 M Fowlie/BirdLife
It is possible to live more secure and fulfilling lives in a world still rich in biodiversity
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BirdLife report points the way to a more sustainable future
02-08-2010
 BirdLife International
A PDF of the report can be downloaded below
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A new report, Partners for Sustainability – What BirdLife is doing for People and the Planet, highlights BirdLife’s work around the world which combines biodiversity conservation with sustainable development.
There is a growing consensus that the international community will be much more likely to meet objectives like reducing poverty and improving health, wellbeing and resilience to climate change if we give biodiversity and ecosystem services the priority they deserve.
Partners for Sustainability describes BirdLife’s impressive track record of working locally, nationally and globally, with communities, governments, international bodies and the public and private sectors, to create the environmental conditions for sustainable development.
it is possible to live more secure and fulfilling lives in a world still rich in biodiversity.
The target of significantly reducing the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 has already been missed, and most of the global targets for the reduction of poverty by 2015 are also unlikely to be met. Further massive losses of biodiversity are increasingly likely, with inevitable consequences for human wellbeing, unless we act to address the underlying causes.
Partners for Sustainability sets out the challenges, and while acknowledging that there are no easy solutions, presents 26 case studies of projects by Birdlife and its Partners which demonstrate that it is possible to live more secure and fulfilling lives in a world still rich in biodiversity.
“Partners for Sustainability shows how we are helping to create the civil society networks, the inter-sectoral partnerships, and the social and economic models that will enable humankind to make the transition to a sustainable future.” —Dr David Thomas, Head of Environment and Sustainable Development
Since the late 1990s, Birdlife has been building a network of grassroots organisations at Important Bird Areas which ensure that conservation contributes to better livelihoods, social justice, equity and respect for human rights. BirdLife has also been successful in integrating biodiversity in the policy and practice of national governments and international institutions, and is engaging with the business sectors which have historically done the most environmental damage to work towards Net Positive Impact on biodiversity at their operations.
As a global network present in over 100 countries, and with a structure which provides continuity of purpose from the grassroots to international levels, BirdLife is in a unique position to address many of the challenges the world faces,” said Dr
- In Cameroon Bagyeli and Bakola hunter-gatherers are being helped to meet citizenship requirements to secure their rights to land and resources
- A community in Egypt has been empowered to persuade a powerful construction company to change its environmentally destructive behaviour
- Villagers in the Inner Gulf of Thailand are restoring mangrove ecosystems devastated by years of unsustainable shrimp-farming, and have organised to lobby for better protection of mangroves by government
- A web-based tool is providing information on biodiversity to help guide the plans and policies of banks and big businesses
- BirdLife’s engagement with fishing fleets and fisheries management organisations is reducing waste and improving catches while conserving seabirds and other biodiversity
- Cocoa farmers in Brazil are restoring the traditional cabruca system, adding value to production and benefiting endemic biodiversity
- In Samoa, the Matafaa indigenous community is protecting and extending coastal mangroves as protection against increased incidence of cyclones caused by climate change
- Through a producers’ cooperative, rice farmers in the Ebro Delta of Spain are restoring wetlands and producing organic rice and pasta, benefiting the local economy and protecting sensitive ecosystems
- A Tanzanian group supported by the Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP), a partnership between BirdLife and other conservation NGOs, has helped two communities become FSC-certified forest managers.
- BirdLife’s US Partner helped persuade the US Bureau of Land Management to change its leasing policies, ensuring that oil and gas drilling in the state of Wyoming can continue without threatening areas of high biodiversity value.