By: Wesley Holmes

Global Biodiversity Outlook 3

Today marks the launch of the third edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3, hereafter referred to as the Outlook). This much anticipated flagship publication of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is the product of close collaboration between the Secretariat of the CBD and the United Nations Environment Program-World Conservation Monitoring Center (UNEP-WCMC). The Outlook, an assessment of the current state of biodiversity, is being launched simultaneously in a multitude of cities across the globe. The report is based on scientific assessments, national reports submitted by governments and a study on future scenarios for biodiversity. The report, which is subject to an extensive independent scientific review process, is one of the principal milestones of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity. Sadly, coming right on the heels of the BP gulf spill disaster, the report does not deliver good news. According to the report, world leaders have failed to deliver on commitments made in 2002 to reduce the global rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, and have instead overseen alarming biodiversity declines. In the preface to the report, Executive-Secretary of the CBD, Ahmed Djoghlaf laments “No country has reported that it will completely meet the 2010 target, and a few Parties have unequivocally stated they will not meet it.”

The Outlook warns that massive further loss of biodiversity is becoming increasingly likely, and with it, a severe reduction of many essential services to human societies as several “tipping points” are approached, in which ecosystems shift to alternative, less productive states from which it may be difficult or impossible to recover. Some of tipping points analyzed in the report include;

Brazilian Deforestation (UNEP-WCMC)

• The dieback of large areas of the Amazon forest, due to the interactions of climate change, deforestation and fires, with consequences for the global climate, regional rainfall and widespread species extinctions.
• The shift of many freshwater lakes and other inland water bodies to eutrophic or algae-dominated states, caused by the buildup of nutrients and leading to widespread fish kills and loss of recreational amenities.
• Multiple collapses of coral reef ecosystems, due to a combination of ocean acidification, warmer water leading to bleaching, overfishing and nutrient pollution; and threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of species directly dependent on coral reef resources.

Bleaching Reef Systems (UNEP-WCMC)

On a positive note, the report does see progress in the creation of preserves, in particular in the number of protected marine areas announced in recent months, but the overall assessment of the Outlook warns that habitat losses have offset gains. Wetlands, salt marshes and habitats for shellfish seem to be suffering the most damage. The report notes that “the abundance of vertebrate species, based on assessed populations, fell by nearly a third on average between 1970 and 2006 and continues to fall globally”. The driving causes behind biodiversity loss (habitat change, overexploitation, pollution, invasive alien species and climate change) are either constant or increasing in intensity, the Outlook finds. Nutrients washing off farmland are turning waterways into biological “dead zones,” the report says, and ocean acidification and stormwater runoff have made coral reefs “vulnerable to collapse.” The report also sounds the alarm on overfishing, an area where government regulation has been particularly lax and which now threatens the impending collapse of important commercial fish stocks.

Disappearing Amphibians (UNEP-WCMC)

In a press release issued yesterday by the UNEP- WCMC, Djoghlaf warned “the assessment of the state of the world’s biodiversity in 2010 should serve as a wake-up call for humanity. Business as usual is no longer an option if we are to avoid irreversible damage to the life-support systems of our planet.” The Outlook points out that for a fraction of the money summoned up instantly by the world’s governments in 2008-9 to avoid economic meltdown, world governments could avoid a much more serious and fundamental breakdown in the Earth’s life support systems. UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program, Achim Steiner, notes that there have been key economic reasons why the 2010 biodiversity targets were not met. “Many economies remain blind to the huge value of the diversity of animals, plants and other life-forms and their role in healthy and functioning ecosystems from forests and freshwaters to soils, oceans and even the atmosphere. Many countries are beginning to factor natural capital into some areas of economic and social life with important returns, but this needs rapid and sustained scaling-up.” observes Mr. Steiner.

Desertification (Reeza, United Nations Convention to Comabt Desertification)

The report ultimately states that “New Vision” is required to address the continued dramatic decline of species biodiversity. In the forward to GBO-3, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon writes: “To tackle the root causes of biodiversity loss, we must give it higher priority in all areas of decision making and in all economic sectors.” Djoghlaf urges that “the CBD’s new Strategic Plan, to be adopted at the 2010 Nagoya Biodiversity Summit, must tackle the underlying causes of biodiversity loss. The linked challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change must be addressed with equal priority and close cooperation. Joint action is needed to implement the Conventions on Biodiversity, Climate Change and to Combat Desertification – the three conventions born of the 1992 Rio Conference.” Djoghlaf believes that this weeks’ (May, 15) Rio+20 summit in New York will provide an ideal staging ground to lay groundwork for this new strategic approach.

The Outlook will also be a key input into discussions by world leaders and Heads of State at a special high level segment of the United Nations General Assembly on September, 22. Its conclusions will also be central to the negotiations by world governments at the Nagoya, Japan Biodiversity Summit in October of this year.

Useful Links

Executive Summary in English:

http://www.cbd.int/gbo/gbo3/doc/GBO3-Summary-final-en.pdf

Global Biodiversity Outlook-3 Regional Factsheets:

http://www.unep.org/downloads/GBO/Africa.pdf

http://www.unep.org/downloads/GBO/LatinAmerica.pdf

http://www.unep.org/downloads/GBO/AsiaPacific.pdf

http://www.unep.org/downloads/GBO/WestAsia.pdf

Manassas Park Elementary School (Image taken from AIA Top Ten Website)

Just in time for last weeks 40^th Earth Day Celebration, on April 21^st, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced its selections for this years Top Ten Green Projects. Each year the AIA accepts nominations for the greenest new buildings from across the country. The AIA’s Committee on the Environment (COTE) picks 10 buildings which demonstrate how design can reduce environmental impacts by reusing materials, connecting to public transit, conserving water and energy and improving indoor air quality. Apus-green-building.com is happy to announce that one of this years winners is an elementary school located just down the road from APUS offices in Manassas, Virginia.

Manassas Park Elementary School (MPES) is fundamentally designed around the premise that people, especially children, cannot be expected to preserve or protect something they do not understand; a theme which is echoed throughout the campus sustainability movement. As such, the school is conceived throughout as a teaching tool that shepherds children along a path of environmental stewardship. Inside and out, sustainable design is integrated with the elementary curriculum. Design decisions were made with the expressed goal of showcasing as many teachable moments as possible. Not only are children offered exceptional views of the schools surrounding forest, they are invited to use the numerous exterior break-out spaces and to explore the piedmont landscape directly. The principal bio-retention area, for example, is detailed to serve as outdoor classroom, performance stage, and parent pick-up queue. Additionally, a comprehensive signage program reinforces each teachable moment by highlighting green building facts, demystifying sustainable building systems, and describing flora and fauna found in the area.

The COTE Top Ten Green Projects program, now in its 14th year, celebrates projects that are the result of a thoroughly integrated approach to architecture, natural systems and technology. The criteria for submitted projects parallel the same design and process requirements outlined by the USGBC LEED program. As noted by the AIA Press Release the projects selected by the committee make a positive contribution to their communities, improve comfort for building occupants and reduce environmental impacts through sustainable design strategies. The MPES project and the  nine other winners will be honored at the AIA 2010 National Convention and Design Exposition in Miami. However, since this amazing project serves the communities that support APUS staff and their families, apus-green-building.com would like take this opportunity to congratulate and thank Manassas Park City Schools for taking an environmentally conscious approach to this development. APUS faculty and staff work diligently to equip adults with the knowledge and skills necessary to make our communities safer, healthier and more sustainable, but we learn our most long lasting lessons and habits as children. The lessons and ethics that can be garnered from schools like MPES are sure to make an invaluable contribution to realizing a greener future for our children and our communities.

NBC News4 Washington has created an interactive tool to help measure your impact on the environment. It takes about 10 minutes to fill out. Be prepared with a recent gas and electricity. You don’t have to calculate anything – the tool will do it for you – just enter information about your lifestyle.

By Wes Holmes
I was expecting to find a typical, inefficient office park complex on my first visit to American Public University System’s (APUS) offices in downtown Charles Town, West Virginia.  Upon my arrival, I quickly realized that President Wallace Boston and the academic community at APUS were already setting very high standards for responsible, community-oriented growth and sustainable development.

 The APUS offices have been created from historic homes and buildings, mostly within walking distance of each other. I am honestly impressed by the facilities of the University.  It makes me even more proud to be an APUS student knowing that the institution implements a community oriented and culturally conscious business model.

In keeping with this unique paradigm of business growth coupled with community development, APUS recently broke ground on an ambitious project to convert a former scrap yard into a new academic center. In this effort APUS, will turn a vacant patch of land into an environmentally sound and cost-efficient place to work.

In the selection of this site, APUS has conformed to the site selection criteria necessary for LEED certification. The certification system specifies that when selecting land for development, areas that are designated as prime farmland or which serve as valuable habitat for important species should be excluded from consideration. The criteria also call for developers to avoid any land on or near a floodplain, wetland or waterbody.

The LEED site selection credit is intended to reduce the amount of valuable natural landscape developed annually. The goal is to encourage developers to focus on land that has already been altered and preserve what remains of the natural landscape. According to the Natural Resources Inventory, between 1982 and 2001, 34 million acres of natural landscape were developed for human uses. That’s an area roughly the size of Illinois, cleared, graded or otherwise altered from its natural state. In Charles Town, West Virginia however, APUS is effectively adding 45,000 square feet of commercial work space to the city of Charles Town while adding zero square feet to the city’s landscape footprint.

Through adherence to LEED principles, APUS has managed to create new economic opportunity while preserving landscape integrity.  Thus, taking a significant stride in establishing their institution within the Campus Sustainability Movement.

My name is Wesley Holmes and I will be your guide through the LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations Project Checklist. Building developments impact the environment by changing the physical characteristics of the landscape and ultimately influencing the natural processes of the area.

In the coming weeks we will review the literature concerning how the environment is impacted by development and how the USGBC credit criteria are intended to address these issues. The checklist is broken down into seven broad categories:

• Sustainable Sites
• Water Efficiency
• Energy and Atmosphere
• Materials and Resource
• Indoor Environmental Quality
• Innovation in Design
• Regional Priority

Within each category there are a number of potential credits to earn based on a variety of design and policy elements. These credits are intended to reduce the environmental impact of traditional development practices. Each week we will address a credit and review the literature surrounding the environmental issue the credit is intended to address. With some exceptions, the Credit Checklist largely parallels the process of designing and constructing a new building.

As much as possible these blog postings and the credits they address will parallel the development of the new Academic Center in Charles Town.