ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AS RESOURCES OF SECURITY
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AS RESOURCES OF SECURITY
Author(s): Francisc TobăSubject(s): Environmental and Energy policy, Security and defense
Published by: Carol I National Defence University Publishing House
Keywords: ecosystems; sustainable development; resource security;
Summary/Abstract: The world’s welfare depends on ecosystems but mankind still considers them only public goods with no market and no price. Mankind pays an exorbitant price for biodiversity’s destruction: we lose about 1,350-3,100 billion Euros globally1 . United Nations Organization warns that the future of mankind could be in danger if the environment security, especially climate change, species extinction and population growth worldwide, were not be properly managed. At a UN conference on biodiversity held in Bonn in 2008, there was presented the study: “Ecosystems and biodiversity economy”. The author, Pavan Suchdev, said in this study that „we are trying to navigate on murky waters, with no map and a faulty compass”2 . The study sustains that some ecosystems may not be restored, as they have been irremediably destroyed, and others will disappear if there isn’t taken any responsible action until 2050. It warns that 11% of natural areas (from the year 2000) will disappear, being converted to agricultural land or destroyed by climate change, 40% of traditionally cultivated land will become intensive exploitations and 60% of coral reefs may disappear, with consequences difficult to predict. Pavan Suchdev claims that 150 species of flora/fauna disappear every day! The rate of this dynamic is 100-1,000 times higher than natural extinction rate.
Journal: Strategic Impact
- Issue Year: 2010
- Issue No: 37
- Page Range: 74-79
- Page Count: 6
- Language: English