Westminster Hall
Thursday 30 April 2009
[Janet Anderson in the Chair]
Darwin Initiative
Motion made, and Question proposed, That the sitting be now adjourned.—(Ms Diana R. Johnson.)
2.30 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Huw Irranca-Davies): I am delighted that we are here today to debate the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Darwin initiative. As hon. Members will know, this year is the bicentenary of the birth of the initiative’s inspiration, Charles Darwin. Of course, Darwin revolutionised thinking on the natural environment, and DEFRA, along with a wide range of partners, is celebrating his achievements throughout this year. We must all use this opportunity to communicate just why our wildlife, wherever it is in the world, is so important. Halting the loss of wildlife is one of the greatest challenges that we face today.
Globally, 10 to 30 per cent. of all mammals, birds and amphibians are threatened with extinction. Over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems faster and more extensively than in any period in human history, resulting in substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth. It has been projected that we could lose a further 11 per cent. of biodiversity on land worldwide between 2000 and 2050.
At national level, the UK biodiversity indicators, which were published at the beginning of this month, show that we are making some good progress in some areas but that more work needs to be done. Of the 33 indicators published since 2000, 23 show improvement or are stable. Clearly, we need to address declines, such as the decline in farmland bird populations for which the trend is, once again, one of deterioration. Historically, numbers of such birds have declined overall by 50 per cent. since the 1970s.
Nevertheless, I think that it is fair and right to say that the very rapid declines in UK biodiversity during the last quarter of the 20th century have substantially slowed and in some cases been halted.
However, the question arises—why should we even care? Well, to put it quite simply, our survival depends on it. Not only do the myriad species that make up life on Earth have intrinsic value, but together in their habitats they provide us with the very essentials of life. They supply food and fuel, clean our air and water, and help to regulate the climate. In short, they provide us with a huge range of services—ecosystem services—on which our well-being and livelihoods as human beings depend. Those links are most explicit and most visible in the developing world, where the poorest and the most vulnerable people are the most dependent on the resources of the natural environment for their survival.
Biodiversity conservation, sustainable livelihoods and poverty alleviation are inextricably linked. One quote that I came across recently sums that up:
“Biodiversity is not the luxury of the rich. It is the treasury of the poor.”
That is why it is essential that issues affecting people’s livelihoods are central to our approach to international biodiversity conservation, and I will talk more about that shortly.
However, it is not just elsewhere that the natural environment has a real impact on people’s livelihoods. About 700 million day visits are made to the English countryside each year and 60 per cent. of rural tourism and recreational activity is estimated to depend on landscape and wildlife, supporting more than 190,000 full-time jobs.
There is much more that biodiversity is doing to support our economy, through good times and bad. Trees and parks in our cities clean and cool our air, while peat bogs store and purify our water supplies. Our natural environment is improving our health and it can reduce our bills. Even damaged habitats can work just as hard for us. We must not forget the vital contribution of habitats in these difficult economic times.
Therefore, properly valuing the contribution of environmental resources to the economy is vital and I am pleased to say that a lot of work in this area is under way already. At the forefront of that work is Pavan Sukhdev’s work on the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity, which we are proud to support. His ambition is to set out what our environment is truly worth, the benefits that it provides to us and how much we stand to lose by allowing it to deteriorate any further.
Results from the first phase of that work showed that the world is losing an estimated $68 billion in ecosystem services every year, because of damage to nature. We look forward with great anticipation to hearing the outcomes from the second phase of this work, which will be reported next year. All this evidence illustrates the fact that it is more important now than ever for us to halt the current rate of biodiversity loss at all levels—global, regional, national and local.
So how do we do that and what are we already doing? Within the UK, we have six priorities for action. The first is to play a proactive role internationally. The others are protecting the best wildlife sites, promoting the recovery of priority habitats and species, embedding biodiversity in relevant sectors, engaging people and developing the evidence base. Those are our six priorities and the Darwin initiative also forms a significant component of our international work by providing funding to support the collaboration between biodiversity experts in the UK and local partners in developing countries. In that way, it helps countries that are rich in wildlife but poor in financial resources to take conservation action. I will have the opportunity to see some of the work being done by these Darwin projects for myself when I attend a UK overseas territories conservation conference in the Cayman Islands in early June.
Darwin must count as one of the most successful initiatives that my Department has in its portfolio and it is a major source of pride for me, the staff involved and the wider Darwin community, including, I must say, the very dedicated members of the Darwin Advisory Committee, a distinguished panel chaired by Professor David Macdonald of Oxford university. The members of the panel contribute their time and expertise freely.
Since its launch in 1992, the Darwin initiative has committed £73 million to 644 projects in 149 countries. Nine projects have been in the Galapagos Islands, in
places and concerning species that would have been familiar to Darwin himself. One of these projects, on the Mangrove finch, will be starting very shortly.
When the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was in Nairobi in February, he announced the main results of the latest funding round: 43 projects across the developing world will receive more than £8 million in the next three years and two of those projects are in our overseas territories.
I am delighted to announce here today the final components of this year’s funding. We will fund 25 new scoping award grants to support the development of future Darwin initiative applications. Three of those are in our overseas territories. We are also funding four new fellowship awards to further the development of the most promising projects in developing countries. Together, these grants total more than £135,000.
We estimate that more than 10 per cent. of Darwin projects have directly addressed the issues of livelihood, poverty and sustainable use, which I highlighted earlier. Many more Darwin projects have livelihood approaches as a component. Furthermore, the number of project applications addressing those issues is on the increase, with our active support.
So, I hope that it is clear to hon. Members why the Darwin initiative is so important. Let me illustrate that further with reference to one project, which has been working to conserve Kenya’s forests by linking the sustainable production and trade of wood carvings to certified and sustainably managed sources of timber. Local livelihoods and biodiversity in Kenya were both being threatened by the over-exploitation of the coastal forest to provide wood for the country’s important carving trade. That trade employs about 60,000 carvers, supports up to 350,000 dependants who rely on those carvers and requires approximately 50,000 trees per annum, which traditionally have been trees from hardwood species.
The Darwin project in Kenya has helped wood carvers to develop products based on farmed wood, helped to build social networks and provided training to support the conservation process. That is just one example of many success stories, so I commend the Darwin initiative to the House.
Beyond Darwin, our international work is focused around the major biodiversity conventions. The current critical issue is to secure a new global biodiversity target post-2010. That might take the form of a new target or of a framework incorporating a series of targets. However, it is important that the momentum generated by the current target is not lost at the end of 2010 and that we redouble our efforts to achieve a halt in biodiversity loss.
Our other five priority areas are domestically focused, and we are making good progress on them all. I shall highlight a few achievements. More than 88 per cent. of sites of special scientific interest are now in favourable or recovering condition compared with 57 per cent. in 2003, and we expect to meet our target of 95 per cent. by the end of 2010. We are working with partners to promote the recovery of priority species and habitats, with integrated approaches that also enhance the ability of biodiversity to adapt to climate change, which is a big issue that is right on our doorstep.
In our countryside, that means reducing the fragmentation of our habitats and more large-scale projects—for example, the Great Fen Project in Cambridgeshire. In our towns and cities, that will mean better green infrastructure, reducing the likelihood of flooding after storms, reducing heat island effects and improving our health.
Biodiversity is suffering because of the climate change that we are causing, but it can also form part of the solution—both for adaptation and mitigation. One significant example of that is peat bogs, which are an important source of carbon. Agri-environment schemes are one of our key policies for meeting biodiversity targets, including those for sites of special scientific interest and for farmland birds. Such schemes are a key contributor to priority habitats, such as hedgerows, arable field margins and hay meadows, and overall they make a significant contribution to conserving our wildlife. More than 50,000 farmers have entered those schemes, which means that more than 6 million hectares—or more than 65 per cent.—of agricultural land in England is under agri-environment management agreements.
We are also taking action to address threats to biodiversity, including on invasive non-native species and crimes against wildlife. I announced our new priority areas on that in February when I spoke at an event at Kew, and—not to forget a vital issue—later next month, DEFRA will launch a campaign to encourage people to volunteer to enhance wildlife and biodiversity in their local area. In October, this year’s Darwin lecture will also provide us with a good opportunity further to emphasise the importance of biodiversity.
We are continuing to build the evidence base in this area with a national ecosystems assessment taking place across the UK during 2009-10. That will make a key contribution to improving our understanding of the current and possible future state of the natural environment, and its value to our human well-being and economic prosperity.
It is clear that halting biodiversity loss is a huge challenge, but if we fail, the consequences will be huge. The Darwin initiative is making an enormous contribution to biodiversity conservation abroad and we have made progress in the UK. However, overall, there is still much more to do. Agreement to a post-2010 target should represent a call to arms to redouble our efforts at home and abroad to that end. In this year of celebration of the life and work of Charles Darwin, let us also celebrate the work of the Darwin initiative and reaffirm our commitment to the natural world here in the UK and right across the planet.
2.43 pm
Mr. Richard Benyon (Newbury) (Con): I thank the Minister, or whatever force in his Department or the usual channels was responsible, for instigating the debate. In remembering one of our greatest national figures, this is a good opportunity to celebrate an important year and the initiative that goes under Darwin’s name.
As hon. Members will be aware, the Darwin initiative was introduced in 1992—in passing, I should say that that was under a Conservative Government. It is an innovative programme that has allowed us to take some positive steps towards fulfilling the global element of our commitment to the convention on biological diversity.
There is an undeniable link between poverty and the environment: when forests are destroyed and rivers are polluted, the poorest people are usually the worst affected. Funding biodiversity projects in developing countries is therefore key to tackling global environmental issues.
I was interested to hear the Minister’s reference to the forests in Kenya, because they are dear to my heart. I spent much of my youth in parts of Kenya and still return there. The Mau forest is a good indicator: I have seen that forest retreat over the years, so that now it is a fraction of its former size. Just over a year ago, during my last visit, I was encouraged to see the work being done in villages at a low level by people who have only the most basic equipment. Those people say that they can use infinitesimally less timber over a year to meet their household needs. It is great that such projects are being supported by the Darwin initiative.
It is a significant accomplishment that, since 1992, the UK has funded some 644 projects in 149 countries through the Darwin initiative. Those projects have tackled a range of important environmental issues through the sharing of UK biodiversity expertise. Our global obligation to biodiversity does not stop at the convention on biological diversity: the UK is committed to more stringent targets, such as the EU strategy for sustainable development and the high-profile millennium development goals to be achieved by 2015.
Despite the good work of projects funded by the Darwin initiative, progress towards the millennium goals has been slow. There are genuine concerns that we will fail to achieve those targets, particularly those to be met by 2010, which is obviously less than a year away. On millennium development goal 7, which is to “ensure environmental sustainability,” the UN’s 2008 millennium development goals report states:
“Immediate action is needed to contain rising greenhouse gas emissions...The number of species threatened with extinction is rising rapidly...Fish stocks require improved fisheries management to reduce depletion”
“marine areas and land conservation need greater attention.”
With just less than one year to go until 2010 and seven years to go before we hit the 2015 deadline, serious work needs to be done to ensure that those environmental goals are met.
Although projects such as those funded by the Darwin initiative are having a positive impact on a number of developing countries, there remains a long way to go in tackling the massive changes we face in biodiversity, both globally and nationally. We can ill afford to underestimate the importance of biodiversity. As a species, humans rely fundamentally on the ecosystems that surround us. They provide us with clean air and water, pollinate our crops and provide natural flood protection. Biodiversity supports those ecosystems, and without that environmental infrastructure, life as we know it would collapse. Unfortunately, the world’s rainforests are being destroyed at a rate of 2,000 sq m per second—a staggering statistic—which means that nearly half the world’s species of plants, animals and micro-organisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter century. The notion of collapse is becoming worryingly real.
This is not just a problem for the developing world. As the Minister has said, biodiversity in the UK is under serious threat. It is important to remember that the 2010 target for the convention on biological diversity,
as well as the EU strategy for sustainable development, do not just relate to global biodiversity, but commit us to reducing or even halting the rate of biodiversity decline nationally and locally. I am aware that, at the end of last month, we were due to submit our completed fourth national report on the convention. That report should outline UK progress towards the 2010 goals. However, I believe that we missed that deadline—I think the Minister alluded to that. If we have, I would be interested to know when that report will be published.
Regardless of the content of that report, the Government have admitted that the UK’s target to halt biodiversity loss by 2010 will be missed. As the Minister said, the most recent results from 18 biodiversity indicators, by which we measure UK biodiversity, speak for themselves. They reveal that numerous species are in decline, and that 56 habitats in England are considered to be under threat. That includes the habitats of well loved animals such as hedgehogs, red squirrels and dormice—not to mention a plethora of smaller animals. The number of farmland birds and seabirds has gone from being classed as having experienced “little or no change” to “deteriorating”, and the area of sensitive habitats threatened by acid rain has moved from “improving” to “little or no change”, which is worrying.
The consequences of that decline are serious, with six species listed in the biodiversity action plan having been lost from the UK since 1994. The UK alone has lost 100 species in the last century and many more species and habitats are in danger of disappearing. Only yesterday I spoke in a debate in this Chamber on the worrying decline of UK honey bees—we have lost up to a third of our bees in the last year alone. Despite increased Government spending on environmental initiatives, we are facing a continued decline in the number of species and suitable habitats, with the Government missing a massive 386—nine out of 10—of their own sub-targets for biodiversity, which is a great concern.
In my role as shadow Fisheries Minister, I am acutely aware of the decline in UK fish stocks: the number of stocks within safe biological limits has fallen by a third, from 12 to eight, and only 25 per cent. of fish stocks were harvested sustainably and at full reproductive capacity between 2005 and 2007. Marine ecosystems are home to 80 per cent. of the world’s species, and although the long-awaited Marine and Coastal Access Bill is now passing through Parliament, we had to wait five years to see it. Some of us feel that it might have been in the House of Lords for all those years, but I am reliably informed that it is soon to emerge from the other place and come to us. I look forward to debating that important legislation with the Minister.
Huw Irranca-Davies: I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s comments on the Marine and Coastal Access Bill and look forward to working with him to ensure that it is properly scrutinised and achieves Royal Assent, because it has been a long time coming.
Mr. Benyon: I am grateful for the Minister’s comment and assure him that I will co-operate as best I can to get that important legislation on the statute book as early as possible.
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