The loss in biodiversity is unprecedented. Without more ambitious policies, biodiversity is projected to decline by a further 10% globally by 2050 (OECD). The increasing loss in biodiversity is driven by the anthropogenic factors – climate change, unsustainable land-use management, commercial forestry, infrastructure development, pollution, habitat encroachment and fragmentation.
The existing approaches of the legally designated protected areas (PAs) is not effective or not sufficient to address the global evironmental and socio-economic pressures with complex societal impacts. More than 80% of the earth’s surface never likely to be managed within PAs. Declining biodiversity threatens human welfare, affecting most the rural poor and indigenous communities, whose livelihoods often depend directly on biodiversity and ecosystems services.
There is a needto mainstream biodiversityand ecosystem services into (inter)national and sectoral policies, production and consumption patterns, into economic growth and development objectives and cover all the land and sea scapes. Such a shift in approach requires strategic, coherent policies and well-orchestrated action at all levels and across the governments.
Mainstreaming biodiversity has already become one of the front issues of international policy by the Convention on Biological Diversity and of conservation investment by the Global Environment Facility. This need is already reflected in SDGs 14 and 15 on Life under Water and Life on Land.
The recent OECD Report “Mainstreaming Biodiversity for Sustainable Development” provides “the entry points” for biodiversity mainstreaming in four key areas: 1) at the national level; 2) in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors; 3) in development co-operation; 4) in monitoring and evaluation efforts.
Since 1993 The OECD has been working on the economics of biodiversity and supporting governmentsin developing better biodiversity policies. The Organization provides policy advice and supports global multilateral efforts to reverse the decline of global biodiversity, especially the discussions on the 2011-2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets under the Convention on Biological Diversity, and on SDGs 14 and 15 on ‘Life under Water’ and ‘Life on Land.
