Nagoya: A historic global treaty to protect the world's forests,
coral reefs and other threatened ecosystems within 10 years was
sealed at a UN summit on Saturday. Rich and poor nations agreed
to take "effective and urgent" action to curb the destruction of
nature in an effort to halt the loss of the world's biodiversity
on which human survival depends. Delegates from 193 countries
committed to key goals such as curbing pollution, protecting
forests and coral reefs, setting aside areas of land and water
for conservation, and managing fisheries sustainably. "This is a
day to celebrate," UN Environment Programme chief Achim Steiner
said straight after the accord was struck early on Saturday
morning following nearly two weeks of tense talks in the central
Japanese city of Nagoya. Delegates and green groups also said
the accord offered hope that the United Nations could help to
solve the planet's many environmental problems, particularly
after the failure of climate change talks in Copenhagen last
year. One of th