MODULE 8

Biodiversity

• Examples include bacteria, protozoa, fungi, flowering plants, ants, beetles, butterflies, birds, fish, and large
animals such as elephants, whales, and bears.

The three different types of biodiversity

1. Genetic diversity
Examples:
➢ Different breeds of dogs, different varieties of rose flower, wheat, rice, mangoes, etc.

2. Species diversity
Examples:
➢ Australia's Great Barrier Reef is an example of species diversity. It is the home to the largest coral
reef in the world. It contains approximately 400 different types of coral species, 150 fish species, 4000
species of mollusks, and 10 species of turtles.
➢ Tropical Rainforests: They contain half of the world's species. There are about 5-10 million insect
species present. 40% of the world's 2,75,000 species of flowering plants are present in the tropical
regions.
3. Ecological diversity
Examples:
➢ An example of ecological diversity on a global scale would be the variation in ecosystems, such as
deserts, forests, grasslands, wetlands and oceans.
➢ Ecological diversity is the largest scale of biodiversity, and within each ecosystem, there is a great deal
of both species and genetic diversity.

Threatened species
Examples:
➢ Philippine eagle-owl, Camiguin forest rat, Oceanic whitetip shark, Great white shark

Endangered species
Examples:
➢ Javan Rhinos, Amur Leopard, Sunda Island Tiger, Mountain Gorillas, Tapanuli Orangutan, Yangtze
Finless Porpoise, Black Rhinos, African Forest Elephant.

The Montreal Protocol

• The Philippines signed the Montreal Protocol on September 14, 1988, and ratified it on March 21, 1993. The
Philippines' commitment to the Montreal Protocol is to phase out its consumption of all ODS. The Montreal
Protocol defines consumption as production plus import minus export.

Can we get rid of the ODS?

• There has been considerable progress in finding non-ozone-depleting substitutes for ODS in the last few years.
Substitutes for air-conditioning and refrigeration applications are now available, such as that HCFC-22 can be
replaced by HFC-410A, CFC-12 can be replaced by HFC-134a. There are also emerging markets for "drop-in"
replacement for HCFCs and halons.

• Alternative products or processes can be used in some cases including the following:
1. alternative insulating materials;
2. substitute food containers such as hydrocarbon blown polystyrene, plastic film wraps and bags;
3. alternative packaging materials such as plastic film bubble wraps; and
4. air-conditioning and refrigeration plants operating on non-HCFC refrigerants.

• HCFCs solvents can be substituted in some applications. For instance, petroleum solvents can be selected as
a replacement for CFC-113 or 1,1,1-trichloroethane in cleaning applications. Aqueous cleaning, or even no-
clean technology, are also alternative processes that can be used by the electronics industry.

• Many household and personal aerosol products, e.g. paint sprays and insecticides, now use hydrocarbons (e.g.
propane and butane) as propellants instead of HCFCs or CFCs.
How can I help to protect the ozone layer?
While the vast majority of ODS usage is either industrial or commercial, individuals can help in the following ways:

• Buy air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment that does not use HCFCs as refrigerant.
• Buy aerosol products that do not use HCFCs or CFCs as propellants.
• Conduct regular inspection and maintenance of air-conditioning and refrigeration appliances to prevent and
minimize refrigerant leakage.
• For existing air-conditioning and refrigeration appliances that operate on HCFCs or CFCs, the refrigerant should
be recovered or recycled whenever an overhaul of equipment is to be carried out. Replacing or retrofitting such
equipment to operate on non-HCFCs refrigerant should also be considered.
• When motor vehicle air-conditioners need servicing, make sure that the refrigerants are properly recovered and
recycled instead of being vented to the atmosphere.

The Kyoto Protocol

• In 2003, the Philippines ratified the Kyoto Protocol (as a non-Annex I country) to the UNFCCC, having played
a leadership role in its negotiations.
• Ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions:
1. Use less electricity. Some steps that you can take to use less electricity are simple and save money, like
replacing incandescent light bulbs with LED bulbs that use less electricity, adding insulation to your home,
and setting the thermostat lower in the winter and higher in the summer, especially when no one is home.
There are also new technologies that help keep buildings energy efficient, such as glass that reflects heat,
low-flow water fixtures, smart thermostats, and new air conditioning technology with refrigerants that don’t
cause warming. In urban and suburban environments, green or cool roofs can limit the amount of heat that
gets into buildings during hot days and help decrease the urban heat island effect.
2. Generate electricity without emissions. Renewable energy sources include solar energy, geothermal
energy, wind turbines, ocean waves and tidal energy, waste and biomass energy, and hydropower. Because
they do not burn fossil fuels, these renewable energy sources do not release greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere as they generate electricity. Nuclear energy also creates no greenhouse gas emissions, so it
can be thought of as a solution to climate change. However, it does generate radioactive waste that needs
long-term, secure storage.
3. Shrink the footprint of food. Today, about a fifth of global carbon emissions come from raising farm
animals for meat. For example, as cattle digest food they burp, releasing methane, a powerful greenhouse
gas, and their manure releases the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. And forests, which
take carbon dioxide out of the air, are often cut down so that cattle have space to graze.

Eating a diet that is mostly or entirely plant-based (such as vegetables, bread, rice, and beans) lowers
emissions. According to the (link is external) Drawdown Project, if half the population worldwide adopts a
plant-rich diet by 2050, 65 gigatons of carbon dioxide would be kept out of the atmosphere over about 30
years. (For a sense of scale, 65 gigatons of carbon dioxide is nearly two-years-worth of recent emissions
from fossil fuels and industry.) Reducing food waste can make an even larger impact, saving about 90
gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over 30 years.
4. Travel without making greenhouse gases. Most of the ways we have to get from place to place currently
rely on fossil fuels: gasoline for vehicles and jet fuel for planes. Burning fossil fuels for transportation adds
up to 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. We can reduce emissions by shifting to
alternative technologies that either don’t need gasoline (like bicycles and electric cars) or don’t need as
much (like hybrid cars). Using public transportation, carpooling, biking, and walking leads to fewer vehicles
on the road and less greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Cities and towns can make it easier for people
to lower greenhouse gas emissions by adding bus routes, bike paths, and sidewalks.
5. Reduce household waste. Waste we put in landfills releases greenhouse gases. Almost half the gas
released by landfill waste is methane, which is an especially potent greenhouse gas. Landfills are, in fact,
the third largest source of methane emissions in the U.S., behind natural gas/petroleum use and animals
raised for food production (and their manure). In the U.S., each member of a household produces an
average of 2 kg (4.4 lbs) of trash per day. That's 726 kg (1660 lbs) of trash per person per year! Conscious
choices, including avoiding unnecessary purchases, buying secondhand, eliminating reliance on single-use
containers, switching to reusable bags, bottles, and beverage cups, reducing paper subscriptions and mail
in favor of digital options, recycling, and composting, can all help reduce household waste.
6. Reduce emissions from industry. Manufacturing, mining for raw materials, and dealing with the waste all
take energy. Most of the products that we buy — everything from phones and TVs to clothing and shoes —
are created in factories, which produce up to about 20% of the greenhouse gases emitted worldwide.
 There are ways to decrease emissions from manufacturing. Using materials that aren’t made from fossil
fuels and don’t release greenhouse gases is a good start. For example, cement releases carbon dioxide as
it hardens, but there are alternative products that don’t create greenhouse gases. Similarly, bioplastics made
from plants are an alternative to plastics that come from fossil fuels. Companies can also use renewable
energy sources to power factories and ship the products that they create in fuel-saving cargo ships.
7. Take carbon dioxide out of the air. Along with reducing the amount of carbon dioxide that we add to the
air, we can also take action to increase the amount of carbon dioxide we take out of the air. The places
where carbon dioxide is pulled out of the air are called carbon sinks. For example, planting trees, bamboo,
and other plants increases the number of carbon sinks. Conserving forests, grasslands, peatlands, and
wetlands, where carbon is held in plants and soils, protects existing carbon sinks. Farming methods such
as planting cover crops and crop rotation keep soils healthy so that they are effective carbon sinks. There
are also carbon dioxide removal technologies, which may be able to pull large amounts of greenhouse
gases out of the atmosphere.

The Cartagena Protocol

• The Protocol seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms
resulting from modern biotechnology.
• The BCH Pilipinas was developed in compliance by Philippine Government to its obligation, under Article 20 of
the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
• What are the benefits of Cartagena Protocol?
1. The Cartagena Protocol also sets up a Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) to enable information exchange on
LMOs between countries. It is also intended to help countries implement the Cartagena Protocol.
2. The Protocol gives a precautionary approach to the issue of transfer of LMOs from one country to another.

AquAdvantage salmon
• It is a genetically engineered fish, a GE Atlantic salmon developed by AquaBounty Technologies in 1989.
• The typical growth hormone-regulating gene in the Atlantic salmon was replaced with the growth hormone-
regulating gene from Pacific Chinook salmon, with a promoter sequence from ocean pout.
• The positive impact…Conserve wild fish populations. The AquAdvantage salmon grows to market-size using
25 percent less feed than any Atlantic salmon on the market today. This means that it requires less wild fish to
be converted into salmon feed – which conserves wild fish stocks