Key Findings from
the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
§Scientists
have no clear idea of how many species -- from algae to blue
whales -- live on earth. Estimates
are up to 100 million of which only about 1.8 million have been
named so far. Humans are but one of those species.
§
Though the exact number is impossible to determine, an
unprecedented mass extinction of life on Earth is occurring. Scientists
estimate that between 150 and 200 species of life become extinct
every 24 hours.
§
There have always been periods of extinction in the planet's
history, but
this episode of species extinction is greater than anything the
world has experienced for the past 65 million years –
the greatest rate of extinction since the vanishing of the
dinosaurs.
§
This mass extinction is due, in large measure, to humankind's
unsustainable methods of production and
consumption, including the destruction of habitats, expanding
cities, pollution, deforestation, global warming and the
introduction of "invasive species".
§
"Climate change is forecast to become one of the biggest threats
to biodiversity," the
UN Convention on Biological Diversity said in a statement
marking May 22.
§"Approximately
20-30 per cent of plant and animal species assessed so far are
likely to be at greater risk of extinction if increases in
global average temperature exceed 1.5 to 2.5 Celsius" (2.7
to 4.5 Fahrenheit), according to a report in April 2007 by the
UN climate panel. Beyond that, it said ecosystems would face
ever more wrenching changes.
·
iodiversity contributes directly or indirectly to many aspects
of our well-being, for instance, by providing raw materials and
contributing to health. More
than 60 per cent of the world's people depend directly on plants
for their medicines.
·
Over the past century, many people have benefited from the
conversion of natural ecosystems to agricultural land and from
the exploitation of biodiversity. Although many individuals
benefit from activities that lead to biodiversity loss and
ecosystem change, the
full costs borne by society often exceed the benefits.
§
World leaders agreed at a 2002 UN Summit in Johannesburg to "achieve
by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of
biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as
a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all
life on earth."
·
To achieve greater progress towards biodiversity
conservation, it will be necessary – but not sufficient – to
urgently strengthen actions on the conservation and sustainable
use of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity (biological
diversity) reflects the number, variety and variability of
living organisms and how these change from one location to
another and over time. Biodiversity includes diversity within
species (genetic diversity), between species (species
diversity), and between ecosystems (ecosystem diversity).
Biodiversity is important in all
ecosystems, not only in those that are "natural" such as
national parks or natural preserves, but also in those that are
managed by humans, such as farms and plantations, and even urban
parks. It is the basis of the multiple benefits provided by
ecosystems to humans.
Where is biodiversity?
Life, and thus biodiversity, is
essentially everywhere on Earth's surface and in every drop of
its bodies of water. The best known dimension of biodiversity is
the classification of animals and plants into species, which
mainly focuses on animals observable to the naked eye.
What is the link between biodiversity and ecosystem services?
Ecosystem services
are the benefits obtained by people from ecosystems. These
include:
·
provisioning services such
as food, clean water, timber, fiber, and genetic resources;
·
regulating services such
as the regulation of climate, floods, disease, water quality,
and pollination;
·
cultural services such
as recreational, aesthetic, and spiritual benefits;
·
supporting services such
as soil formation, and nutrient cycling.
Biodiversity plays an important role in the way ecosystems
function and in the services they provide. The local loss of an
essential species can disrupt ecosystem services for a long
time. Changes in the interactions between species can also lead
to negative impacts on ecosystem processes.
·
The preservation of resident species can enhance resistance of a
wide range of natural and semi-natural ecosystems against
invasive species.
·
There have been worldwide declines in the diversity of
pollinating insects that are essential for the reproduction of
many plants.
·
Biodiversity, in particular the diversity of plant forms and the
distribution of landscape patches, influences climate at local,
regional, and global scales. Some components of biodiversity
affect carbon sequestration and thus are important in fighting
climate change.
·
The ecosystem's ability to control pests is strongly dependent
on biodiversity and benefits food security, rural households,
and national incomes of many countries.
·
The microbes living in the sea contribute to pollution control
by removing toxic substances from the environment, but how
species diversity influences this removal is not well
understood.
Why is biodiversity loss a concern?
Biodiversity is
essential for the benefits the ecosystems can provide to humans
and hence for human well-being. Its role goes beyond ensuring
the availability of raw materials to include security,
resiliency, social relations, health, and freedoms and choices.
Biodiversity
loss has direct and indirect negative effects on several
factors: Food security:
The availability of biodiversity is often a "safety net" that
increases food security and the adaptability of some local
communities to external economic and ecological disturbances.
Vulnerability:
Many communities have experienced more natural disasters over
the past several decades. For example, because of the loss of
mangroves and coral reefs, which are excellent natural buffers
against floods and storms, coastal communities have increasingly
suffered from severe floods.
Health:
A balanced diet depends on the availability of a wide variety of
foods, which in turn depends on the conservation of
biodiversity.
Energy security:
Wood fuel provides more than half the energy used in developing
countries. Shortage of wood fuel occurs in areas with high
population density without access to alternative and affordable
energy sources. In such areas, people are vulnerable to illness
and malnutrition because of the lack of resources to heat homes,
cook food, and boil water.
Clean water:The
continued loss of forests and the destruction of watersheds
reduce the quality and availability of water supplied to
household use and agriculture. In the case of New York City,
protecting the ecosystem to ensure continued provision of clean
drinking water was far more cost-effective than building and
operating a water filtration plant.
Social relations:Many
cultures attach spiritual, aesthetic, recreational, and
religious values to ecosystems or their components.
Freedom of choice:
Loss of biodiversity, which is sometimes irreversible, often
means a loss of choices. The notion of having choices available
irrespective of whether any of them will be actually picked is
an essential constituent of the freedom aspect of well-being.
Basic materials:
Biodiversity provides various goods - such as plants and animals
- that individuals need in order to earn an income and secure
sustainable livelihoods. In addition to agriculture,
biodiversity contributes to a range of other sectors, including
ecotourism, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and fisheries.
What competing goals can affect biodiversity?
When humans modify an ecosystem
to improve one of the services it provides this generally
results in changes to other ecosystem services. For example,
actions to increase food production can lead to reduced water
availability for other uses, and degraded water quality. In the
long term, the value of services lost may greatly exceed the
short-term economic benefits that are gained from transforming
ecosystems.
What is the value of biodiversity for human well-being?
Unlike goods
bought and sold on markets, many ecosystem services do not have
markets or readily observable prices. This means that the
importance of biodiversity and natural processes in producing
ecosystem services that people depend on is not reflected in
financial markets.
Degradation of ecosystem services could be significantly slowed
or reversed if their full economic value were taken into account
in decision-making.
A way of assigning monetary values to them is to rely on
non-market valuation methods. These methods have been applied to
clean drinking water, recreation, or commercially harvested
species.
Non-market values can be either the value to society from the
active use of the asset or a "non-use" value, which reflects the
value of an asset beyond any use, such as the value of existence
of species.
The private use value of biodiversity and ecosystem services by
individuals will typically ignore the "external" benefits of
conservation to society in general. For example, a farmer may
benefit from intensive use of the land but generally does not
bear all the consequences caused by leaching of excess nutrients
and pesticides into ground or surface water, or the consequences
of loss of habitat for native species.
Intensive use of ecosystems often produces the greatest
short-term advantage, but excessive and unsustainable use can
lead to losses in the long term. A country could cut its forests
and deplete its fisheries, and this would show only as a
positive gain to GDP, despite the loss of capital assets,
because of the income generated by the sale of those products.
Moreover, many ecosystem services, such as groundwater, are
available freely to those who use them and so again their
degradation is not reflected by standard economic valuation
methods.
How
are the impacts of biodiversity loss distributed geographically?
The changes in
ecosystems are harming many of the world's poorest people, who
are less able to adjust to these changes and who are affected by
even greater poverty, as they have limited access to substitutes
or alternatives. For example, poor farmers often cannot afford
using modern methods for services previously provided by
biodiversity.
Poor people have historically disproportionately lost access to
biological products and ecosystem services as demand for those
services has grown. The transfer in ownership of ecosystem
resources often excludes local communities, and the products of
their exploitation are not destined for the local market.
What are the current trends in biodiversity?
For all aspects of
biodiversity, current pace of change and loss is hundreds of
times faster than previously in recorded history and the pace
shows no indication of slowing down.
Virtually
all of Earth's ecosystems have been dramatically transformed
through human actions, for example, 35% of mangrove and 20% of
coral reef areas have been lost. Across the world, ecosystems
have continued to be converted for agricultural and other uses
at a constant pace over at least the last century.
Speciesextinction
is a natural part of Earth's history. However, over the past 100
years humans have increased the extinction rate by at least 100
times compared to the natural rate. The current extinction rate
is much greater than the rate at which new species arise,
resulting in a net loss of biodiversity.
What factors lead to biodiversity loss?
Some of the key
drivers include land use change, climate change, invasive
species, overexploitation, pollution, and changes in human
population, incomes or lifestyle.
Changes in biodiversity are driven by combinations of these
drivers that work over time, on different scales, and that tend
to amplify each other. For example, population and income growth
combined with technological advances can lead to climate change.
Historically, habitat and land use change have had the biggest
impact on biodiversity in all ecosystems, but climate change and
pollution are projected to increasingly affect all aspects of
biodiversity.
Overexploitation and invasive species have been important as
well and continue to be major drivers of changes in
biodiversity.
How
is climate change affecting biodiversity?
Recent changes in
climate, such as warmer temperatures in certain regions, have
already had significant impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems.
They have affected species distributions, population sizes, and
the timing of reproduction or migration events, as well as the
frequency of pest and disease outbreaks.
Projected changes in climate by 2050 could lead to the
extinction of many species living in certain limited
geographical regions. By the end of the century, climate change
and its impacts may become the main direct driver of overall
biodiversity loss.
How
might biodiversity change in the future under various plausible
scenarios?
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment developed four plausible
scenarios to explore the future of biodiversity and human
well-being until 2050 and beyond. The different scenarios are
based on either increased globalization or increased
regionalization, and an either reactive or proactive way of
addressing environmental issues.
Overall, in all four scenarios, agricultural land will expand
and forest cover will shrink, particularly in developing
countries. This will lead to a continuing decline in local and
global biodiversity, mainly as a result of habitat loss. More
proactive approaches to the environment will be more successful
in slowing these trends.
Human well-being will be affected by biodiversity loss both
directly and indirectly. Direct effects include an increased
risk of sudden environmental changes such as fisheries
collapses, floods, droughts, wildfires, and disease.
Changes will also affect human well-being indirectly, for
instance in the form of conflicts due to scarcer food and water
resources.
Though the average income per person (GDP) is projected to rise
in all scenarios, this can mask increased inequity for instance
in terms of food security. Major decisions will have to address
trade-offs between competing goals, for instance between
agricultural production and water quality, or between water use
and aquatic biodiversity.
What actions can be taken to conserve biodiversity?
Protected
areasare
an essential part of conservation programs, but they are not
sufficient by themselves to protect the full range of
biodiversity and can be difficult to enforce. To be successful,
sites for protected areas need to be carefully chosen, ensuring
that all regional ecosystems are well represented, and the areas
need to be well designed and effectively managed.
Market tools,
such as direct payments for ecosystem services or transfers of
ownership rights to private individuals, can provide economic
incentives to conserve biodiversity and to use ecosystem
services sustainably.
Prevention and early intervention have proven to be the most
successful and cost-effective way of tackling invasive species.
Once an invasive species has become established, its control and
particularly its eradication through the use of chemicals or
through the introduction of other species is not necessarily
effective and is extremely difficult and costly.
To be conserved,
biodiversity must beintegratedinto
the agriculture, fishery, and forestry sectors. These sectors
are directly dependent on biodiversity and affect it directly.
The private sector can make significant contributions, for
example by adopting certain agricultural practices.
International agreements need to include enforcement measures
and take into account impacts on biodiversity and possible
synergies with other agreements. Most direct actions to halt or
reduce biodiversity loss need to be taken at local or national
level.
Informing all of societyabout
the benefits of conserving biodiversity, and explicitly
considering trade-offs between different options in an
integrated way, helps maximize the benefits to society.
Ecosystem restoration is generally far more expensive than
protecting the original ecosystem, but is becoming increasingly
important as more areas become degraded.
PATRIMONIO CULTURAL ORAL E INMATERIAL DE LA
NACIÓN
Bienvenidos al Carnaval de Riosucio Caldas
El Carnaval de Riosucio Caldas, es una de las
fiestas más pintorescas de Colombia y que atrae un considerable
número de visitantes nacionales y extranjeros. El carnaval es
además patrimonio inmaterial cultural de Colombia.
Lo que hoy se conoce como Riosucio se encontraba dividido en dos
comunidades antagonistas (San Lorenzo y Quiebralomo). Su
rivalidad era tal que cada una de ellas tenia su propio parque y
su propia Iglesia, hasta que los sacerdotes (José Ramón Bueno y
José Bonifacio Bonafont), cansados de esta insana competencia,
reunieron a todos en lo que hoy se conoce como la Calle del
Comercio, conminándolos a unirse como un solo pueblo, so pena de
que el mismísimo Satanás vendría a castigar a quien incumpliera
tan divina solicitud. Para celebrar la unión se llevó a cabo una
fiesta en honor de los Reyes Magos, por lo cual el Carnaval
siempre coincide con tales fechas.
Con el tiempo éste se convirtió en una fiesta llena de alegría,
humor y diversión. En el año de 1915 se adoptó la figura del
diablo como la efigie de la festividad.
Historia del Carnaval
Dos pueblos
fundados entre los siglos XVI y XVII “Quiebralomo y la Montaña”,
al disputarse el territorio que se extiende al pie del Cerro
Ingrumá, se declararon mortal enemistad. Los dos curas
Párrocos, en histórica alianza logran unirlos fundando con ambos
a Riosucio en 1.819; de ahí el exclusivo diseño urbanístico
basado en las dos plazas principales a solo una cuadra de
distancia una de otra.
Se considera que el seis de enero de 1.847 los
indígenas de la Montaña intervinieron por primera vez con sus
ritos del aborigen culto a la tierra en la fiesta de los reyes
magos venida de Quiebralomo; en esta se mezclaban desde antaño
danzas y cantos de origen africano con teatro sacro español y
formas coreográficas de ancestro europeo y surgieron entonces
las “Diversiones Matachinescas” con leyes festivas que ordenaban
la reconciliación de los antiguos rivales.
No es un Diablo religioso, ni tampoco es una
fiesta anticristiana. El Carnaval no toca la religiosidad de
los hombres. Es un estado anímico heredado de la tradición
cultural aborigen y de la mezcla de culturas y razas que vivió
la parte occidental de lo que hoy se llama Caldas.
El Diablo es un espíritu inspirador de muchas
cosas como: la preparación de los oídos para la música y el
cuerpo para la danza. Es quién inspira a los escritores y
poetas para fabricar los versos y canciones. Es un espíritu
bueno de la tradición, custodio simbólico de la fiesta.
El Carnaval de Riosucio es la demostración de la
cultura de un pueblo, que se formó con la integración indígena,
la negra africana y la blanca europea, cultura muy especial que
ha tenido representantes en todos los géneros de la creación
artística y espiritual.
El Carnaval de Riosucio tiene lugar cada dos años alrededor del
seis de enero y se halla estructurado como un extenso poema
dramático escrito de manera colectiva por los “matachines” o
carnavaleros de más honda mística y capacidad literaria.
Estructura del carnaval
1.JERARQUIAS
Diablo del Carnaval
Es por excelencia la figura primordial del
Carnaval, un espíritu bueno y dicharachero contagia la alegría
es el animador y Rey de la fiesta, apareció como símbolo del
Carnaval en 1915.
Junta del Carnaval
Después del Carnaval en Asamblea General son
elegidos los dignatarios que dirigirán el próximo Carnaval en
estos momentos son nueve (9) Presidente Otilio Velásquez,
Vicepresidente Carlos Alberto Cruz, Alcalde Alberto Ospina,
Vicealcalde Héctor Jaime Hernández, comité de cuadrillas Luz
Mery Trejos, comité de matachines Álvaro González, programación
Nicolás Lerma, comité de finanzas William Henao, comité de
Relaciones públicas y publicidad Leonidas Tapasco, su período es
de dos años.
Matachin
Personaje hacedor y protagonista del Carnaval, es
creador y actor del mismo pues está impregnado de Diablo desde
el precarnaval hasta poscarnaval y podríamos decir que su
trajinar es permanente en procura del engrandecimiento de la
fiesta.
La República del Carnaval
Gobierno
soberano del pueblo de Riosucio en materia de la fiesta
constituye una sátira política con Presidente, Alcalde y demás
funcionarios, leyes propias que ordenan la paz, fraternidad y
alegría a través de los decretos, convite, saludo y testamento.
“Autoridad que deber ser obedecida por propios y extraños.
Presidente del Carnaval
Es el actor principal de la Junta directiva
junto con el alcalde, debe ser una persona con capacidad no solo
administrativa si no matachinesca, él con su equipo de trabajo
debe sacar adelante el Carnaval, su atuendo ceremonial entre
otros incluye banda presidencial, gorro alto y prendas de
diferentes colores.
Alcalde del Carnaval
Como su nombre lo indica es otro de los
funcionarios de alto rango dentro del Carnaval, es el encargado
de la defensa y mantenimiento de la tradición, el ingenio y la
autenticidad, como el presidente tiene también su atuendo,
bastón de mando, sombrero prominente y prendas de galas de
colores alegres.
Abanderado
Es la persona encargada de llevar exclusivamente
la bandera del Carnaval y sin entregársela a nadie salvo en
caso de emergencia al presidente o al alcalde del Carnaval.
Debe mantener la alegría y contagiársela al
pueblo carnavalero guía todos los desfiles del Carnaval y
precarnaval, el último
fue Abelardo Vallejo quien hasta el momento de su fallecimiento
era el más antiguo.
Diablito Suelto
La mayoría de los riosuceños se quieren disfrazar
de este personaje, es el atuendo mas visto en todo el Carnaval
tanto en niños como en adultos, se dice que en la antigüedad era
quien cuidaba la identidad de los cuadrilleros y azotaba con
vejigazos de res inflada a quien los perturbara.
2.MANIFESTACION
COLECTIVA
Alegre despertar del Carnaval
Primera
manifestación de euforia a las cero horas del viernes, cordial
desfile, sin empujes ¡Solo danza y alegría!
Alborada
Expresión de júbilo colectivo por el amanecer de
cada día de Carnaval. La primera alborada se inicia a las cero
horas del día viernes, es un Conjuro de iniciación de la fiesta.
Estas se repetirán cada amanecer, hasta el final de los
festejos. Están acompañadas de pólvora y muchos músicos.
Entrada de las colonias
La entrada de las Colonias. Regreso emotivo de
los riosuceños ausentes para participar del ritual.
Se realiza el día sábado.
Desfile de faroles
Desfile de Faroles y Diablos Danzantes. Conjuro
para que el sol brille durante el Carnaval. Ritual del fuego.
Lunes en la noche.
Cabalgata
Tradicional
desfile de jinetes, con bellos ejemplares que recorren las
calles de la ciudad
Corralejas
Pantomima comunitaria del toreo, con novillos
criollos. Se realiza colectivamente y el público goza y aplaude
con el espectáculo de las revolcadas a los borrachitos. Es la
actividad lúdica más tradicional y favorita del Carnaval. Se
realizan tres corridas, en un circo de guadua improvisado,
ejemplo de la arquitectura folclórica.
Verbena
Son bailes populares al aire libre, realizados en
determinados lugares de la ciudad. Cada noche del Carnaval,
después de los actos del ritual, el pueblo se reúne para bailar
y disfrutar, al son de diferentes orquestas.
La
Fundación Cruz Verde no comparte necesariamente las opiniones
y/o comentarios expresados por quienes escriben, exceptuando
cuando se diga que son postura oficial de la Fundación Cruz
Verde. Cada autor es responsable de su expresión y no la
Fundación.
