Title:
Restoring the Earth: Proposal to the UN
Author: Alan Watson Featherstone
Seconded by: Mr. Michael Shaw
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WHEREAS,

Ecosystems everywhere are being degraded, fragmented and disturbed, with many species being driven to extinction, or their populations reduced to a tiny percentage of their original size, and the capacity of the world to support humans is also being seriously impaired in many areas;

Recent research in the USA and elsewhere has shown that existing wilderness and other protected areas are inadequate to support viable populations of the full range of their constituent species.

Restoration of degraded ecosystems is essential to both increase of the area of wilderness on the planet, and to provide the necessary ecological services which are essential for a sustainable future for humanity;

Restoration projects, mainly small-scale initiatives established by concerned local groups and individuals, are underway in many countries and ecosystem types around the world;

These pioneering projects are helping to elucidate the principles and techniques of ecological restoration which will need to be applied on a co-ordinated global scale in the coming decades, to return our planet, and all its ecosystems, to a state of health again;

Ecosystem restoration must become an international priority, with substantial resources allocated to it, to ensure its success;

With many peoples’ attention increasingly focussed on the year 2000, the arrival of the new millenium provides an ideal opportunity for the peoples and nations of the world to unite in humanity’s first globally shared task—the restoration of the Earth;

The 6^th World Wilderness Congress resolves that:

• The General Assembly of the United Nations be called upon, at its meeting in late 1999, to declare the 21^st century as the Century of Restoring the Earth (in the same way as it declared, for example, 1986 to be the International Year of Peace); This will provide an inspiring, positive start to the new millenium, countering the generally negative perceptions of the future prospects for our planet;

.The 6^th World Wilderness Congress also calls upon:

• The UN to establish the appropriate incentives and mechanisms to ensure that restoration based on ecological principles, becomes the priority activity for every nation. Such incentives and mechanisms are to include:
  1. Every UN member state is requested to redirect 10% of its annual military budget, either in cash or in kind (through the use of military resources and personnel) to ecological restoration work; This will give a new sense of value and fulfillment to the military, as they engage in resolving the real threats of ecological security;
  2. The establishment of the Earth Restoration Service, which will engage volunteers of all ages in essential restoration work around the world;
  3. The establishment of an international database and network of existing restoration projects to collate exchange and make publicly available information about successful restoration techniques and initiatives.

Sponsored by:

Alan Watson Featherstone,
Trees For Life, The Park, Findhorn Bay,
Forres-IV36 OTZ, Scotland.
Tel: +44-1309-691292
Fax: +44-1309-691155
E-mail: trees@findhorn.org

Seconded by
Mr. Michael Shaw