6 May 2008, 6 pm; Deutsche Welle Bonn, Germany


The third Bonn Dialogues, this time focusing on Biodiversity, will take place 6 May 2008. Following the outcomes of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report, biodiversity is the foundation for human well-being. While biodiversity provides the basis for ecosystems, their development, maintenance and stability, it also provides a wealth of services upon which humanity is fundamentally dependent. These services include provisional services such as fish for food and unseen services such as climate control. However, unsustainable use of ecosystem services and increasing human activity, including demographic, political, cultural and economic factors, are placing immense pressure on ecosystems and driving biodiversity loss. Human perturbations such as changes in land use for food production, crop monoculture and increased development activities are degrading and changing habitats, overexploiting resources, creating pollution and promoting the spread of invasive alien species. It is still not understood how these many different factors such as globalisation, poverty and migration interact to shape and change biological diversity. However, ultimately, the loss of biodiversity not only interferes with essential ecological functions it threatens all dimensions of human society including, the provisions of food, medicine, energy, security, health, genetic diversity and freedom of choice. In addition, biodiversity loss increases the vulnerability of human societies to naturally occurring extreme environmental events.

Together, cultural diversity and biological diversity are increasingly viewed as key elements in achieving environmental sustainability. The intimate connection between these two elements are immensely important, as a threat to one, impacts the other. When examining, for example, traditional Aboriginal practices in Australia, where traditional burning promotes biodiversity of flora, the symbiotic relationship between culture and biodiversity is starkly illustrated. Local and indigenous traditional ecological knowledge of biodiverse regions is an important complement to scientific knowledge and governance for successful biodiversity conservation. The second important link between cultural and biological diversity pertains to their geographic distribution. Biodiversity is not evenly distributed and species richness tends to be higher for instance in tropical regions. Similarly, the density of different human cultures also differs markedly from place to place. In regions such as sub-Saharan Africa these distributions geographically overlap. Management of biodiversity in such cultural diverse settings is often difficult when many stakeholders are involved. Designation of protected areas can be met with outright opposition when the protected areas encompass land that could be used for economic and primary livelihood purposes. Consequently, it is difficult to successfully understand, conserve and manage natural systems, without recognizing the human cultures that shape them. Biological and cultural diversity linkages are increasingly recognized as significant tools for ensuring sustainable development and conservation in both social and ecological systems.


The key questions for the event are the following:

Background

This is the third in a series of events called "Bonn Dialogues on Global Environmental Change". The Bonn Dialogues ovvur bi-annually and are organized by the German Committee for Disaster Reduction (DKKV), the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) and the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) in partnership with the City of Bonn and Deutsche Welle broadcasting station. The series focuses on substantive issues related to anthropogenic drivers and consequences of Global Environmental Change and Human Security. Sector specific themes, such as climate, water, energy, or food are addressed in a cross-cutting manner. The topics of these regular workshops, which are taking place every spring and autumn and include both a closed expert roundtable as well as an open public lecture, are under the three overarching themes of vulnerability, adaptation and resilience.

The 3rd Bonn Dialogues Event however abstains from the expert meeting during the day due to the various expert events taking already place in Bonn in May 2008 and being related to the topic Biodiversity, such as the Biodiversity Research Conference, the pre-COP9 scientific event, the CBD COP 9 Conference on Biological Diversity, and the Mayors Conference – Local action for biodiversity, just to name a few.

The organizers aim to foster high quality, interdisciplinary research and bridge the gap between science, practice and decision makers.

While the above-mentioned organizers represent the core group of “Bonn Dialogues”, each individual meeting is organized jointly with other UN and International Agencies based in Bonn. Interested Federal Ministries or United Nations organizations are invited to take part in the meeting and possibly take on the role of co-conveners. Thus, the brand "Bonn Dialogues" is synonymous with the outstanding and unique opportunity Bonn provides by its concerted expertise as an UN City and the host of many other international organizations.

Event Details: Everyone is invited to attend the event, registration is desired.
Date: 6 May 2008
Time: 6 pm
Location: Deutsche Welle Bonn, Germany
Website: http://www.bonn-dialogues.org

Text: Bonn Dialogues and IHDP
Photo: Jannes Pockele