Biodiversity, a state of emergency

laurencejob
May 7
6 min read

NATHALIE MOTSCH

MEETS GILLES BOEUF

The latest report from the International Panel on Biodiversity (IPBES) puts it bluntly: biodiversity and ecosystem services are deteriorating worldwide at an alarming rate. Human activity is threatening an unprecedented number of species with global extinction.

‘Nature is essential to human existence and a good quality of life. Most of nature's contributions to people are not entirely replaceable, and some are even irreplaceable.’ (IPBES 2019)

Key data:

75% of the earth's surface has been significantly altered
More than 85% of wetlands have disappeared
32 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2010 and 2015
Around half the surface area of living coral reefs has disappeared since the 1870s
1 million species are already threatened with extinction.

Interview with Gilles Boeuf, biologist, former Chairman of the Natural History Museum, biodiversity specialist

What is biodiversity?

Biodiversity is the living part of nature and the ongoing dialogue it maintains with its mineral component.

All the relationships between species and with their environment are essential. And not just between species, but also between populations and between individuals.

Recent research has shown that there is a constant and necessary molecular dialogue between a host and the micro-organisms - bacteria, protists - that it harbours.

Human beings contain within them, and on them, at least as many bacteria as the cells they need. It has recently been discovered, for example, that the intestinal microbiota plays a fundamental role and that its alteration is associated with pathologies such as autism, obesity, type 2 diabetes, arterial hypertension, etc.

We need to understand that there is a great deal of interdependence between organisms, from bacteria and protists to molecules. All living things are interdependent, and if one link is missing, the whole living chain could collapse.

Do we know all living species?

Based on the Museum's research, we estimate that there are between 10 and 20 million species, of which we know only 2.2 million. We discover 16,000 to 18,000 new species every year, so it would take us a good 1,000 years to know everything!

Why is this biodiversity essential?

First of all, we only eat biodiversity, not quartz crystals! Our bodies cooperate with the micro-organisms living in and on them, and our metabolism depends on all these interactions.

Then there are the services provided by ecosystems, such as pollination. Without pollination, there would be no fruit or vegetables. More than 75% of the world's food crops, including fruit and vegetables, but also coffee, cocoa and almonds, depend on animal pollination.

In China, in some provinces where bees have disappeared, women are replacing them and pollinating orchards by hand using brushes.

This service provided by bees to humanity has been estimated at around 200 billion euros a year. There are also ethical reasons: why have we killed half the elephants and giraffes in 40 years?

Finally, biodiversity is also essential to all other species.

Among the endangered species are the keystone species: if they disappear, the whole ecosystem deteriorates very quickly. This is the case of a starfish specific to the American east coast or the beaver: each plays a key role in the balance of its ecosystem.

Biodiversity provides medicines, food, clothing, oxygen to breathe, materials for shelter, sources of inspiration and endless wonder...

Today, we are witnessing an alarming collapse of ecosystems at an extremely rapid rate.

In 27 years, more than 75% of flying insects have disappeared in Germany. In the Deux Sèvres region, 30% of birds on certain farmlands have disappeared in just 15 years. 75% of the earth's surface has been significantly altered.

We are witnessing an alarming collapse of ecosystems at an extremely rapid rate.

In 27 years, more than 75% of flying insects have disappeared in Germany. In the Deux Sèvres region, 30% of birds on certain farmlands have disappeared in just 15 years. 75% of the land surface has been significantly altered.

More than 85% of wetlands have disappeared.

32 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2010 and 2015. Around half the surface area of living coral reefs has disappeared since the 1870s. 1 million species are already threatened with extinction...

What are the factors threatening biodiversity?

There are many, all linked to human activity.

The massive destruction of ecosystems through deforestation, intensive farming and the artificialisation of land through excessive urbanisation. France loses the equivalent of the surface area of one département every 7 years.

Pollution, with disasters like Chernobyl, heavy metal pollution, plastics in the oceans, pesticides and insecticides, fine particles and endocrine disruptors. Pollution is everywhere, even in uninhabited places like the polar regions.

We transport species from one ecosystem to another, sometimes using invasive and invasive species. In the Caribbean, thousands of tonnes of sargassum (brown seaweed) accumulate on beaches and poison the coastline.

And how can we not mention the over-exploitation of forests, particularly tropical forests, the equivalent of the surface area of Great Britain of which disappears every year. And the sea... Overfishing wreaks havoc, and when the quantity of fish caught exceeds natural reproduction, it's easy to see how the ecosystem collapses: 500 years of cod fishing harmony in Newfoundland and industrial boats have arrived, and the stock has melted away.

Humans are the only ones who can still save species. Because once a species has disappeared, it cannot come back. As well as saving species, we need to limit our impact on biodiversity.

To be precise, you're speaking today in a golf magazine. You took part in the ‘Golf for Biodiversity’ programme launched by the French Golf Federation in 2018, in partnership with the Natural History Museum.

In 2007, the French Golf Federation approached the Natural History Museum to carry out an inventory of the flora and fauna at Le Golf National with a view to organising the Ryder Cup.

A rich and rare biodiversity was discovered.

In 2016, the federation signed a 1st national programme to study the biodiversity of French golf courses, with a view to launching the bronze, silver and gold labels in 2018 to reward the most exemplary clubs in terms of knowledge, preservation and promotion of their natural heritage.

The Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle provides scientific backing for this programme, so it is particularly closely supervised.

Candidate golf courses sign a charter of commitment before having an ecological inventory carried out by a local naturalist organisation such as the Office National des Forêts, the Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux or the Conservatoire d'Espaces Naturels.

These organisations recommend actions to be taken, and depending on the results obtained, the golf course may or may not be eligible for a label.

What types of action can be taken?

We have lost almost 400,000 hectares of grassland in France, so golf courses have a role to play in limiting their ecological impact and helping to protect biodiversity.

There are a number of actions that can be taken to reintroduce or preserve biodiversity:

leave the roughs in tall grass to encourage pollination and help flora and fauna to reproduce;
plant the banks of ponds to provide habitats for dragonflies and amphibians;
retain areas planted with trees;
leave piles of wood and leaves on the ground to create refuges for insects and birds;
install dry-stone walls to encourage the development of a certain flora;
limit artificial light when there is a hotel to protect owls and bats;
create lakes, ravines;
install beehives and bat houses;
improving water management

It is also essential to raise awareness among the general public.

Golf courses in urban and suburban areas act as green lungs, providing islands of coolness and preserving areas of biodiversity. As you can see, if we do nothing, we are heading for disaster, but we can take action to avoid it.

I agree with the philosopher Edgar Morin: ‘the probable is worrying and catastrophic, but in the history of humanity, there have been many times when the probable did not happen’.

We have to fight to ensure that the probable does not happen, and agree to change our model by moving towards sobriety.

When golf rhymes with virtue

Did you know?

grassed areas account for only 50% of the total surface area of the course, the rest being natural areas with little or no maintenance.

740 golfs en France = 33 000 hectares d'espaces naturels
2,200 species of flowering plants inventoried on the golf courses out of 7,600 varieties recorded in mainland France
the trails are home to 91 of the 97 species of dragonfly we already know about