avoiding the term wherever possible for that very reason. This is not very promising for those trying to execute a global campaign around the same word.
• Urgent action is needed to address the loss of biodiversity, especially to avoid tipping points
• Biodiversity is the natural capital for sustainable development
• Inaction is more expensive than action • Many more economic sectors than we realize depend upon biodiversity
• Biodiversity and climate change are inextricably linked
• Need for implementation • Need to scale-up science and knowledge • Need to communicate that biodiversity matters • Substantially more resources are required • Need to get the biodiversity targets right
These new targets must not only be more realistic and concrete, but must also be accompanied by a more sophisticated and coherent communications strategy.
This strategy must address the weaknesses found in current approaches. For example, the issues scientists think most important often seem abstract and far removed from the day-to-day concerns of ordinary people. The rate at which the world is losing species is a typical example.
Even the term ‘biodiversity’ suffers from this weakness, lacking a concrete description and lay-appreciation which concepts such as sea level rise enjoy. Some media advisers have suggested
Too much media coverage of biodiversity fails to connect with the issues directly affecting people’s lives. Even concepts such as ‘the web of life’, used to emphasise the interrelatedness of living systems, does not immediately explain why we should be worried about the declining number of insects or plants in distant locations.
In addition, the apocalyptic tone sometimes used to drive the message home can further hinder the case for constructive action. Too often, it promotes either cynicism or apathy among those who cannot relate these disaster scenarios directly to their own lives.
Climate change campaigners have experienced this in recent months, when trying to make the case for preventing global warming during the coldest winter that the northern hemisphere has experienced for several decades. Forging an effective communications strategy that avoids these pitfalls is clearly one of the biggest challenges facing the biodiversity community as it plans for the next ten years.
Finally, if researchers and practitioners are to rise to the challenge, they must first firm-up the scientific case for action in a publically accessible way. Climate change campaigns have been hindered by recently highlighted scientific flaws. This should serve as a stern reminder that, with the stakes as high as they are, flawed scientific reasoning and mixed messages can have a broad and lasting impact on our chances of success.
ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE |159|
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