine areas, mangroves and coral reefs, and human-managed systems such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs, and salt pans. The Convention’s mission is to promote the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local, regional and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world. The headquarters is in Switzerland and more information can be obtained from its website.  The Ramsar Regional Centre East Asia and the Japanese Ministry of Environment, as well as the hosts of the meeting, James Cook University Singapore campus and the Ramsar Convention’s Scientific and Technical Review Panel will convene a workshop in early March 2011 on Rice and Pesticides to examine the use, impacts and management in relation to wetlands and rice paddy biodiversity. This marks an important recognition of the potential impact of the pesticide tsunami on biodiversity both in rice paddies and wetland ecosystems.

Description of New Spider Species from Hainan Island Published

Drs. Alberto Barrion, Aimee Barrion-Dupo, Sylvia Villareal and Ducheng Cai collected a spider species that has never been described.  The paper they submitted in July 2010 and accepted in September 2010 is now published in the Asian International Journal of Life Science,  ASIA LIFE SCIENCES 20(2): 385-394, 2011 (Click here for PDF of the article).   The new species scientifically named Tetragnatha heongi Barrion & Barrion-Dupo, is a long-jawed orb spider belonging to the subfamily Tetragnathinae.  It has long legs, slender abdomen, and porrect chelicerae with strong promarginal and retromarginal teeth and characterized by the posterior eye row (PER) distinctly narrower than the anterior eye row (AER). This is the 39th species of the genus Tetragnatha described from China. Pictures of the new species are found here.

Hainan Scientists to Understand Farmers’ KAP in Biodiversity Conservation and Pest Management

by
M. M. Escalada, Visayas State University, Leyte, Philippines
Liang Wang, Qianhua Yuan, Hainan University, Haikou, PR China
and  Zeng-Rong Zhu, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, PR China

Rice area in Hongqi town, Haikou, Hainan

To develop conservation practices that are viable in Hainan, China, we need to better understand local farmers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). Many of the frameworks that will help us understand farmers’ beliefs and practices require interview and survey techniques. Adequate information on what farmers know, how they perceive biodiversity conservation practices and what their current practices are can be obtained through farmer surveys. This not only enables us to understand the reasons for current practice but also provides a basis for predicting how farmers are likely to respond to certain initiatives such as training or scaling up. Survey results can serve as a useful guide to action.

Hainan University student interviewing a rice farmer, Hongqi town

How to conduct a farmer survey

Because the cost of implementing surveys is often high, it is important that they are planned and conducted with utmost care.  In conducting a farmer survey, the following steps are recommended:

1.    Identifying the problem/issues
2.    Developing survey objectives
3.    Developing the survey instrument
4.    Pretesting the questionnaire
5.    Choosing survey respondents
6.    Implementing the survey
7.    Coding and analyzing survey data

Participants -Training workshop on sociological tools and survey procedures

Following the focus group discussion (FGD) in July 2010 (Read: FGD report) we conducted a training-workshop on sociological tools and survey procedures on November 20-21 in Hainan University.  The training-workshop was participated in by Hainan University scientists and social science students.  The workshop discussed decision tools and survey concepts and procedures, pretested the baseline survey questionnaire, and used pretest results to finalize the survey instrument.

Pretesting the baseline survey qustionnaire

Interviewing a woman rice farmer in Hongqi town

Questionnaire pretesting.  As the best surveys always pretest their questionnaire in order to detect problems before they are used in the field, four teams of statistics students pretested the prototype questionnaire among 20 farmers in Hongqi town, Haikou. The duration of each farmer interview ranged from 30 to 50 minutes.

The pretest was a try-out of the questionnaire to see how it works and whether changes are necessary before the start of the survey.  The pretest provided a means of catching and solving unforeseen problems in the use of the questionnaire, such as the phrasing and sequencing of questions.  Linguistic and cultural differences also complicated the task of questionnaire development, making pretesting all the more indispensable. The pretest in Hong qui town enabled us to: 1) improve the wording of the questionnaire; 2) correct and improve translation of technical terms; 3) check the accuracy and adequacy of the questionnaire’s instructions such as “skip” and “go to”; 4) eliminate unnecessary questions and add necessary ones; and 5) estimate the time needed to conduct the interview.

Suggestions from the field

Among the pretest results which suggested several changes to the survey questionnaire are as follows:

Brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens (macropterous female- male) Photo credit: S. Villareal (IRRI)

A startling discovery in this village was that many farmers in Hongqi town did not recognize a key pest problem in China, the brown planthopper (BPH). Those who knew about BPH believed that it came from the soil and not brought in by the wind When the questions were framed, it was assumed that the BPH was recognized and known to all rice farmers in Asia. Yet, in Hainan, this was not so.  During the discussion, it was pointed out that perhaps it was a translation problem as Hongqi farmers spoke the local Hainanese dialect and the Chinese translation would not be understood. It was agreed that each student interviewer bring a vial containing BPH specimens to show to rice farmers during the survey.

Questions asking farmers about their pest management practices revealed that many farmers reported that they did not know the name of the pesticides they used as the pesticide shop mixed the chemicals for them. Since in China pesticides are sold in numerous trade names  (Read Pesticide tsunami ) it will be difficult to track the active ingredient. It was agreed to delete the question asking for name of pesticide.

For details, read: workshop report

New Spider Species from Hainan Island Described

by
Alberto T. Barrion, Sylvia S. Villareal, International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines and
Ducheng Cai, Hainan University, Danzhou campus, Hainan

Male and female of new species Tetragnatha heongi

In an expedition we found a new species of an orb-web spider from Hongwei County belonging to genus Tetragnatha that had never been described in literature. We concluded that the species is new science.

The genus Tetragnatha are commonly known as long-jawed orb-weaving spiders characterized by the very elongate, slender, and narrow abdomen, long and porrect mouth parts and an elongated carapace flattened dorsally.  The proposed name of the new species is Tetragnatha heongi n. sp. that was collected from underneath the leaves of banana plants grown along the margins of a ricefield.

T. heongi belongs to the “rubriventris –group” of long-jawed spiders with posterior row eyes distinctly narrower than anterior eye row and the male chelicerae longer than carapace. The chelicerae are yellowish brown, long, and apically diverging and longer than carapace.

Close-up of the chelicerae of male(left) and female (right) of Tetragnatha heongi, n. sp.

Etymology: The species is named after Dr. K. L. Heong, the Project Leader of the Biodiversity Research in Hainan Island that promotes understanding biodiversity and increasing ecological services in Hainan Island.

Ventral view of the male chelicerae of Tetragnatha heongi, n. sp showing the pedipalp underneath

Nagoya Protocol – A Global Treaty to Protect Biodiversity Endorsed by UN

by
K.L. Heong
International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines

In Nagoya, Japan, where the COP10 (Conference of Parties) of the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity, is being held, a landmark treaty has been signed by 193 countries on 30 October 2010. This agreement, again brokered by Japan is significant, if not more so than the Kyoto Protocol, signed in December 1997 in Kyoto. Similarly the United States, a major polluter and user of biodiversity resources has declined to join. The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Participation in the Kyoto Protocol since June 2009. Green indicates countries that have signed and ratified, Grey not yet decided and Red country with no intention to ratify.

The Nagoya Protocol will pave the way towards conserving biodiversity which is a major tool for human development and poverty alleviation. This marks the beginning of a new journey to mainstream biodiversity at the heart of the development processes and priorities. In rice the ecological engineering approach that researchers are evaluating in China, Thailand and Vietnam have significantly increased biodiversity of arthropods and amphibians as well (Read: More Frogs in Eco Eng fields). The 65th United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2010 stressed the importance of healthy ecosystems for the overall achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly for poverty eradication. The poor populations will suffer, more than anyone else, from the impacts caused by nature degradation.  In the pest outbreaks in Thailand and several rice areas in Asia caused by degradation of local ecosystem services, poor farmers were the ultimate losers (Read: Farmers trapped by BPH outbreaks).

A group of women farmers in Central Thailand who lost their crops to planthopper outbreaks and unable to repay loans.

The Nagoya Protocol sets new 2020 targets to expand protected areas on land and at sea in the hopes of halting the loss of animals and plant species across the planet. Countries agreed to protect 17 percent of land and inland waters and 10 percent of coastal and marine areas within the next decade. Currently, only 13 percent of land and less than 1 percent of oceans are protected for conservation. Other targets call for eliminating subsidies (like pesticide subsidies) harmful to biodiversity, managing fisheries sustainably, and minimizing anthropogenic pressures on coral reefs.

Under the Nagoya Protocol, access to genetic resources shall be subject to prior informed consent by the party that provides such resources. In addition, parties to the protocol are required to take appropriate measures in accordance with their domestic laws to ensure prior, informed consent or approval and involvement of indigenous and local communities is obtained for access to those resources. Details are in 2 documents, the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (Read: Draft Decision on the Adoption of the Protocol).

Delegates in Nagoya also endorsed a request to the United Nations General Assembly to create an Intergovernmental Science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services that would produce scientific assessments on biodiversity issues. COP10 also agreed to include a strategic plan to reduce biodiversity loss by 2020, measures to fight invasive alien species, especially those introduced as pets, aquarium and terrarium species, and as live bait and live food, and to prevent deforestation.