Grethel Aguilar (San José, Costa Rica, 55 years old) last week became the new director general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Created in 1948, it is the largest environmental network on the planet. With your evaluations, such as the red list of endangered species, is the world reference for the state of nature conservation on Earth. Grethel, who has more than three decades of experience in conservation and sustainable development, attends EL PAÍS by videoconference from the Swiss city of Gland, where her organization’s headquarters are located.
Ask. What is the role of the IUCN?
Answer. The IUCN is the oldest and largest global network in the world. We are 1,500 members, including national governments, non-governmental organizations, indigenous peoples and subnational governments. Spain, where we have 43 members from different organizations, is part of the IUCN. In addition, we have 16,000 experts around the world in seven commissions. The most important thing about our work is the vision we have of a just and equitable world that conserves nature for the well-being of people and the planet. Our mission is to influence governments and society so that there is conservation and appropriate use of natural resources. At the same time, we work on producing knowledge. We also try to make private sector activities more environmentally positive.
Q. How would you rate the state of nature conservation on the planet now?
R. Very unfortunately the state of nature is critical. We are experiencing a crisis of alarming biodiversity loss, of species loss, but we are also immersed in a climate crisis that does not need much explanation. Human beings are experiencing their impacts in the form of hurricanes or droughts, with repercussions on our crops and daily life. The planet is at the peak of its environmental crisis and we have to act to change course. If we do not do so, our own survival is in danger. But, at the same time, I have great confidence that we have time to turn this situation around.
Q. Which group of species is most threatened?
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R. We have evaluated 150,388 species so far and a quarter are threatened with extinction. Species are lost because we lose quality in the systems. There are species that cannot survive because we have destroyed their habitat. And we must not forget that we are one of those species. To give a concrete example, more than 1,550 marine species evaluated on our red list are threatened with extinction due to illegal or unsustainable fishing. This includes, for example, the critically endangered dugong populations in East Africa or the vaquita porpoise in Mexico.
Q. What is the problem?
R. How we relate to those species. We benefit from the oceans not only to recreate their beauty, but also to feed ourselves, and that is something that human beings do not want to lose. But if we do it with illegal and unsustainable fishing, if we continue throwing plastic into the oceans, our destiny will be to eat plastic. And that has to stop, because we want a healthy planet that sustains us.
Q. Do you think it is correct to talk about the planet being immersed in the sixth great extinction?
R. I don’t dare—because I’m not a scientist—to say if that is correct or not, but what I can say is that we are facing a great extinction. Not only in terms of the extinction of species, but also the quality of our soils, which is what allows us to maintain a healthy diet. Unaccountable food systems cause more than a third of greenhouse gas emissions and up to 80% of biodiversity loss. We must consume products from sustainable agriculture, which will allow life on Earth not only for those of us who are here, but also for those who come. But we treat our soils in an indiscriminate way, as if the planet had no limits. The same can be said of water. There are already many populations in the world that are suffering from shortages. Many of these effects have to do with the impact of climate change, but also with human action on ecosystems; If we destroy our forests, we can hardly have water.
Q. Does the fight against climate change sometimes hide the crisis of biodiversity loss?
R. I think we have to talk about a single crisis, that of the planet, which is biodiversity and climate. The best way to face current challenges is to stop separating them. The effects of climate change on biodiversity are visible and our actions as human beings count for biodiversity and climate change. If we separate those two things, we lose everything. And that is one of the positions that the IUCN takes to COP28 [la cumbre anual del clima de la ONU, que se celebra dentro de un mes en Dubái]. For the first time, the IUCN brings a very strong and clear position to a COP: the gradual and time-limited phase-out of all fossil fuels, including oil and gas, within a framework that guarantees a just transition. There is no time for long speeches and no action.
Q. Do you think that a commitment like that can come out of that summit at this time?
R. I want to continue having the vision that everything is possible, but decision makers have to take strong positions. They must understand that it is not just about consuming at the expense of everything, but about being able to make sustainable use of our resources to no longer endanger this planet.
Q. The IUCN is studying the management in the Doñana park and there is a risk that it will leave its organization’s green list. Have you already made a decision?
R. Doñana is a wonderful place and one of the emblematic places in the world. IUCN is currently carrying out an independent assessment and we will report the final decision on the park’s status once all interested parties have been informed. We are addressing an objection raised by the national park, because the expert group decided not to grant green list certification to the park. And now we are analyzing whether that assessment is correct or not. We aim to communicate the decision by the end of November.
Q. Does the citizen receive the message of how terrible the loss of biodiversity is and what it affects them?
R. People sometimes think that working in the conservation of natural resources is about saving species, especially those that we love and teach to our children: bears, elephants, lynxes… But biodiversity conservation has to do with our daily life. For example, without healthy land we cannot feed ourselves and, if our air is polluted, we cannot breathe it either. But perhaps we need to communicate better to the population everything that is happening, to make it simpler, because a healthy planet is basic for our existence.
Q. You have long worked with indigenous peoples. Do you think they have sometimes been ignored in nature conservation?
R. We have missed the opportunity to learn more from them. We have made them invisible for many years and they have a lot to contribute from their traditional and current knowledge. It is not a coincidence that they are located where we have the greatest wealth in terms of biodiversity, that is because they have protected it. But we have not wanted to learn their way of understanding nature, much more advanced than what many of us have. We have confused their way of life with poverty. But they have a life much more connected to nature and much more respectful of it.
Q. It seems like a first and a second world.
R. Yes, but sometimes you have to question which is the first world and which is the second. Where does the first go and where does the second go? I don’t want to say that they don’t have their challenges, and we shouldn’t idealize them either. They also need financial support, but they simply have a very different way of visualizing the planet and from which we have a lot to learn.
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