Interview: Kunming Declaration lays down foundation for biodiversity protection targets: Australian ecologist

CANBERRA, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Kunming Declaration following the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) has laid down a foundation for the world to reach biodiversity protection targets, said an Australian ecologist.

In an interview with Xinhua, Andrew O'Meara, Education and Outreach Coordinator at the Capital Woodlands and Wetlands Trust, hailed the 2030 time frame set in the declaration as a good commitment.

The declaration commits to ensuring the development, adoption and implementation of an effective post-2020 global biodiversity framework to reverse the current loss of biodiversity and ensure that biodiversity is put on a path to recovery by 2030 at the latest, towards the full realization of the 2050 Vision of "Living in Harmony with Nature".

O'Meara said it is important that the commitment should be realized at local levels. "You need to start small hitting these commitments, and then let that develop slowly into something very meaningful," he said.

He noted that biodiversity was quite important, taking the eastern bettong as an example, which is an animal lost from the landscape of Australia's mainland for about a century.

"We only discovered after about 100 years of it not being here, that it has a critical role in the growing of trees, and the fixing of nutrients like nitrogen into the soil which is beneficial to all plants," said O'Meara.

The lack of animals like eastern bettong hampered the growth of trees and flowering, and therefore affected animals relying on food from the trees.

"By removing one animal from the biosystem, it can have a detrimental effect to about all other animals that live in this habitat," he said, adding that the significance of preserving biodiversity to human beings is not just in mental well-being capacity where people could go out and have a relax in the woods, but also in terms of agriculture, soil quality, etc.

While recognizing China's efforts in protecting endangered species as "fantastic", O'Meara was also impressed by its commitment in the Kunming Biodiversity Fund.

China is committed to taking the lead by putting in 1.5 billion yuan (233 million U.S. dollars) to establish the Kunming Biodiversity Fund to help developing countries better protect their ecology.

O'Meara said that the fund is a significant amount and could be very helpful considering there were a lot of nonprofit organizations involved in biodiversity protection, which cost them millions of dollars annually. "In order to do more significant work, they require further millions of dollars to run some of the larger projects," he said. "That money needs to be utilized effectively and smartly."

Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary is one of the nature reserves under the Capital Woodlands and Wetlands Trust, which protects native species such as quolls, echidnas and eastern bettongs.

While his work was to teach the public about the work they do in the reserves, O'Meara stressed the importance of communication and education work on biodiversity after the COP15.

"If you went out to the street and asked 100 people what the Kunming Declaration is, probably not many people would know what you were talking about," he said. "So I think more work needs to be done for science communication in terms of biodiversity."