Wildlife and habitats

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Why biodiversity matters

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Food, fresh air, clean water, medicines, a stable climate –life on Earth provides the essentials of daily living foreveryone. Wildlife inspires and fascinates us, and our openspaces are there to enjoy. Not only are species and habitatsvaluable in their own right, it’s in our own interests to takecare of them. That’s because our future is bound up with ahealthy, thriving natural world in all its diversity.

But we are in danger of losing the range and variety of lifeon Earth. One in four mammal species, one in eight speciesof birds and potentially millions of smaller species couldface extinction. Wildlife habitats are disappearing at analarming rate. This loss is already a problem for millions ofpeople around the world, particularly if they depend on theland for a living. But a damaged environment will hurt us all.

So what’s behind the destruction? Friends of the Earthbelieves the answers lie in the way economies work and who controls them. Richer countries and powerful companiesare using more than their fair share of resources, and they’re not doing enough to protect our world.

But we can make a difference. Individuals and communitiesin the UK and across the world have shown again andagain that there are practical solutions to the threats facingthe web of life.

This booklet is about biodiversity and why it is so important. It explains Friends of the Earth’s unique approach to tackling the problems now facing ourglobal wildlife and habitats and what you can do to help. Please also visitwww.foe.co.uk/campaigns/biodiversity

Global biodiversity is therichness of life on Earth.It is the web of all livingthings and ecosystems –everything from whalesto warblers and forests to coral reefs.

Scientists estimate that there are about 14 million species onEarth. To date fewer than2 million of them haveeven been named.

Living nature works forus for free: cleaning theair and water; recyclingnutrients and makingsoils; stabilising theclimate, slowing floodsand calming storms;pollinating crops,supplying geneticresources of agricultureand chemicals formedicines; and inspiringus with its beauty andrichness. In 1997, thevalue of these serviceswas estimated to be £18 trillion per year.

Contents4 Protecting our cherished countryside • 6 Hidden threats • 8 The bigger picture • 10 Our greatest challenge – climatechange • 11 What you can do • 14 Our campaigns • 15 Find out more

The web of life: what nature does for us

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The food chainThree-quarters of the staplecrop plants that feedhumankind and 90 per cent of the world’s flowering plantsrely on insects and othercreatures to pollinate them.Bees and other insects control pests and are food for other animals.

Genetic resourcesWild flowers like foxglovesprovide chemicals used inmedicines. In Europe some1,300 medicinal plants – 90 per cent of them collectedfrom the wild – are usedcommercially. Some, likeclover, take nitrogen out ofthe air and make it availableto other plants as a nutrient.

Controlling water flowForests are home for wildlifebut also regulate the flow ofrain into rivers, calmingflooding and maintaining soilstructure. Evergreens,conifers, and trees in full leaf can intercept more than a third of the rainfall that hits them.

De-tox plantsBoggy areas like fens provide up to a quarter ofthe world’s carbon dioxide storage capacity –taking the main greenhouse gas out of the air.Reedbeds filter poisons from water supplies. UKwetlands are home to more than 660 species ofplants and 7,500 creepy crawlies, and providewinter stop-overs for thousands of birds.

Materials for lifeMuch of our clothing and shelter comesfrom the living world – like cotton andtimber. Wood is an important fuel formillions of people.

Varied dietThe wider our variety of foods the lessvulnerable we are to crop failure throughdisease or bad weather. The collapse ofthe Irish potato market in the 1840s waspartly due to reliance on a single variety.

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Biodiversity is all around us – in our gardens, parks, rivers,hedgerows, fields – playing a big part in our quality of life.But we are burying more and more of it under new houses,roads, ports and airports. We’re quarrying the land anddredging the sea-bed for rock, sand and gravel. And we’redigging up peat bogs to use as a soil conditioner ingardens, while for decades industrial-scale farms haveripped out wildlife-rich hedgerows to make bigger fields.

This record of destruction is why we need strongerprotection for our countryside. And following years ofcampaigning by Friends of the Earth and other groups wehave new laws – the Countryside Rights of Way Act 2000 –providing additional protection to our most precious wildlifesites that are home to birds, mammals and invertebrateslike insects, snails and worms. The Act also means the UKmust honour its international pledge to wildlife protection,the Rio biodiversity convention.

Yet despite the law, wildlife and habitats often still lose out,especially if they are not in a protected area. We needtighter planning controls to safeguard our local biodiversity,and fundamental changes to transport policies to reducethe amount of traffic on our roads and in the air.

Protecting ourcherished countryside

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Dibden Bay, nearSouthampton, was set tobecome a massive newport until local andnational groups told apublic inquiry howdamaging it would be formigrating birds and mud-loving invertebrates. TheGovernment rejected theport proposal in 2004.

A beauty spot on the Devon-Somerset borderwas saved in 2004 aftergroups including Friendsof the Earth urged theGovernment to reject thewidening of the A303road through theBlackdown Hills.

Oxleas Wood, an ancientwoodland in South EastLondon, was saved fromdestruction by a newroad after a campaign byFriends of the Earth andother groups.

Britain’s wildlife is still under threat, yetthere are practical measures that theGovernment, companies and ordinarycitizens can take to stop its decline.

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We need houses and transport infrastructure – but not at the expense of a thriving natural environment today and for the future.

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It’s easy to see how we lose biodiversity when habitats are bulldozed. But there are many other, far less obviousthreats to wildlife.

Intensive agriculture: Industrialised farming is a majorcause of biodiversity loss around the world. Mechanisationand the use of chemicals have enabled large agri-businesses to focus on a narrow range of crops, squeezingout small, mixed farms at the expense of farmers andwildlife. Routine use of synthetic pesticides and fertilisersreduces biodiversity and pollutes rivers and lakes.

Genetically-modified crops: Some companies arepushing intensive agriculture a step further by promotinggenetically-modified (GM) crops. Some GM crops aredesigned to resist herbicides that kill all the other plants in afield – yet these plants also provide food and shelter forinsects and birds. Cross-contamination of GM with non-GMplants could produce herbicide-resistant weeds that canonly be controlled with more and different herbicides –adding to the cost to wildlife.

More organic farming, no GM crops, and less use ofchemicals would encourage biodiversity in the countrysideand a greater choice of healthy food for shoppers.

Introduced species: When new species are introducedto an area (like the grey squirrel to the UK, for example)native ones can be badly affected. Introduced diseases, too– like Dutch elm disease and sudden oak death syndrome– can devastate native species.

Industrial pollution: Many industrial processes producetoxic chemicals and release poisonous heavy metals thatharm animals and plants. Burning coal and oil for industry,transport and power produces gases that lead to acid rain,which damages wildlife, particularly forests. Tighter controlson industrial pollution, cleaner vehicles and a reduction inroad traffic are needed to address these threats.

Hidden threats

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Lough Neagh in NorthernIreland, one of Europe’sbiggest lakes, is beingpolluted by fertiliserrunning off surroundingfields. Despite a clean-up,it could take a decade forpollution levels to fall.

Consumer action andlocal campaigning havekept genetically-modified(GM) crops and foods outof Britain for more thanhalf a decade. More than14 million people inBritain now live in areasthat have declaredthemselves GM free.

Industrial agriculture isdevastating many Britishfarmland birds. Between1970 and 1999 the skylarkpopulation (below)declined by 52 per centand the yellowhammer by 53 per cent. Thereare more species ingreater abundance on organic farms.

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Core values: Industrial farming and supermarkets’ demands for perfect-looking fruit have narrowed the varieties available in shops and led tomore pesticides in our food. Reducing chemicals in farming is better notjust for wildlife but for our health too.

Biodiversity is under threat worldwide for complex reasons.Big businesses are allowed to plunder natural resourceslike forests and minerals for short-term profit, often at theexpense of wildlife and local people. Under global traderules small farmers find it difficult to compete with powerfulmultinational companies – and that means more industrial-style farming. Public bodies like the International MonetaryFund force indebted countries to export more raw materialsand farm produce – often at a high cost to local habitatsand wildlife. The World Bank, too, finances mining, oilextraction and logging by multinationals.

Forests are being cut down for wood and paper, and tomake way for cattle ranching and planting of monoculturecrops such as soya and oil palm.

Mining of minerals like bauxite (for aluminium) and iron ore often leaves landscapes, wildlife and communitiesirreparably damaged.

Oil spills, sewage, industrial chemicals and heavy metalspollute the oceans. We are exhausting fish stocks and killingmillions of marine animals caught by mistake in fishing nets.

The world’s poorest people often have no option but to usethe most readily available resources to survive: they mayhave been displaced by war or famine, dispossessed by bigbusiness or impoverished by unfair trade rules.

Multinational companies: Some companies are sopowerful that they can get governments to ignore wildlifeprotection laws and social standards. New rules are neededgoverning multinational companies and rebalancing globaltrade in favour of local communities, small farmers and theenvironment.

The bigger picture

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Fifty-one of the top 100economies in the world arenow companies and only49 are countries.

It is estimated that forevery kilogram of shrimpharvested from the ocean,five kilograms of marinelife are killed.

More than 2 millionhectares of Indonesianrainforest – home to theSumatran tiger (below) –vanish each year, much of itlinked to the spread ofplantations producing palmoil, a cheap vegetable oil,for Western markets.

Right: Africa’s Green BeltMovement – which getscommunities involved inconservation – haveplanted more than 20 million trees. Founderand Nobel peace prizewinner Wangari Maathaiis also a patron of theworld’s largest grassrootsenvironmental network,Friends of the EarthInternational.

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Of all the threats to the world’s plants and animals, climatechange is potentially the biggest. Scientists now agree that by burning oil, gas and coal to provide energy we arereleasing alarming concentrations of carbon dioxide into theatmosphere, causing the planet to warm up and weatherpatterns to change.

Through sudden changes to habitats and eco-systems,climate change could lead to the extinction of almost aquarter of land animals by 2050. The oceans too arewarming up, disrupting marine life. The seas are a vitalsource of food and provide a livelihood for millions ofpeople through fishing and tourism.

Biodiversity and the poorest people are already feeling theimpacts of climate change. Drastic action to reduceemissions of carbon dioxide and other so-calledgreenhouse gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide,could avert huge loss of human life and mass extinction ofspecies. Yet some rich countries, backed by powerfulcompanies with a vested interest in increasing energyconsumption, don’t want to take action.

By taking urgent action Governmentscan take steps to control globalemissions of carbon dioxide. The UKGovernment can lead by example bymaking year-on-year reductions inemissions. This can be achieved byswitching to cleaner fuels, improvingenergy efficiency and reducing energyuse.

United Nations scientistsestimate that the globaltemperature could rise byas much as 6˚C thiscentury. Among theimpacts, southern Africais expected to seedroughts underminingpeople’s food supplies aswell as the region’sbiodiversity.

Birds like the ptarmiganand snow bunting andmany wildflowers thatonly live on the highestScottish mountains could disappear from the UK because ofclimate change.

Warmer seas arebleaching and killingcoral reefs, seriouslyaffecting the populationsof some fish species.

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Our greatest challenge –climate change

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Increasing global support for renewable energy sources like sun, windand wave power, needs to be matched with real cuts in carbon dioxideemission to reduce the threat that climate change poses to life on Earth.

1 Limit your car journeys bysharing lifts, using publictransport, or cycling orwalking whenever possible.Consider setting up a car-share scheme at work.

2 For more ideas onreducing the impact of yourenergy use visit www.foe.co.uk

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What you can doSmall actions really do add up and will make a difference to preserving biodiversity

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Buy organic food or grow your own to cut down onpesticides. Ask your supermarket to make sure pesticideresidue safety levels are not exceeded in the produce theysell – for more information visit www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/real_food/

Reduce your paper use – paper production is linked to rainforest destruction. Re-use old envelopes, use both sides of a piece of paper and choose recycledwhenever you can. This booklet is printed on paper madefrom 100 per cent post-consumer waste.

Avoid buying peat-based compost for your garden andhouseplants. Ask your favourite garden centre not to stockpeat-based products.

Garden for wildlife by planting native species and digging a pond. As countryside habitats are lost wildlife isincreasingly relying on gardens for food and shelter.Visit www.wildaboutgardens.org for more information.

Use reclaimed timber for DIY projects. If you need to buynew timber try to find some that has been produced locallyand is marked with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)symbol. This means the wood is more likely to have comefrom a well-managed forest. Avoid buying furniture madefrom tropical hardwoods or old-growth forests. Seewww.goodwoodguide.com for practical advice.

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Shop locally for UK-grown, seasonal produce. Thisreduces the distance food is transported and thus cutsclimate changing emissions. Find out what’s in season atwww.bigbarn.co.uk/food/inseason.

Avoid GM foods. Tests show that growing GM cropsthreatens wildflowers and birds. Contact your localsupermarket to demand zero tolerance on GM food – for help visit www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/real_food/

Invest ethically. This puts pressure on companies that harm the environment or people. It can also promote firmsthat make an effort to enhance communities and theenvironment. For more information call the EthicalInvestment Research Information Service on 020 7840 5700.

Demand tough new laws for big business to preventthem plundering and polluting the natural environment, bywriting to your MP. For help visit www.corporate-responsibility.org.

Action with Friends of the EarthJoin Friends of the Earth and support our national andinternational campaigns on Climate Change, CorporateAccountability and Real Food. For online actions and waysyou can get involved, visit www.foe.co.uk/campaigns.

Sign up to Campaign Express and receive three packs ayear by post containing easy-to-do actions that will putpressure on the right people at the right time.

Join a Friends of the Earth group in your area and helpstop plans for developments that will destroy preciouswildlife habitats near you. Call 020 7490 1555.

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2 Thousands of peopleevery year take action toconserve biodiversity bycontacting Friends of theEarth.

4 Networks of volunteersincluding Friends of theEarth local groups, havebeen key in savingEngland’s remaining peatbogs – wildlife-richhabitats which supportspecies such as thesundew.

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Friends of the EarthHere’s how we are working to conserve wildlife and habitats

Contact Friends of theEarth for more informationabout any of the campaignsmentioned opposite andhow to join us. Full campaigninformation, briefings and reportsare on our website.

Information Service:Freephone 0808 800 1111Email: info@foe.co.ukWebsite:www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/corporateswww/foe.co.uk/campaigns/global_trade

Biodiversity conservation has long been a core part ofFriends of the Earth’s work. We know why biodiversity isthreatened and are tackling the root economic and socialcauses of these threats.

Corporate accountability: We want governments topass strong and binding laws making big companiesresponsible for their actions worldwide. Only suchinternational accountability will ensure high environmentaland social standards. And we want an end to public loansfor developments such as mining and oil extraction thatdamage and pollute wildlife sites.

Climate change: We want governments to agree to savehuman lives and hundreds of thousands of animal speciesby making year-on-year cuts in carbon dioxide emissions tolevels that don’t jeopardise the world’s climate. This can beachieved by switching from fossil fuel-dependent economiestowards renewable energy, cutting demand for energy andgreater energy efficiency.

Real food: We want tough laws to protect our wildlife fromGM crops. And we want a drastic reduction in the pesticidesand fertilisers used in food production as these polluterivers and lakes and are harmful to our health.

Reduce resource use: We want the UK to use less resources in order to reduce the huge impact of ourconsumption on communities and wildlife in some of the poorest countries in the world.

Local campaigns: Friends of the Earth local campaignshave a great track record of preventing road and otherdamaging developments and proposing alternatives that arewins for people and the environment.

Find out more

Government and itsagencies:

Department forEnvironment, Food andRural AffairsThe Government departmentresponsible for working towardssustainable development.www.defra.gov.ukTel: 08459 33 55 77

The Environment AgencyThe public body for protectingand improving the environmentin England and Wales.www.environment-agency.gov.ukTel: 0845 9333111

English NatureChampioning the conservationof wildlife, geology and wildplaces in England.www.english-nature.org.ukTel: 01733 455100/101/102

The Countryside Councilfor WalesStatutory adviser on sustainingnatural beauty, wildlife and theopportunity for outdoorenjoyment in Wales and itsinshore waters.www.ccw.gov.ukTel: 0845 1306229

The Environment andHeritage ServiceAdvising on and implementingthe Government’s environmentalpolicy and strategy in NorthernIreland.www.ehsni.gov.uk

Scottish Natural HeritageResponsible for theconservation and enhancementof Scotland’s natural heritage.www.snh.org.uk

Biodiversity Action PlansDetails of action to protect theUK’s biodiversity.www.ukbap.org.uk

Biodiversity conservation:

WWF-UKUK branch of the worldwideconservation organisation.www.wwf.org.ukTel: 01483 426444

The Wildlife TrustsPartnership of charitiesdedicated to UK wildlifeconservation.www.wildlifetrusts.orgTel: 0870 0367711

The Woodland TrustWorking to protect the UK’snative woodland heritage.www.woodland-trust.org.ukTel: 01476 581135

Rainforest Foundation UKHelps local people protectrainforests and their livelihoodswww.rainforestfoundationuk.org

Corporate WatchResearch and publishing groupconcerned with the social andenvironmental impacts ofcorporations.www.corporatewatch.org.ukTel: 01865 791 391

Royal Society for theProtection of Birds (RSPB)Campaigns for wild birds andconservation.Tel: 01767 680551www.rspb.org.uk/

Sustainable living:

Centre for AlternativeTechnologyOffers practical solutions toenvironmental problems.www.cat.org.ukTel: 01654 705950

Energy Savings TrustPromotes domestic energyefficiency.www.saveenergy.co.ukTel: 0845 727 7200

SustransThe sustainable transportcharity.www.sustrans.org.ukTel: 0845 113 0065

HDRA – the organicassociationDedicated to researching andpromoting organic gardening,farming and food.www.hdra.org.ukTel: 024 7630 3517

Ethical shopping:

Fairtrade FoundationInformation on fair trade,suppliers and products.www.fairtrade.org.ukTel: 020 7405 5942

National Association ofFarmers’ MarketsFind one near you.www.farmersmarkets.net Tel: 0845 230 2150

The Natural CollectionOnline and catalogue shop forproducts promoting asustainable future.www.naturalcollection.comTel: 0870 331 33 33

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Friends of the Earth is:

the UK’s most influential national environmental campaigning organisation

the most extensive environmental network in the world,with almost one million supporters across five continents and more than 70 national organisations worldwide

a unique network of campaigning local groups, working in over 200 communities throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland

dependent on individuals for over 90 per cent of its income.

Friends of the Earth inspires solutions to environmental problems, which make life better for people

Friends of the Earth

26-28 Underwood Street, London N1 7JQ

Tel: 020 7490 1555 Fax: 020 7490 0881 Email: info@foe.co.uk Website: www.foe.co.uk

Friends of the Earth Trust company number 1533942, registered charity number 281681C Printed on paper made from 100 per cent post-consumer waste T592 December 2004

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