Held from 14-16 October 2009, in Cape Town, South Africa, the Diversitas second Open Science Conference was attended by over 600 scientists who committed to finding practical solutions to biodiversity loss and the resulting risk to human well being, according to the Conference’s concluding statement.
Experts noted such solutions could be achieved through: increasing shared […]
Held from 14-16 October 2009, in Cape Town, South Africa, the Diversitas second Open Science Conference was attended by over 600 scientists who committed to finding practical solutions to biodiversity loss and the resulting risk to human well being, according to the Conference’s concluding statement.
Experts noted such solutions could be achieved through: increasing shared knowledge of biodiversity and its functions; helping to develop systems for monitoring the biodiversity of the planet; and being responsive to the knowledge needs of society with clear communication of findings. They also called on governments and NGOs to join them in establishing an intergovernmental panel on biodiversity and ecosystem services as soon as possible.
Preliminary research demonstrated at the Conference shows the economic value of ecosystem services of biomes like forests and coral reefs. According to Pavan Sukhdev, head of the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) project, halving deforestation, for instance, has a net present value estimated at US$3.7 trillion, while investment in protected areas holds exceptional high returns.
Diversitas is an international non-governmental programme, established in 1991 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) and the International Union of Biological Science (IUBS) to address scientific questions related to the loss of, and change in, global biodiversity.
Links to further information
Reports from the conference
Diversitas website