TESTING TIMES

ecosystems, threatening human
well-being. Seventy-five per cent of
the Earth’s ice-free land surface has
already been significantly altered,
most of the oceans are polluted, and
more than 85% of the area of wetlands
has been lost.
Biodiversity loss threatens food
and nutritional security and urgent
action is needed to address this issue.
Where and how we produce
food is one of the biggest humanactivity
related threats to nature and
our ecosystems, making the transformation
of our global food system
more important.
Data from the United Nations
Environment Programme shows
that, per person, our global stock of
natural capital has declined by nearly
40 % since the early 1990s, while
the produced capital has doubled
and human capital has increased by
only 13%.For scaling up and accelerating
the conservation, sustainable
use and restoration of biodiversity
started followingactivities:-
Sustainable management and
restoration of landscape and seascape
that are productive and often
inhabited; new land – and resourceuse
rules and objectives that are
beneficial neutral or at least much
less harmful to biodiversity; recognition
of the custodial traditions and
knowledge of indigenous peoples and
tribals and local communities, and
the use of participatory approaches
to resource management; fisheries
reform, integrated spatial planning,
conservation, climate mitigation
and reducing pollution are all key
to storing marine life; key actions to
conserve biodiversity such as reversing
the net loss of habitat, battling
over-fishing, reducing pollution and
slowing the spread of invasive alien
species, and protected area network
need to be expanded, interconnected
and better managed.
Pollution
Widespread pollution is one of
the root causes of disease burden,
especially among lower economic
strata and women. There is widespread
risk of environmentally induced
mortality and morbidity from
indoor and urban air pollution,
drinking water contamination, poor
sanitation, and vector-borne diseases.
Establishment and enforcement
of air and water quality standards,
Cartagena bio-safety protocol and
integrated vector management are
critical policy responses. Reducing
pollution requires both regulatory
and economic approaches to accelerate
needed energy and resource
use efficiencies, which may include
promoting renewable energy and
developing sustainable transportation
infrastructure.
Air and water pollution, land
degradation and climate changes act
synergistically to cause pervasive,
extensive and systematic damage to
biodiversity and ecosystem services
on land and in the ocean. Water pollution
and air pollution are often
linked, since diversion of waste from
one pathway can simply displace
into another pathway. Reducing the
emissions of greenhouse gases typically
also reduce air pollution. Plastic
and chemical waste entering the
biosphere contribute to both biodiversity
loss and to land degradation.
The multiple interactions between
environmental problems mean that
uncoordinated single use solutions
are inefficient and likely to fail. Integrated
land-water-waste management
including agroforestry reduced
land, water and air pollution.
Technology has optimised the use of
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