Japan to propose new int'l targets to preserve biodiversity

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TOKYO, Oct. 11 Kyodo -
Japan plans to propose new international targets from 2010 to preserve
biological diversity, which is diminishing on a global scale, a draft plan for
the proposal showed Sunday.
The draft of the government proposal calls for setting a medium- to long-term
target for the year 2050 and a short-term target for the year 2020. For the
short-term target, it proposes to set 13 numerical criteria, such as the number
of areas for environmental conservation and the number of endangered species.
The new targets will be decided on at a meeting of the signatory countries to
the Convention on Biological Diversity to be held in Nagoya in October next
year.
The Japanese government plans to propose the new targets to the convention's
secretariat at the end of this year after hearing views from the public,
sources familiar with the matter said.
According to the draft, the medium- to long-term target is the sustained
expansion of ecological benefits to mankind by preventing biological diversity
from further losses.
To attain the medium- to long-term target, the draft proposes to set as the
short-term target the expansion of activities to preserve biological diversity
and to work out methods to reduce the adverse impact of human activity on
biological diversity.
In the short-term target, the draft proposes nine individual targets including
an expansion of activities for biological protection and of areas where the
ecosystem is to be preserved.
==Kyodo