At COP17, nature’s gains and losses pull in both directions

Most countries now have biodiversity targets, but most are off track, as the UN biodiversity summit meets in Armenia.

Governments gathered this week in Yerevan, Armenia, for the UN’s 17th biodiversity summit, COP17, which opened on 19 October ^[3]. Nearly 90% of countries have now adopted national biodiversity targets, but most remain well off the pace needed to meet them ^[1].

The pressure shows in the birds. A recent State of the World’s Birds report found that nearly half of the migratory bird species assessed are declining ^[2]. In southern Mozambique, Maputo National Park is one of the places that still shelter them ^[2].

For many African delegations, money and the rights of Indigenous peoples top the agenda ^[3]. In 2022, countries signed the Kunming-Montreal framework, agreeing to maintain, restore and greatly expand natural ecosystems and to end human-caused extinctions of threatened species ^[3].

There are signs of what protection can do. In Cambodia, six Irrawaddy dolphin calves were confirmed born this year, bringing the critically endangered river population to an estimated 118 ^[4]. In Nigeria, a military-backed operation shut a major illegal gold mine in Gashaka-Gumti, the country’s largest national park, driving more than 4,000 miners out; whether they can be kept out is still an open question ^[5].

Sources

1. Nearly 90% of countries adopt biodiversity targets, but most remain off trackMongabay · news.mongabay.com
2. Mozambique’s Maputo National Park showcases biodiversity and shelters migratory birdsMongabay · news.mongabay.com
3. Finance and Indigenous rights top Africans’ agenda as biodiversity summit opens in YerevanMongabay · news.mongabay.com
4. Six new calves offer hope amid ongoing threats to Cambodia’s Irrawaddy dolphinsMongabay · news.mongabay.com
5. Nigeria drove thousands of gold miners from a national park. But can it keep them out?Mongabay · news.mongabay.com