This Is How It Ends: If we don't change our ways, we won't survive extinction
Wednesday, 13 October 2021
OPINION: This Is How It Ends.
It’s a bleak title. But one that perfectly fits the sobering reality behind Stuff’s new seven-part documentary series, released from Monday.
We are experiencing drastic changes to our planet. That includes extreme weather such as flooding, drought and wildfires. Up to one million plant and animal species face extinction, many within decades.
Research shows we are the most dangerous creatures on the planet: humans are the cause of these changes.
And despite being a nation of nature-lovers, Aotearoa New Zealand is on the front line of this biodiversity crisis.
We are geographically isolated and so our wildlife has evolved in a very distinct way. It’s what makes us special, with more than 80,000 species found only here.
But we haven’t looked after the gift we’ve been given. At least 4000 of those native species are at risk of extinction, including some of our most precious taonga such as kākāpō, kauri trees, Māui dolphin, albatrosses and tuatara.
As one species becomes extinct, others are affected, putting some ecosystems in danger of collapse.
Our use of our land, coupled with invasive pests, and diseases have caused our indigenous ecosystems and species to be in a state of rapid decline.
Globally, about 75 per cent of land and 66 per cent of ocean has been significantly altered by people, driven mostly by the production of food. Agricultural operations use more than 33 per cent of Earth’s land surface and 75 per cent of its freshwater resources.
For those who care about nature, it is a heart-breaking situation.
But even if you aren’t moved by the plight of vulnerable creatures, like the Antipodean albatross, eastern rockhopper penguin or Archey’s frog, the news is still troubling.
Climate change absorbs political attention. But biodiversity is the infrastructure that supports life on Earth.
It provides our basic needs: oxygen, water and food. We also depend on it for our economies, from agriculture to timber, fuel and medicines. And for enjoyment and wellbeing.
As a species, we have achieved so much with our intelligence and innovation. But we’ve also been stupid: our unsustainable consumption has destroyed our home, and now threatens our existence.
Last week the United Nations held the first part of its COP15 biodiversity summit, where diplomats, scientists, and conservationists met (online) to lay the groundwork for a global agreement to halt and reverse the destruction of nature.
It is set to be finalised in May, in Kunming, China. However, in the last decade, the world failed to meet a single one of previous targets to stop the destruction of nature, known as the Aichi targets.
Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan told the conference: “Toitū te marae a Tāne, toitū te marae a Tangaroa, toitū te tangata. If the land is well and the sea is well, the people will thrive.”
New Zealand has its own biodiversity strategy: Te Mana o Te Taiao, launched in August last year. But its implementation is some way off: This Is How It Ends reveals Allan has asked officials to do a ‘stocktake’ of agencies and spending.
Predator 2050 is an ambitious plan to preserve our remaining biodiversity. But to succeed, it needs a national debate on controversial gene-editing technologies.
And gradually, we are incorporating matauranga Māori, centuries worth of knowledge and practices, into conservation and resource management.
Extinction usually occurs over thousands of years, allowing nature to slowly replace what was lost. Today humans have hastened up this process to a dangerous rate.
But we show none of the same speed in restoring the balance. We need to have challenging conversations about what we eat, buy, where we live and how we travel.
If we don’t, we are unlikely to survive the impending sixth mass extinction.