Living in harmony with nature: Winners, losers, and the Convention on Biological Diversity

From Plant Press, Vol. 25, No. 2, April 2022.

By W. John Kress.

A recently published scientific paper documents the imminent decline of thousands of species of plants as a result of the degradation and deterioration of natural environments caused by human greed and recklessness (Plants People Planet; https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10252). As coauthors of that paper, Gary Krupnick and I worked to compile and analyze mountains of data on every species of plant for which we could find information about its current status on the planet.

We categorized each species as a “winner” or “loser” according to how it has responded to the “Lords of the Biosphere,” as our own species has been called by Professor John McNeill of Georgetown University. Plants that are useful to people, such as crops and plantation timber trees, or take advantage of environments altered by humans, such as invasive species, stand a good chance of surviving the current perils facing the planet, which include unrelentless habitat destruction, out-of-control climate change, rampant pollution, and escalating diseases. Such species will be the winners that survive the hazards of the Anthropocene to flourish once again in a future, perhaps hundreds or thousands of years from now, when humans will have less impact. Species that are not useful to people and inhabit threatened ecosystems or are exploited for their useful properties, such as wild medicinal plants, will be the losers. These species will succumb to human-dominated habitats, will decline in number, and may eventually go extinct.

Losers that are useful to humans tend to be overexploited wild species that may be medicinal, ornamental or used for timber. One such species is Ceratozamia kuesteriana, is a cycad threatened by habitat loss and over-collecting. Endemic to the Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico, the one remaining population of this species numbers less than 300 plants. Credit: this image is in the public domain.

Although our conclusions were not what we were hoping for, we were not surprised by the results: among the tens of thousands of plant species we analyzed, the losers by far outnumbered the winners. No, it was not a good outcome. In fact, the result is extremely discouraging, and another indicator that humans, the world’s biodiversity, and the planet are on a dangerous and tragic trajectory if we do not change fast.

It is no coincidence that a week after this publication went to press (although certainly not because of this paper) thousands of international delegates and concerned observers met in Geneva, Switzerland, to prepare for the 15^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which will convene in Kunming, China, later this year. The long-anticipated meeting in Geneva, which is really three separate meetings taking place at the same time: SBSTTA-24 (called the Twenty-fourth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice), SBI-03 (Third meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation), and WG2020-03 (Third meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework), took place over a two-week period, from March 14 -29, to facilitate long-term discussions on how to prevent further loss of biodiversity while at the same time making the benefits of Nature available for human well-being. I participated in the Geneva meetings over those 16 long days as a virtual official Observer representing the Earth BioGenome Project.

The new framework discussed and debated in Geneva, with the vision of “Living in Harmony with Nature by 2050,” was prepared for ratification in Kunming by the 175+ participating signatory nations of the Convention (not including the United States). The goals are to enhance the integrity of ecosystems, reduce the rate of extinction, safeguard the genetic diversity of species worldwide, value Nature’s contribution to people, make sure that the benefits of biodiversity are shared equitably, and secure resources to accomplish its long list of specific targets. Reading through these targets, which include everything from increasing protected areas, restoring degraded ecosystems, improving ex-situ conservation, reducing the introduction of new invasive species, reducing pollution, and minimizing climate change, to enhancing natural areas in urban environments and expediting the use of genetic resources to benefit all (especially indigenous peoples and local communities), one begins to feel a bit hopeful. I am struck by the fact that the “loser” species of plants Gary and I had just documented would have to be re-evaluated and perhaps re-assigned to the “winners” column if all of the objectives of the new CBD biodiversity framework are actually achieved.

The category of losers that are not useful to humans features mostly plants that cannot survive in human-dominated environments or have suffered under direct or indirect pressures from human activities. An example of a loser not useful to humans is Sidalcea stipularis, a rare herb endemic to eastern California threatened by altered hydrology, road maintenance, road widening, grazing, and invasive plants. Credit: Copyright Dean Wm. Taylor, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)

Unfortunately, the last such attempt by the CBD to lay-out an attainable framework to protect and use the Earth’s biodiversity, called the “Aichi Biodiversity Targets,” ended up after a decade of effort with not a single one of the 20 targets accomplished. Formulated and adopted by the Tenth Conference of the Parties in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, in 2010, the “Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020” outlined more or less the same goals and targets that were debated and revised in Geneva. To its credit the Strategic Plan clearly raised global awareness of the immense problems currently faced in protecting Nature. However, the actions required to relieve the pressures and reduce the threats present when the Plan was enacted have not materialized.

Today, more habitats are being converted to degraded ecosystems, more species of plants and animals are threatened with extinction, and more carbon dioxide is being pumped into the air than in 2010. In addition to the exacerbation of all the same environmental issues present at that time, the societal challenges of economic inequality, racism, social injustice, and increased political strife and warfare have increased by magnitudes. The UN’s efforts through the CBD, via the hard work of the Secretariat and all the delegates and observers who toiled away in Geneva could not come at a more critical time. They must be commended and appreciated now more than ever. Their battle is a never-ending one, but they cannot give up. And they will not even though the odds against them are formidable.

We are ready to move as many of those plant species that we analyzed as possible from the “losers” column to the “winners” box. However, I do not see that happening unless we all make some major changes to our lifestyles, our governance, and our economies. It is up to you as individuals and as citizens of the planet to help us succeed.

W. John Kress is Co-Chair of the Earth BioGenome Project, Visiting Scholar of Dartmouth College and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, and a Distinguished Scientist and Curator Emeritus at the National Museum of Natural History.