International Day for Biodiversity: 25 years conserving global biodiversity

By Marcela Torres

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) entered into force 25 years ago, in December 1993. While we celebrate the International Day for Biodiversity today, it seems appropriate to highlight global achievements and pending tasks in such an important topic for sustainable development as well as the contributions tourism can make.

The achievements have been significant. As mentioned in the message by the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, Dr. Cristiana Paşca Palmer: “Biodiversity and its ecosystem services are at the heart of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The Paris Climate Agreement includes biodiversity. The World Economic Forum recognizes biodiversity loss as a critical risk. The Food and Agriculture Organization has organized focal work on Biodiversity. Paris has declared itself the capital of biodiversity, and all the way around the world, countries, local governments and civil society are stepping up their actions to safeguard biodiversity.”

However, the challenges are also great and biodiversity continues to decline in every region of the world at alarming rates. So much so that at least 17 species have become extinct during the 21^st century, including the Pinta Island Tortoise in Ecuador, the Eastern Cougar in the Americas, the Formosan Clouded Leopard in Taiwan, and the Baiji Dolphin, in China, among many others.

How can tourism help conserve biodiversity?

Sustainable tourism can contribute to biodiversity conservation in several ways. As I have mentioned before in this blog, tourism can have both positive and negative environmental impacts.

Many types of tourism rely directly on ecosystem services and biodiversity (ecotourism, agri-tourism, wellness tourism, adventure tourism, etc.) to provide tourists with experiences of cultural and environmental authenticity, contact with local communities and education about flora, fauna, ecosystems and their conservation. On the other hand, too many tourists can also have a negative, degrading effect on biodiversity and ecosystems. Hence, careful planning and management are required to avoid negative impacts on biodiversity.

In that context, the European Union Business and Biodiversity Platform has identified the following seven best practices for tourism businesses:

1. Identify the impacts and dependencies of your business on biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES).
2. Assess the business risks and opportunities associated with these impacts and dependencies to educate employees, owners, suppliers and customers.
3. Develop BES information systems, set SMART targets, measure and value performance, and report results. This is a key step for building trust among external stakeholders, while creating peer pressure within the industry.
4. Take action to avoid, minimize and mitigate BES risks, including in-kind compensation (‘offsets’) where feasible. BES targets may build on the concepts of ‘No Net Loss’, ‘Ecological Neutrality’ or ‘Net Positive Impact’ and include support for biodiversity offsets where appropriate.
5. Grasp emerging BES business opportunities, such as cost-efficiencies, new products and new markets. Business can support the growth of green markets and can help design efficient enabling conditions for biodiversity and ecosystem service markets, which may lead to the diversification of tourism product and complements the efforts to fight seasonality of the tourism offer.
6. Integrate business strategy and actions on BES within wider corporate social responsibility initiatives.
7. Engage with business peers and stakeholders in government, NGOs and civil society to improve BES guidance and policy. Businesses can bring significant capacity to conservation efforts and have a key role to play in halting biodiversity loss.

Likewise, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have developed guidelines on how to plan tourism development within the frameworks of: the ecosystem approach; Akwé: Kon voluntary guidelines for the conduct of cultural, environmental and social impact assessments regarding developments proposed to take place on, or which are likely to impact on, sacred sites and on lands and waters traditionally occupied or used by indigenous and local communities; and the voluntary guidelines for incorporating biodiversity-related issues into environmental impact assessment legislation and/or process, and the draft guidelines for incorporating biodiversity-related issues into strategic environmental assessment.

Let’s celebrate this International Day of Biodiversity by reflecting on how we can further tourism’s contribution to global biodiversity conservation!

Hernán Torres (1946-2017): A Great Nature Lover

by Marcela Torres

It was January 2000 and my dad and I were sitting on top of a rocky promontory in Torres del Paine National Park, in southern Chile, withstanding the strong cold Patagonian winds that pierced through our parkas, gloves and hats. But we were on a mission: To photograph the elusive Andean Condor.

We were fortunate enough to stay at a park ranger post, where the staff gave us tips on the best spots to find the Condor. Since this is a scavenger bird, they suggested we take with us some really stinky cat food that would surely do the trick of attracting it to us.

Following their instructions, we trekked for hours through the tall grasslands of the “pampa” to reach one of the hills they had recommended. It was a rocky mount, completely barren, but after climbing it we discovered it provided a great lookout point. There we sat, with our stock of smelly cat food, and waited, and waited, and waited…

As we waited, I remembered how we came to be there on the first place. In 1982, the BBC produced one of my dad’s favorite documentaries, “The Flight of the Condor”. Mind you, he got a copy and played it over and over again. Being just a girl, I was more into cartoons and Michael Jackson videos, but I ended up liking this incredible film about a bird that is a national symbol in most Andean countries, including Chile, where we lived.

In fact, it wasn’t the first time I had enjoyed a national park with him. My dad had been Regional Director for CONAF, the agency in charge of Chilean protected areas, in Arica between 1974 and 1985. As a child, I traveled with him many times to Lauca National Park, in the high Andes, during his field visits. He taught me about the Vicuña, the Flamingos, the Vizcacha, and the Condor.

It was so much fun that I never paid attention to the cold and loved accompanying him while he photographed nature, which was his passion. When I turned nine, he gave me my first camera, a Polaroid that I still have, and taught me how use it. I was so happy that I took pictures of everything!!

Thanks to him, my family and I enjoyed living in Ann Arbor, Michigan; San José, Costa Rica; New Haven, Connecticut; and Arlington, Virginia. This gave us some unforgettable experiences, such as camping around the Great Lakes and visiting all of the beautiful national parks in these areas.

Torres del Paine had always been on my wish list. So, when he offered to take me in 2000, I said yes immediately! And there we were, waiting for the condor…

A couple of hours had gone by and we had almost lost all hope when suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge bird appeared flying straight towards us. It was a Condor! We quickly ditched our gloves and grabbed our cameras, getting ready to take great shots of this amazing animal. But in only a few seconds it was right on top of us!

As it came, and we realized how low it was flying, we instinctively leaned back until we lay flat on the rock.  It was such an awesome sight, having this massive bird glide only a meter above us, that we completely froze. We could see all the details of its belly and the long wings. When we snapped out of our awe, we realized we had not taken any pictures! So, we quickly rolled over on our bellies and started shooting with our cameras to try to catch at least a glimpse of the Condor. It was too late! We were only able to capture a tiny speck that was quickly flying away from us towards higher altitudes.

We stayed there a while, letting the experience sink in. It had been so amazing! Finally, we grabbed our cameras and the stinky cat food and walked back to the park ranger post. At night, while we sat with the rangers around a fire sharing a “mate” (muh-teh) –a typical Patagonia herbal tea-, they laughed at our adventure.

Our common love for nature led us to co-author two editions of the Guide to Chile’s National Parks (1999and 2004), in Spanish, and to work together in the development of the firstsustainable visitor center in a protected area in Chile, in Los FlamencosNational Reserve, between 2005 and 2006. That experience made me decide to study my Master in Ecotourism at James Cook University, in Cairns, Australia, in 2009.

My dad always supported my endeavors and often contributed with photographs for my blog. He was a member of several professional associations and chaired for many years the IUCN South American Camelid Specialist Group, promoting the conservation of the vicuña until the end of his life. I will continue contributing as well, honoring his memory.

He passed away on Saturday, February 18, 2017. It is still so recent that it’s hard to believe… I still feel him close… He will be with me forever… And my love and gratitude for all that he taught me will remain…

HERNÁN TORRES BIO

Hernán held a Master of Environmental Studies from Yale University and a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources from The University of Michigan, both in the United States. He was Regional Director for CONAF (1974-1981 and 1984-1985); team leader for protected areas management plans at the CATIE, in Costa Rica (1986-1988); Protected Areas Specialist of The Nature Conservancy’s Caribbean Region Department (1995-1998); and an accomplished international consultant in protected area planning and management, sustainable development, ecosystem services and biodiversity, working with multilateral agencies, such as the UNDP, UNEP, World Bank and RAMSAR, and actively participating in IUCN initiatives until the end.