New Delhi: British Conservative MP and Shadow Environment Secretary, Nick Herbert, has stressed on the need for a change in the approach to save the earth’s ecosystems ‘worth trillions of pounds’.

Speaking at the event ‘Will words only remain?’, organised in New Delhi by the International Fund for Animal Welfare – Wildlife Trust of India (IFAW-WTI), Herbert said, “the challenges we face are so immense that business as usual is no longer an option and that our natural capital will not survive unless we begin to find new ways to value our environmental assets.”

“We must have strong and consistent leadership from countries like Britain and India that raises the profile of these issues and leads the call for change. We need international cooperation to set proper standards. And we need effective regulation that is properly enforced, to ensure that agreements lead to genuine improvement.”

The MP highlighted climate change as one of the leading threats to wildlife and humans alike. “The poorest people are being hit hardest and our wildlife is already feeling the effects. Rising temperatures will lead to fragmented habitats that will affect species population and migration. Coastal erosion and rising sea levels in India’s Sundarban islands have reduced habitat for endangered tigers forcing them to prowl into villages in search of food,” he said.

Population growth and development, pollution and wildlife crime, he said were other major challenges to wildlife conservation in the 21st century.

Citing the US State Department, Herbert mentioned that the illegal international wildlife trade, worth over 6 billion pounds a year, “is the third biggest trade after drugs trafficking and arms”. He warned that “there is now a confirmed link with organised crime, and even terrorism.”

Pointing out examples of potentially successful conservation initiatives, he said, “Strong leadership and international cooperation, effective regulation and tough enforcement, and social responsibility on the part of individuals and businesses,” would be required to face these challenges.

“The Tibetan Conservation Awareness Campaign (TCAC), launched by the Dalai Lama, shows what can be achieved through political leadership. It implored citizens to give up using illegal animal products, resulting in the public incineration of dresses lined with tiger and leopard furs, and a collapse in demand.”

The talk followed a research trip by the MP to Kaziranga National Park and the IFAW-WTI run Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in Assam. During the trip, Herbert met representatives of the Manas Maozigendri Eco-tourism Society, that has been providing alternative employment incentives to former poachers to facilitate conservation.

“We need incentives as well as regulations to protect our environment, but they must be market incentives to conserve, not subsidies to plunder,” added Herbert, critising the tacit approval of the European Union to CITES-sanctioned stockpile ivory sales that have been vehemently opposed by IFAW and WTI among other wildlife organisations.