Doha conference calls attention to endangered species

Delegates from around the world met at a UN sponsored Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) forum in Doha, Qatar to discuss measures for further protection of endangered species such as the polar bear, bluefin tuna, tiger, rhinoceros and shark.

The meeting came as conservationists warn of a wider biodiversity that is rapidly on the decline. Dr. Stuart Simon of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature stated that species are currently vanishing faster than they can evolve.

In England alone, nearly 500 species have died out, almost all in the last two centuries. Another topic discussed was the illegal trafficking of exotic animals such as lions, leopards and primates, with cruel practices that include drugging or even removing their teeth for placement in unnatural conditions such as the extreme confinement required for public entertainment or display.

CITES Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers urged for governments to pass more stringent laws to curb practices as these. We thank Dr. Stuart, CITES Secretary-General Wijnstekers and all conference participants for your factual observations as we join your concern and pray that humans of every nation act now in choosing more harmonious lifestyles to protect the cherished species of our planet.

As during an October 2009 videoconference in Indonesia, Supreme Master Ching Hai has often addressed the need for action to halt the tragic suffering and loss of our animal co-inhabitants.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: In our society, the law only punishes someone who has done something wrong to the society. The animals, they have never done us any wrong. They live their life quietly, they’re eating whatever God provides them, they don’t harm us in any way. Even if in some cases they do, it’s because we destroy their habitats, because they have nowhere to live, they have no more food in nature for them to eat.

Now we are at the point where we must change while there is still time, otherwise we will face disastrous consequences and we might lose the whole world, our lives altogether.

So please, everyone, plant veg, be veg and we can go green later when we’ve already saved the planet.

http://www.theage.com.au/world/experts-warn-species-loss-is-unnatural-20100308...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/mar/15/common-english-spec...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/georgemonbiot
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paula-crossfield/cites-biodiversity-loss-a_b_502180.html
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/...
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=112824

UK’s Environmental Secretary calls for action to protect biodiversity

In an article written for the British Broadcasting Corporation’s online News, Right Honorable Hilary Benn, Member of Parliament and UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs cautioned that biodiversity worldwide is reaching a point of irreversible loss.

Highlighting the interdependence between human activities and ecological systems, he warned that deforestation, overfishing, and other environmental abuse is impacting sustainability on all levels.

Secretary Benn stated, “…Our ecosystems also sustain us and our economies – purifying our drinking water, producing our food and regulating our climate. Climate change and biodiversity are inextricably linked.

We ignore (such) natural capital at our peril.” His Excellency concluded by urging for continued protective measures with close monitoring for effectiveness, saying that the time to act is now.

Our earnest appreciation, Your Excellency Hilary Benn, for bringing attention to the vital safeguarding of Earth’s biodiversity. Let us be quickly motivated to work together in saving our irreplaceable planet and co-inhabitants.

Concerned for our global welfare, Supreme Master Ching Hai has often emphasized the need to act to protect all beings on Earth, as during July 2008 Heart-Touch Tour videoconference in Formosa (Taiwan).

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Up to now, we have lost so many, not just marine life, but land species. They disappear faster than we can imagine. They suffer a lot, they die, or they completely disappear because of our careless management of the world.

And we just feel like it doesn’t concern us or that we are not responsible for their plight, for the death and disappearance of our precious co-inhabitants. But the fact is that we are responsible.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: We have to stop the harmful effect of meat consumption, then we will see a happy, sufficient and satisfied world manifest in front of our eyes in a matter of weeks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8461727.stm
http://www.hilarybennmp.com/41c571d4-9a4c-85c4-3104-a7b2af04423e
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8467746.stm
http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2010/01/biodiversity_year.html

Renowned biologist cites tragic biodiversity loss

Harvard University Professor and two-time Pulitzer Prize winning biologist and ecologist Edward Wilson warns that biodiversity on Earth is suffering from drastic loss. With just under two million species currently catalogued, an estimated 30 million exist. And although 183 species have been formally declared extinct
since the beginning of the last century, Dr. Wilson states that this number is a vast underestimate, with annual extinctions more likely in the neighborhood of 20-30,000 species.

Saying that climate change has focused more on physical than living losses, Dr. Wilson is urging for the creation of an international group of experts to oversee biodiversity, similar to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Our many thanks, Dr.Wilson for your comprehensive approach and caring reminder to include all treasured co-inhabitants in addressing our planetary crisis.

May world leaders and citizens heed the call to urgent action to save these diverse and irreplaceable lives.
Concerned for our welfare, Supreme Master Ching Hai has also often emphasized the need for adopting the most considerate, eco-conscious lifestyles, as during a March 2009 videoconference in Mexico.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Just return to compassion and respect for all life. That is the principle we must uphold to ensure that the animals do not disappear, because, that would be tragic for us humans, too. Imagine our planet without animals at all. All the dogs gone, cats gone, birds gone, fish gone, buffalos gone,elephants gone; imagine, none of the animals survive; how would we live? So, if we respect all life, then we also don’t take any life. We don’t need to take in a way that hurts or harms any other being. If all humanity lives with the animal-free diet, and lives in respect to nature and other life, then we will have a Heaven on Earth.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/20/biodiversity-loss-darwin-edward-wilson
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=114878
http://www.well.com/~davidu/amnh.htmlhttp://roboconsumer.wordpress.com/2007/09/23/extinct-mammals/