The days of leaving animals and plants alone in the wild to cope with climate change are over. Scientists are laying down guidelines for assisted colonisation wherein species will be physically moved to a place better suited for their survival.
Dr Mark Stanley Price, a world-renowned field biologist from the University of Oxford has worked on the initial Oryx releases in Oman and is part of the Species Survival Commission, which is studying and laying down guidelines for translocation of species threatened by climate change, as part of a global conservation initiative.
The guidelines set up by this group of scientists will be released in 2012 at the World Conservation Congress in South Korea.
Dr Price spoke to Emirates Business ahead of World Environment Day which was celebrated yesterday under the theme, 'More Diversity, One Planet, One Future'. "The idea of leaving animals all alone in the wilderness is outdated as man has had a massive impact on the environment. For example, airplanes fly over forest reserves or domestic dogs can be seen in national parks.
"However, the biggest impact of man till date is on climate change, which in turn, is having a profound impact on biodiversity. As climate change threatens plants and animals, conservation has to be managed more actively and the days of leaving animals alone in the wild are over,"?he said.
According to Dr Price, the effect of climate change can already be seen in the changes in flowering, breeding and migratory behaviour of plants and animals. For example, plants and animals are shifting towards the two poles. In Europe, plants are flowering earlier and insects are flying out earlier.
Dr Price said: "The question now is, will the threatened and delicate species move with the climate? If they can't do so, then this will affect their chances of survival even further and will most likely lead to their extinction. For example, while the Arabian leopard can adapt faster, the sand cat cannot.
"So now we are assisting animals and plants to move to places where the climate is more suitable for their survival. This is called assisted colonisation or introduction for conservation."
Before translocating a species, scientists scout the location and see if it looks good for the animals and then they just physically move them. It's a very labour-intensive solution and scientists have to see how many species they can move and have to prioritise according to their importance in the ecological order.
"It seems an easy thing to do, but it isn't. Let us say we move a plant or animal 500km away. How do we know for sure how good it will be there for them? We have examples of plants and animals who move to a new place and then get out of control in that environment and become pests," he said.
Dr Price said since plants and animals are so closely linked, any changes in the lifecycle of one affect the other.
"For example, deer are herbivores and deer calve in the summer. And as plants' growth patterns change in response to climate change, this will impact deer populations which may not have as much food as would normally be available when calves arrive. This will affect their survival and they will have to move in search of food.
This disruption in ecological patterns is rapid due to human intervention and plants and animals need time to adapt. Those who can adapt fast will survive, while those that can't, will die out. Hence the need for active intervention by scientists. However this assisted colonisation needs to be done carefully.
Dr Price said: "There is always the risk that we might not get our climate predictions and knowledge right. We have to balance the risk of leaving the animals in the present habitat against the risk of moving it to another place. Assisted colonisation or conservation introduction appears simple but there is a lot of risk associated with it.
"That is why chosen scientists from all over the world have been asked by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), to set up a group to look at assisted colonisation globally. It wants us to set up guidelines for assisted animal colonisation and release new guidelines at the World Conservation Congress in 2012 in South Korea."
The first meeting of this group of environmental scientists was held in Abu Dhabi last month at the Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort.
Green initiatives at school
With schools in Dubai exhorting their students to think green, the World Environment Day celebrated yesterday may have gone a long way in ensuring that the next generation, especially in this region of expansive habits, grows up as an environmentally responsible one.
The United Nations celebrates World Environment Day on June 5 every year to spread awareness about environmental issues and make the world a healthier place to live in. When Emirates Business spoke to school children in Dubai on the occasion, what stood out was their high awareness about ecological issues and concern for the environment.
Issues like the melting of glaciers and emission of greenhouse gases emerged as topics of discussion among students in school, while it came to light that themes such as
'Go Green' and 'Say no to Plastic' all over the world have penetrated the psyche of school children, and their actions and initiatives show a desire for a healthier environment.
Environmentally aware young minds in Dubai are putting their creativity to work by transforming waste material such as paper, glass and others, into artistic and unique objects. Prarthan Shah, a 14 year-old Indian student in Dubai's Our Own High School, said: "I use trashed paper for origami and papier-mâché work. I make paper bags from newspapers. I've also used Diwali decorations that would have been thrown away, to make showpieces."
Several schools are taking the initiative to train students to act responsibly towards the environment.
"At school we had an overnight stay where they taught us to reduce the consumption of electricity. Our school has set up various recycling boxes – for paper, plastic and batteries. So, now, instead of throwing away batteries and newspapers discarded at home, I take them to school and put them in the recycling boxes," said Connie Ding, 15, Malaysian, a student of Raffles International School, Dubai.(Meesha Kapoor)