The Hindu Business Line : <I>Protecting biodiversity </I>

May 22 was International Day for Biological Diversity. How should we mark it? The most effective way would be by changing something simple, like shopping organically, saving electricity, or simply opting not to buy something we do not really need.

The theme for this year's UN day was desertification — an aspect of climate change which poses a serious threat to the survival of many species — including our own. Last year saw disturbing images of extreme drought in the Amazon — one of the worst ever.

Severe lack of water in China and Africa is leading to conflicts over access to it, while Indonesia saw terrible loss of life from landslips caused by massive rainfall. The human cost of climate change is 1,50,000 lives a year, and that is set to soar as drastic weather changes become commonplace and global warming brings new diseases to vulnerable regions.

More endangered species

The cost to the biodiversity of plants and animals will be far higher and is already being seen from the Arctic to the Amazon, with hundreds of species entering the recently published endangered list. Biodiversity (or loss of it), global warming and climate change are inter-linked.

It is easy to be pessimistic — even fatalistic — about the future of the planet's diversity of species. Recent statistics highlight the accelerating decline of many species, while global agencies and governments seem locked in a painfully slow process to try and limit or reverse some of the damage.

Global governance is vital, but it will always lag behind a much swifter way of bringing about positive change for the future — through the power we all have as consumers. Maintaining a positive image and reputation with customers is now more than ever at the centre of corporate strategy. Highlighting unscrupulous corporations and private companies who wantonly destroy the world's natural habitats (and therefore it's biodiversity) for profit is one way in which we can leverage positive change.

But today we should also think about the incredible richness of life on Earth.

Eden re-discovered

The year 2006 has been an amazing one for the discovery of new species. In February, a scientific expedition in Papua New Guinea uncovered a hidden `Garden of Eden,' with new species of frogs, butterflies and plants, and an Orange Faced Honeyeater, the first new bird from the island of New Guinea in more than 60 years. And in the oceans, new species of unimaginable beauty and variety are being discovered on underwater mountains or `sea mounts.'

Even as the forest species are still being named, they are threatened by deforestation. And as the newly-identified marine life is being photographed, their survival is in jeopardy due to the destructive fishing practice of bottom-trawling. Both are linked to consumer-driven pressure for cheap wood products, meat fed on Amazon soya and fish dredged from the ocean.

Biodiversity is a key barometer of the planet's health. It is also a measure of the health of our relationship with the natural worldPreserving biodiversity is not one of those`nice-to-do' things, it is a `must do.' And together we must do it now. Voting with our feet and our wallets makes those corporations think again about the destruction they wreak in search of profit driven by consumer demand.

(The author is Executive Director, Greenpeace India.)