Celebrating island diversity on the International Day for Biological Diversity
M. Ann Tutwiler, Director General, writes a blog post about island biodiversity and celebrates with a forest canopy walk in Malaysia — one of the most biodiversity-rich countries in the world.
Today, 22 May, marks the International Day for Biological Diversity.
For my colleagues and I at Bioversity International, this celebration lies at the very heart of what we do. This year’s UN celebration puts the spotlight on island biodiversity, and, as you read this, I am visiting one of the most biodiversity-rich countries in the world, Malaysia, which also occupies a quarter of the world’s third largest island, Borneo. Not too far from Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur, lies the Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve where I am excited to be doing my first ever tropical forest canopy walk to learn about the forest genetic resources that these long-lived dipterocarp forests harbour.
Islands cover 3% of the world’s surface, yet house a disproportionate amount of biodiversity. Islands are home to some of the most unique plant and animal life in the world, usually unique – or endemic – to these islands. In this sense, islands can be called biodiversity 'hot spots', containing some of the richest reservoirs of plants and animals on earth.
Malaysia is one of the world’s megadiverse countries, as described by the Convention on Biological Diversity. It is also ranked 12th in the world, according to the National Biodiversity Index, which is based on estimates of country richness and endemism in four terrestrial vertebrate classes and vascular plants. The numbers are incredible: Malaysia has an estimated 15,000 species of vascular plants, 306 species of mammals, 742 species of birds, 242 species of amphibians, 567 species of reptiles, over 449 species of freshwater fish, over 500 species of marine fish and more than 150,000 species of invertebrates.
Islands are also some of the hardest-hit by– and the most at risk from - climate change. As outlined in the recently published Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the rise of sea-levels, extreme weather, invasive species, and crop yield declines are all anticipated to increase in proportion and severity.
On island states, the impact of these phenomena on both territory and GDP are magnified, insofar as they depend on a limited number of economic sectors: the World Bank found that in the absence of adaptation, an island like Fiji could experience damages of 23 million to 52 million $US per year by 2050. Local food production is especially vital to small islands: a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture found that these countries’ dependence on their plant genetic resources was around 90% in the case of Comoros and Jamaica. This means that climate change adaptation is all the more critical in these areas because of its disproportionately high cost.
Bioversity International is keenly aware of the potential of agricultural biodiversity for resilience. I recently spoke at IFPRI 2020 Vision event, Building Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security, on the role of biodiversity of systems, crops, varieties and trees, in providing options and increasing the resilience of households and communities to produce, even in times of stress. It can help farmers manage risks from new pests and diseases, currently responsible for the depletion of up to 16% of global harvests. Diversity allows natural adaptation to the environment and this is vital in the face of climate change. Integrating diversity into farming systems reduces the risk of crop loss and contributes to productive, healthy farms.
While there is already evidence that farmers around the world are changing their production practices, like changing or diversifying their crops or planting trees, we need public policies based on science that include agricultural and tree biodiversity to improve resilience.
Today on the International Day for Biological Diversity, we must not forget or rest till we have invested appropriately in this aspect of agricultural biodiversity, especially in vulnerable areas like islands, to adapt to the changing realities of climate change.
M. Ann Tutwiler
Email: M. Ann Tutwiler
Photo: Forest Research Institute of Malaysia's canopy walk over the Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve. Credit: Flickr/I.Leon