Less than €15 billion each year is allocated to global conservation by governments, international agencies and NGOs, a conference in Athlone heard today.
Keynote speaker Prof Norman Myers told delegates at the first all-island conference on biodiversity this afternoon that although spending on conservation is still relatively low, global subsidies worth an estimated €350 billion are in place for activities such as logging which damage the ecosystem.
Prof Myers also warned that decisions taken concerning the environment during the next few decades will determine the future of the planet for at least the next five million years.
The focus of today's conference is on the European Union goal to halt biodiversity loss by 2010. The seminar is also examining the links between the natural environment and human health.
Conor Kretsch, the director of Co-operation on Health and Biodiversity, highlighted how ecosystem disturbance and the loss of biological diversity is increasing the risks of major disease pandemics.
He also explained how biodiversity loss also reduces the number of potential sources for new medical drugs.
Opening the conference today, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Tony Killeen, said:
"I welcome the ongoing co-operation on biodiversity conservation between North and South and as a small island it's important that we share the challenge of meeting the EU target to halt biodiversity loss by 2010."
