Message from the President

The Gulf, and Beyond 

We are all struck by how quickly environmental catastrophes can arise and become the focus of our concern and resources as we struggle to deal with immediate and devastating impacts. The current situation in the Gulf of Mexico is dreadful, disturbing and demoralizing for many, and demonstrates how vulnerable vast ecological systems are as we use these resources for food, our economic well-being and to form integral aspects of our very cultures. We will continue to marshal our resources and pull together to address this particular situation because that is what we are called to do.  

As much as we much remain attentive to the continuing crisis in the Gulf, I am reminded that we must also remain vigilant to the ecological work that must be done around the world—and in our own neighborhoods. Indeed, none of us should ignore our local and regional conservation work which continues to make progress for conservation and gives added meaning to our lives. As we continue to receive compelling information from a variety of sources about the loss of global biological diversity, we are called to do our part to stem the loss of both species and habitat, and to protect the biological integrity of the planet. 

An insidious change in the complexity of the biosphere is occurring. On May 10, 2010, the Convention on Biological Diversity, in their Global Biodiversity Outlook Report, stated:  “The abundance of vertebrate species, based on assessed populations, fell by nearly a third on average between 1970 and 2006… The five principal pressures directly driving biodiversity loss (habitat change, overexploitation, pollution, invasive alien species and climate change) are either constant or increasing in intensity.”  The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) says:  “Current trends are bringing us closer to a number of potential tipping points that would catastrophically reduce the capacity of ecosystems to provide these essential services.”  

The Wildlife Habitat Council, as it has been from its inception 22 years ago, remains deeply concerned about the loss of global biological diversity. Our members continue to seek knowledge on how they can better manage their properties and influence their stakeholders, in actions that will slow the loss of biological species. On June 24-25, 2010, the Council staged the second Ecosystem Services Conference, A New Generation in Restoration: Strategies for Managing Corporate and Public Land, to help landowners and managers appreciate the values of ecosystems and the services they provide. Through collaborative inquiry-based discussions, our Ecosystem Services conferences are designed to lead to tools that will allow landowners to integrate conservation measures into the business decisions to protect and enhance those values as a legitimate business expense. 

About 100 participants drawn from about 30 industries and business, along with many NGOs and government agencies, shared their knowledge and contributed to shaping the path as we prepare for the next exchange of information and experiences in 2011. I encourage you to watch for the posting of the outcome document from this conference, and be ready to join the various committees assembled to advance the integration of ecosystem services values into your management and accountability systems. 

In October, in this, the Year of Biodiversity as designated by the UN, the Conference of Parties will assemble in Nagoya, Japan, and discuss where we have come since the Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted by the signing parties in 1993, and discuss where we must focus our efforts on stemming biodiversity loss for the future well-being of the planet. The Council will continue to do its part, by pulling together experts, policy makers, and users of information so that the ideas and recommendations coming out of the Nagoya conference will be achieved.  We encourage everyone to consider how you can design programs that you can execute for biodiversity protection. 

This year, during our 22nd Annual Symposium and Awards Banquet in November, we will recognize more than 70 new programs that have achieved accreditation for Wildlife at Work and about two dozen that will become accredited Corporate Lands for Learning, increasing our program footprint to over 630 registered programs spanning 9 countries. Mark your calendars and join us as we celebrate this remarkable achievement. My colleague and friend, Dr. Peter Raven, Director of the Missouri Botanic Garden, once said, “The earth is the only place we know in  the universe with living organisms; thus it is special. We have relatively short lives, and yet by preserving the world in a condition that is worthy of us, we win a kind of immortality. We become stewards of what the world is.”

See you in Baltimore!

Sincerely, 

Robert Johnson
President
Wildlife Habitat Council

Spring 2010
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