Worldwatch Charts Earth's Vital Signs

WASHINGTON, DC, June 25, 2002 (ENS) - Savvy consumers with environmental protection at heart are having a positive impact on the Earth's "vital signs," according to a new report from the Worldwatch Institute. Pressure on the planet's land, air, and water are still unsustainable, but the Washington based research organization has found some healthy signs in this year's annual survey.

"Vital Signs 2002" co-author and project director Michael Renner says one of the most "promising developments" is the growth in sales of energy efficient compact fluorescent lamps, with "an estimated 1.8 billion in use worldwide."

Michael Renner (Photo courtesy Worldwatch)

"Other encouraging developments are the decreasing metals intensity of the world economy, the growing reliance on transbourdary parks as tools for biodiversity conservation and peace and confidence building, the expansion of commercial forest areas that have been certified as well managed, reductions in the number of active armed conflicts and progress in curtailing reliance on landmines," Renner writes.

But there is plenty of bad news in the "Vital Signs 2002" report. The Worldwatch team points to ongoing forest loss in the tropics, and the threat of extinction for many freshwater species.

Co-author Sandra Postel writes that while lack of data in many countries makes a comprehensive global assessment of freshwater biodiversity impossible, the destruction of their habitat by dams, river diversions and pollution is killing freshwater species at an "alarming" rate.

She cites research from 1992 showing that "at least 20 percent of the world's 10,000 freshwater fish species are now endangered, are threatened with extinction, or have already gone extinct." Today, 10 years later, that percentage has gone up.

Aerial view of interior Mississippi Delta marshes, Delta National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana (Photo by Dr. Terry McTigue courtesy NOAA)

Tropical rainforests are under intense pressure, according to information compiled by Janet Abramovitz for "Vital Signs 2002." Citing reliable estimates by United Nations agencies and the World Resources Institute, she writes that over the past decade, 18 nations lost 20 percent or more of their forest cover. The highest losses were in Africa - Rwanda and Burundi each lost 39 percent of their forests, while Cote d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Niger each lost about 30 percent.

Illegal logging in the DR Congo (Photo courtesy WWF)

The Mexico based Forest Stewardship Council has certified over 25 million hectares of commercial forest in 54 countries as meeting social and environmental standards for sustainable forestry, more than double the area in 1998, the Vital Signs report points out.

Consumers can refrain from wasting fresh water and electricity to reduce the need for new dams that wipe out the habitat of freshwater species.

At the seafood counter, consumers can now find rock lobster, cockles, hoki, mackerel, herring, and salmon that carry the Marine Stewardship Council’s logo as having been harvested under environmentally responsible management.

To safeguard migratory songbirds from extinction, coffee drinkers in the United States and Canada can ask for their coffee to be brewed from beans carrying the Bird Friendly seal of approval from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. This program certifies that the coffee beans meet standards for shade farming and organic production.

Vital Signs 2002 highlights the electronics industry as a sector where consumer pressure could be "pivotal" in getting industry and regulatory bodies to be more environmentally responsible.

Computer junk on an illegal dump site (Photo courtesy Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition)

"We tend to think of the new economy as being cleaner than the smokestack economy," Renner says. "But manufacturing semiconductors is chemical intensive. And the short lifespan of these products is creating mountains of electronics waste, poisoning groundwater supplies, and endangering human health. Cell phone and computer users should be demanding that manufacturers take their products back, and design them to be recycled instead of dumped."

Vital Signs 2002 was produced with the support of the W. Alton Jones Foundation and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). "Changing consumption and production patterns will be high on the agenda of this year's World Summit on Sustainable Development," says UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer. "Consumers will not save the world by themselves, but they are welcome allies in a struggle where we are going to need all the help we can get."

To read "Vital Signs 2002" in its entirety, log onto: http://www.worldwatch.org