30% by 2030 with Creation in the Balance

This week a report was issued by Campaign for Nature calling for protection and preservation of 30% of Planet Earth by 2030, a report developed and endorsed by leading economists and scientists. In a time when many countries are relaxing environmental regulations and opening up protected areas this report advocates moving in the other direction. This 100+ group argues that the economic benefits of preservation are a ratio of 5 to 1.

Currently, roughly 15% of the world’s land and 7% of the ocean has some degree of protection. The report finds that the additional protections would lead to an average of $250 billion US in increased economic output annually and an average of $350 billion US in improved ecosystem services annually compared with the status quo. This is half a trillion dollars in Canuck bucks. Of course this is based on analysis rather than politics or the pressure by some resource extraction industries to plunder for short term gain. According to the National Geographic press release:

This new independent report, Protecting 30% of the planet for nature: costs, benefits and economic implications, is the first ever analysis of protected area impacts across multiple economic sectors, including agriculture, fisheries, and forestry in addition to the nature conservation sector. The report measures the financial impacts of protected areas on the global economy and non-monetary benefits like ecosystem services, including climate change mitigation, flood protection, clean water provision and soil conservation. Across all measures, the experts find that the benefits are greater when more nature is protected as opposed to maintaining the status quo.

Specifically, the Campaign for Nature is calling on world leaders to:

• commit to protecting at least 30 percent of the planet by 2030;
• help mobilize financial resources to ensure protected areas are properly managed; and,
• approach biodiversity conservation in a way that fully integrates and respects indigenous leadership and indigenous rights.

Depending on one's perspective 30% could seem like an unrealistic goal, or far too little and too late. Yet we are experiencing the consequences of over-taxing and destroying ecosystems, cutting down vast tracks of forest and changing the chemical composition of oceans. There have been a number of articles in the past four months suggesting that this imbalance is creating conditions conducive to the spread of viruses such as COVID-19.

In your spare pandemic time find a bible and read the first chapter of Genesis. While you're at it, read 104, which is a creation psalm. There are no percentages in either passage, no reference to governments,  but both tell us that a planet with variety and abundance is the Creator's intention. The bible does a different kind of math for us, but this report can remind us that balance is essential for our survival as a species among species.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c77fa240b77bd5a7ff401e5/t/5f05c366f5edb16b875b3964/1594213260537/Waldron+Report-Highlights.pdf