Well we’re in day 4 of this five day Society for Conservation Biology 23^rd Annual Meeting and I want to report on the BIG ISSUES that have been identified in some of the keynote addresses so far.

On Sunday a world renown botanist and environmental hero, Dr. Peter H. Raven started the conference by telling us how many species will survive the 21^st Century.

Dr Raven was born in China so he started by telling us that there are 1.3 million species in this country of which only 10% are named and a good half are endemic species. They are disappearing fast. Why? Because of rapid human population growth. 10,500 years ago there were only 3 to 4 million people in the world. That was only 400 generations ago. We will number 9 or 10 billion by the year 2050!

More alarming is that we are using resources faster than ever because of the growing middle class. This is especially true in India and China. For China it is estimated that the area needed to support the current population at the current rate, or China’s ecological footprint is twice the size of the country! He says that this is related to growing wealth, the enormous consumption of meat, and polluting cities (16 of the worlds most polluted cities are in China).

Check out this map from Worldmapper and look for your country – is your nation exceeding capacity? If it looks like it’s ballooning then it is!

According to Raven, we have already exceeded the worlds capacity to support ourselves by 30%. That’s like saying we are using a third more than the planet Earth can support us in a sustainable way. But what’s most disturbing is that the doubling of the worlds population will lead to a footprint 2.4 times greater than the earths capacity to support us. And, if we move to levels of consumption similar to developed nations (Japan and USA) we will need 6 planets to support us!!

Another interesting fact is that China is exerting environmental damage valued at  8 -13 %  of GDP. This cost is never accounted for.  It includes the loss of important plants and animals that provide vital services such as traditional medicine (two thirds of Chinese people depend on traditional medicine).

Dr. Raven predicts that the consequences of this rate of population growth, emergence of a large middle class and continued non sustainable exploitation in China will lead to the loss of 77,000 square kilometers of marginal land this year alone. Within a few years the Tibetan ice cap will be lost with disastrous effects on the Tibetan plateau and downstream. 20 – 40% of all species will be in danger of extinction. It is estimated that current global rates of extinction are in the range of thousands of species every year. Very soon we will be losing tens of thousands of species each year, and two thirds of all species will be lost by the year 2100 as a result of humans.

So, should we really be so proud of our human inventions and constructions like the Great Wall below when the truth is that we are simply weapons of mass destruction!

I would love to know how the construction of one of China’s great sources of pride, the Great Wall affected wildlife migrations here.

In all the presentations here I am not alone in eagerly expecting to hear about how we can save wild places, wild species, our ecosystems, ecosystem services and landscapes. Dr Ravens noted that the planet needs to change levels of consumption, promote equal opportunities, and apply new technologies and implement major changes of thinking and technology. He said we need to expand our protected areas and gather more information…I felt like he was fumbling around looking for an answer.  After such a shocking lecture I found his recommendations far too fluffy – and I feel let down because I didn’t go away feeling like we have a solution.

I’m especially disturbed because of three interacting factors.

1. Conservation needs in Africa and other parts of the developing world are already underfunded and are not on the radar of our politicians or policy makers even though these issues are central to food security and therefore political stability
2. Climate change which is not our fault is making it doubly or trebly hard to save species or produce food – thereby aggravating an already bad situation
3. The global economic crisis has dried up funding for conservation in Africa.  Again, this crisis has nothing to do with Africa yet it’s punishing us in a deadly way. Funds for conservation are drying up and many highly qualified colleagues are leaving this field because they can’t feed their families. It makes me want to cry! Funnily enough there seems to be funds available for science especially developed country scientists, but tragically this is not translating into conservation actions or support for African scientists. There are only 35 African participants at this meeting of 1,000 participants – it was just too expensive for many to come to.

My feeling is that we urgently need to wake the world up to what’s happening in Africa so that we don’t face a crisis. Please help us by telling your friends and colleagues about the amazing work being done by our partners in al the projects on WildlifeDirect.org.

Don’t let the climate change and economic crisis drive good conservationists to extinction. Here are three simple things that you can do to help wildlife. Share our stories with your families and friends, connect with and help our bloggers, and make a donation to our projects.

In the next few days I’ll post more about the interesting papers being presented here in Beijing.  Before I go though I want to support what many of the presenters have argued – that we need to do more individually – after all, a huge proportion of the worlds carbon emissions and green house gases are the result of by our individual consumption habits.

Before I go though, do you know how big your carbon footprint is? You can calculate it with this neat online tool called my carbon footprint and then make decisions on what to do to reduce it. Mine was 15.1 which means that if everyone was as good as me we would only need .41 earths. I guess that’s fairly good though I know I could recycle more and be more careful in how we eat.

What are your results? Let us know what you get and tell us what you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. Good luck!