Linking Tourism & Conservation (LT&C) is a support organization of the UN goal (the so-called “Aichi target 11” of the Convention for Biological Diversity) to reach by 2020 a well-managed and representative global network of protected areas, 17% on land and 10% of the marine environment. We profile for replication cases – LT&C-Examples -, where tourism – as the main user and benefiter of nature – is supporting the establishment or development of national parks or other types of protected areas. In 2020 the UN has to assess, how far their goal has been reached and has to agree on a new set of goals in order to safeguard the ecosystems of our planet. In this context, we like to republish a message of the WILD Foundation, which has its focus on wilderness areas, as an important and interesting contribution to the upcoming discussions of the UN:

You are invited to encourage the UN to protect half the planet.

Deadline: April 15th, 2019

Citizens from around the world are being asked to contribute recommendations to the United Nations for the protection of Earth’s biodiversity. These recommendations will influence the historic 2020 Convention on Biodiversity. The deadline to submit comments is April 15th, 2019. We need YOUR help to encourage the United Nations to adopt 50% targets for land and seas – that is the protection of half the planet to end the Sixth Mass Extinction and transform humanity’s relationship with wild nature.

Please copy and paste the text below or draft your own comments and send to this email address by April 15th, 2019: secretariat@cbd.int

Subject: Target 11: Protect Half

To Whom It May Concern,

By the end of this century, four million species are at risk of extinction. Such a catastrophic loss would undoubtedly have devastating consequences for humanity. Biodiversity is the foundation for a stable and thriving planet. Nothing short of unprecedented ambition is sufficient to take advantage of a rapidly closing window of opportunity for action. We still have half left to protect and life on Earth desperately demands this half remains intact (see: An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm). The post-2020 framework must be grounded on the 50% protection target – nature needs half.

Sincerely,
INSERT YOUR NAME HERE
INSERT YOUR COUNTRY
INSERT PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT

Let’s inspire UN leaders to take the actions needed to defend life on Earth.

In gratitude for your help,

Amy Lewis
Vice President, Policy & Communications
WILD Foundation

For more information on the process, visit:
Preparations for the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework

For more information on why we need half, visit:
To keep the planet flourishing, 30% of Earth needs protection by 2030

Catastrophic Declines in Wilderness Areas Undermine Global Environment Targets

UN’s ‘dire’ warning: Act now on Earth’s environment as human health ‘increasingly threatened’

Climate study warns of vanishing safety window on reducing carbon emissions – here’s why

The Rapid Decline of the Natural World is a Crisis Even Bigger Than Climate Change

World’s food supply under ‘severe threat’ from loss of biodiversity

Biologists think 50% of species will be facing extinction by the end of the century