World Wide Fund for Nature members protesting at the UN COP15 biodiversity conference in Montreal, Canada, on Wednesday.- Reuters
SINGAPORE, Dec 10 (The Straits Times/ANN): Local conservationists and youth are hoping that the conservation targets to be set at the ongoing United Nations COP15 biodiversity conference will be more ambitious.
They hope efforts will be focused on educating the younger generation to reshape how they view nature – as something of value instead of a resource to be exploited. This so-called transformative education will allow them to live harmoniously with nature in future.
From Wednesday to Dec 19, delegates from nearly 200 countries are attending the UN summit in Montreal, Canada.
The National Parks Board has also sent a delegation to the conference to contribute to global plans that aim to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity.
This will entail protecting at least 30 per cent of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030 – up from the current conservation rate of 16 per cent and about 10 per cent respectively.
At least 100 countries, including Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines, have committed to supporting this goal, as part of a coalition known as the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People.
Currently, Singapore has only about 5 per cent of its land protected, which includes four of its nature reserves.
Dr Shawn Lum, president of the Nature Society (Singapore), said that unlike most countries, Singapore does not have a vast hinterland, making it challenging to set aside 30 per cent of its limited land area for nature.
It might be too “simplistic” to apply these broad targets to Singapore, he said.
He suggested using the Republic’s expertise to model various ecological scenarios to help the country determine the land and sea spaces it could conserve.
This would help maximise biodiversity and ecosystem health, promote connectivity between different habitats, and retain or even increase the number of species found locally, he noted.
Youth in the biodiversity space are also calling for the public to be consulted in environmental impact assessments (EIAs) – beyond the specialists involved. EIAs are conducted to measure the ecological impact of using natural spaces for developmental projects such as housing.
Ahead of the COP15, the Singapore Youth for Biodiversity Forum had in July gathered youth voices on possible recommendations to enhance Singapore’s biodiversity efforts.
The forum is the local chapter of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN), a coalition that brings together youth voices and organisations, and serves as a platform for youth participating in the UN summit. - The Straits Times/ANN
