Biodiversity loss is Earth's 'immense and hidden'
tragedy, Darwin's 'natural heir' warns
Problem of
biodiversity loss has been 'eased off centre stage' by focus on
climate change, according to Prof Edward Wilson, the ecologist
described as 'Darwin's natural heir'
Extinct Tasmanian Wolf on Display in Sydney,
Australia Photograph: Frans Lanting/Corbis
The diversity of life on Earth is undergoing an "immense and hidden"
tragedy that requires the scale of global response now being deployed to
tackle
climate change, according to one of the world's most eminent
biologists.
Prof Edward Wilson, an ecologist who has been described as "Darwin's
natural heir" and hailed by novelist Ian McEwan as an "intellectual
hero" and "inspirational" writer, told the Guardian that the threat was
so grave he is pushing for the creation of an international body of
experts modelled on the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The IPCC, which is credited with convincing world leaders that the
threat from climate change is real, includes about 2,500 scientific
expert reviewers from more than 130 countries and was awarded the Nobel
peace prize in 2007 along with Al Gore. Wilson's proposed organisation –
which he names the Barometer of Life – would report to governments on
the threats posed to species around the world.
Wilson said the problem of
biodiversity
loss had been "eased off centre stage" because of the focus on climate
change.
"We don't hear as much public concern, protestation and plans by
political leaders to save the living environment. It doesn't get
anything like the attention the physical environment has," he said.
Since the beginning of the last century, 183 species are known to
have become extinct, including the Tasmanian tiger, the Caribbean monk
seal and the toolache wallaby. But this number is a gross underestimate
of the true number of extinctions, according to the International Union
for
Conservation of Nature species programme.
Wilson was speaking ahead of the 150th anniversary of the publication
of the Origin of Species on Tuesday. The 80-year-old scientist will
deliver a lecture via video link to an audience at London's Royal
Institution on Darwin's legacy and "the future of biology".
The extent of scientific ignorance about the diversity of life on
Earth is vast. Scientists have catalogued about 1.9 m species, but
estimate there are about 20m-30m in total (excluding microbes).
Wilson said the scale of the mass extinction now under way was even
harder to comprehend.
At the start of the Neolithic period – about 9500BC – scientists
estimate that species were becoming extinct at a rate of 20-30 per year.
Since the population explosion of modern humans, that is estimated to
have increased to 20,000-30,000. Most have never been documented by
scientists. And in a couple of decades, Wilson reckons this will have
increased to 200,000-300,000. Wilson's proposed international
initiative, which he has developed with
Simon Stuart, the chairman of the Species Survival Commission, would
document this species loss and work out how to tackle it.
"Darwin would be simply appalled by what humanity had done to the
richness and diversity of natural life," said Randal Keynes, one of
Darwin's great-great-grandsons, who is helping to coordinate the 150th
anniversary with the British Council. "He would be in the lead of
campaigning on the preservation of biodiversity."
Some of the species that played a central role in the formulation of
Darwin's theoryof evolution by natural selection are now either extinct
or severely threatened. The
Floreana mockingbird, that lives on the island of the same name in
the Galapagos, was one of a handful of related species that first gave
Darwin the idea that species could change (it is a myth that finches
were the crucial group).
Reflecting on the similarities and differences between mockingbirds
on different islands and on the mainland, Darwin gave the first vague
hint of his later theory in his notes on the Beagle voyage that "such
facts would undermine the stability of species".
Today, the Floreana mockingbird is classed as "critically endangered"
and exists in two populations numbering 200 and 49. The giant tortoise
that Darwin encountered on the same island – Geochelone elephantopus
– was driven extinct by hungry whalers who enjoyed eating its meat
in soup.
Wilson said conservation efforts around the world were far from
adequate. "Right now we are just piddling around with efforts here and
there, some of them strong and dedicated, the aggregate of which is not
even close to what we need.""The benefits for humanity [of a concerted
international effort on biodiversity] would be enormous ... the
discovery of the rest of life on Earth and fuller evaluation of it is
going to result in all sorts of very valuable knowledge," said Wilson,
pointing at new crops, products and biotechnology advances.
A year of celebration of Darwin's achievements (and his 200th
birthday) is drawing to a close and will segue neatly into the
International Year of Biodiversity in 2010.
"The public recognition of the importance of biodiversity as an issue
is very poor, very low," said Kenyes, "I think Darwin would want
everyone to pick up that agenda and give it all the support they can."
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