Module 2
LESSON
2
Overexploitation
Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
• define and determine the causes of overexploitation,
• determine the short and long term impact of overexploitation to
ecosystem, biodiversity and human environment; and
• explore measures employed by international as well as national
government to protect and save the environment from
degradation.
Introduction:
Hello! Welcome to Lesson 2 of Module 2. In this lesson, you will
journey to the different impacts of human’s overexploitation on
ecosystem and biodiversity as well as human environment. We will also
identify some measures that will keep our environment from degradation and total
destruction.
Therefore, be ready to engage in some tasks that you need to accomplish so
that you will appreciate what’s ahead of you. So are you ready? Alright, let’s begin!
Activity:
Write your answer on the spaces provided.
Analysis:
about human and the environment.
1. Can the humans survive without the other living things in the environment? Justify
your answer by giving real-life example.
2. Can those living things survive without the humans around? Justify your answer
by giving real-life example.
Abstraction:
What is overexploitation? Generally,
it is the use, by humans, of a natural
resource to an extent that it is not
sustainable anymore. When the
activities connected with capturing
and harvesting (hunting, fishing, farming) a
renewable natural resource in a particular area is
excessively intense, the resource itself may become
exhausted, as for example, is the case of sardines,
herrings, cod, tuna and many other species that
man captures without leaving enough
time for the organisms to reproduce.
Overexploitation is recognized
as one of the causes of the
degradation and depletion of our
natural resources. It is a man-made
activity that pushes our resources to
the limit of its capacity to provide the
needs of human population. It is also
one of the forces and primary drivers
that destroy the habitats of majority
of living natural resources in
biodiversity.
Humans often take too
many of one species from their
natural habitat. Typically, this
involves a species used as a food
source. When a species is
harvested, or taken at a rate
faster than the population can
compensate for, the population is
listed as overexploited, or
overharvested. Think of this like
a full cookie jar in a room full of
hungry people. The more people
that take cookies, the fewer are
left in the jar. It takes time to
bake more cookies, and if the
cookies in the jar are eaten faster
Fig. 2.3 Overlogging practices than they can be made, soon you
run out of cookies!
When the population
numbers of a species decline to the
point where the animal or plant
could possibly go extinct, or cease
to exist, the organism is classified
as endangered. Removing a
species from their natural habitat
can be detrimental. Not only does
this threaten the biodiversity, or
the variation of life within an
ecosystem, but is also disrupts the Fig. 2.4 Mountain of Bison skulls
balance of the ecosystem itself.
CAUSES OF OVEREXPLOITATION
The main causes of
overexploitation are completely
human based. Humans use
resources at will without thinking
about the impact that it may have
on the planet in the near or far off
future, only thinking of what they
want and what they need. Human
population growth, increase
consumption and reduction of
resource efficiency are the major
factors that influence the
escalation of overexploitation. Fig. 2.5 Causes of Biodiversity Loss
IMPACTS OF OVEREXPLOITATION
SHORT-TERM IMPACTS
Table 2.1
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT HUMAN ENVIRONMENT
• Endangerment leading to extinction of • Lack of natural wonders to visit due to
species possibly endemic to the area due to overexploitation.
overfishing or other reasons. • Not enough fish to be eaten.
• Loss of natural habitat for native • Jobs lost due to lack of species.
• Deforestation & overfishing. • Countries who rely on tourism to fuel their
• Pollution caused by construction. economy will lose their main source of income
• Loss of apex predator (e.g. shark) in an due to overexploitation of the tourism that they
ecosystem, causing the collapse of the created (e.g. Hawaii, Fiji)
ecosystem and its biodiversity.
Table 2.2
LONG-TERM IMPACTS
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT HUMAN ENVIRONMENT
• Complete use of fossil fuels and other non- • The effects of global warming, climate change
renewable resources. & pollution will affect the human lifestyle
• Some cases of overexploitation may more severely.
contribute to the growing problems of global • Loss of sources of electricity (e.g. fossil fuels)
warming and climate change (e.g. the and overexploitation of the coal industry,
construction of tourist resorts and services to heightening the prices of electricity, water &
exploit the environment). gas and impacting hugely on the average
• Overexploitation is one of the five main human lifestyle.
threats to global biodiversity. • Loss of resources (e.g. oil, food, water, trees)
• Defacement of natural landmarks (e.g. will eventually cause wars between nations
mountains, oceans, lakes & deserts). over that resource. Because of the necessity of
the resources, the wars would be fought on a
huge scale, possibly starting another World
War.
In the Philippines, the impact of overexploitation, particularly by fisheries, is
manifested in the poor state of reef fisheries (Muallil et al., 2011), the reduction in
biodiversity of reef-associated fish communities (Nañola et al., 2011), and by shifts
in their trophic structure (Pauly & Palomares, 2005). Ecosystem overfishing,
combined with effects of human induced stress such as siltation, eutrophication
(Gurney et al., 2013; Melbourne-Thomas et al., 2011), and mass coral bleaching
(Arceo et al., 2001), has resulted in shifts in coral-dominated communities to algal-
dominated ones. Recovery of the depleted and degraded reef and mangrove habitats
may take more than 20 years, even if effective reduction of intermediate causes were
to occur. Giant clams and some less mobile invertebrates (e.g., Tripneutes gratilla,
Juinio-Meñez, Bangi, Malay, & Pastor, 2008) have already been overharvested.
FINDING THE WAY TO SUSTAINABILITY
By February 1991, the Ad Hoc Working
Group had become known as the
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee. Its work
culminated on 22 May 1992 with the Nairobi
Conference for the Adoption of the Agreed Text of
the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Convention was opened for signature on
5 June 1992 at the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (the Rio "Earth
Summit"). It remained open for signature until 4
June 1993, by which time it had received 168
signatures. The Convention entered into force on 29
December 1993, which was 90 days after the 30th Fig. 2.6 CBD News Cover
ratification. The first session of the Conference of the Parties was scheduled for 28
November – 9 December 1994 in the Bahamas.
The Convention on Biological Diversity was inspired by the world community's
growing commitment to sustainable development. It represents a dramatic step
forward in the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its
components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of
genetic resources.
The overexploitation of resources has led to the present biodiversity crisis. The
need to halt biodiversity loss is unquestionable. The CBD was opened for signature in
1992. Since then, 195 countries committed to the challenge of halting biodiversity
loss. The '2010 target' set by the Conference of the Parties, the governing body of the
Convention, aimed ‘to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of
biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty
alleviation and to the benefit of all life on earth.’ The large number of countries
committed to the target was a sign of the international community awareness about
the urgent need of actions toward the protection of ecosystems and their services,
however the goal was not attained. The failure to act on the biodiversity crisis called
for new action and rethinking of the goals. In 2010, a new strategy and set of goals to
2020 were agreed upon by international governments.
The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–
2020 is composed of five strategic goals, which are
supported by 20 specific and measurable targets,
the Aichi targets. The targets are intended to be
realistic but still ambitious, and cover each of the
five strategic areas, that is:
1. indirect causes of biodiversity loss,
2. direct pressures on biodiversity,
3. state of biodiversity,
4. benefits from biodiversity, and
5. responses to biodiversity loss.
Complementary to the Aichi
Targets are the Sustainable
Development Goals that will
replace the Millennium
Development Goals and should
frame the United Nations
development agenda beyond
2015.
Fig. 2.8 CBD Aichi Targets
The Philippines is one of 18 mega-
biodiverse countries of the world, containing
two-thirds of the earth’s biodiversity and
between 70% and 80% of the world’s plant and
animal species. The Philippines ranks fifth in the
number of plant species and maintains 5% of the
world’s flora. Species endemism is very high,
covering at least 25 genera of plants and 49% of
terrestrial wildlife, while the country ranks
fourth in bird endemism and considered to host
the most number of marine species in the world.
The Philippines is also one of the world’s
biodiversity hotspots with at least 700
threatened species, thus making it one of the top
global conservation areas.
The Coastal Governance Index ranks the
Philippines 7th out of twenty maritime countries
across the globe for its good track record of well-
crafted environmental laws. While some
current proponents of constitutional change
Fig. 2.9 Infographic of Biodiversity in the
include proposed environmental rights in its bill Philippines (Source: Philippine Biodiversity
of rights, the current Philippine Constitution Strategy and Action Plan, PBSAP 2015-2028)
promotes a right to a healthy environment.
The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that the State shall protect the
nation’s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and exclusive
economic zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to Filipino citizens. The
same Constitution provides that the State shall protect and advance the right of the
people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony
of nature. It also provides for the protection of the preferential rights of subsistence
fishers and local communities in the use
of inland and offshore fishing resources
and provides for support in the conduct
of their livelihoods.
Land ecosystems suffer equally.
Dr. Mundita Lim, former Director of
Philippine Biodiversity Management
Bureau and currently Executive Director
of ASEAN Center for Biodiversity
laments, “In the Philippines, we have lost Fig. 2.10 By Shubert Ciencia (Flickr: Manila Bay) [CC BY
2.0 ([Link] via
almost 93 percent of our original forest Wikimedia Commons
cover since the 1900’s. In 2008, 58 out of
the 206 then known mammal species native to the Philippines were included in the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red Data List of Threatened
Species. This is a number that is significantly large, considering that more than half of
our native mammalian species are found only in the country and nowhere else in the
world.”
Earth Law or earth jurisprudence, including Rights of Nature (RON), could
help strengthen and evolve the current legal protections of nature in the Philippines.
Earth Law is an ethical framework that recognizes nature’s right to exist, thrive and
evolve - enabling nature to defend these rights in court, just like corporations can.
Earth Law has theoretical origins in 1970s but since 2006 when the first Rights of
Nature legislation was implemented in the US has been gaining strength through
constitutional provisions or national law (Ecuador, Bolivia) and local ordinances (New
Zealand, India, Mexico and in three dozen US cities and municipalities).
Since 2003, a
series of government
laws and policies
establishing ICM
(Integrated Coastal
Management) as a
national strategy to
ensure sustainable
development of the
country’s coastal and
marine environment and
resources and including
Fig. 2.11 By WolfmanSF [CC BY-SA 4.0
guidelines for its ([Link] from Wikimedia Commons
implementation, has
been issued. In 2016, a Senate Bill to strengthen the adoption of ICM as a national
coastal resource management strategy has been filed.
ICM-related policy issuances emphasized that ICM covers all coastal and
marine areas, addressing the inter-linkages among associated watersheds, estuaries
and wetlands and coastal seas by all relevant national and local agencies. This means
that the management approach should encompass forest, river and marine areas
due to their interconnectedness. This can easily be seen in impacts of land- and sea-
based human activities such as agriculture, deforestation and overfishing. Because of
ICM’s integrative characteristic consistent with the principles of RoN, ICM is used here
to show common principles applied to both RoN and ICM.
([Link]
in-the-philippines)
Application:
your own simple CONCEPT MAP showing all the important
one another. Utilize the space below.
Assessment:
Instruction: Encircle the letter of the correct answer.
1. Which of the following is an adverse effect of overexploitation?
a. biodiversity c. population growth
b. pollution d. extinction
2. Which of the following does NOT describe overexploitation?
a. It is the use of natural resources to an extent of making it unsustainable.
b. It disrupts the balance in the ecosystem.
c. It promotes variation of species population.
d. It depletes the stocks of species while making others extinct.
3. Which is NOT one of the major factors that influence intensification of overexploitation?
a. human population growth c. reduction of resource efficiency
b. increase of resources consumption d. policies on environment protection
4. Harvesting a species from its habitat at a rate faster than the population can recover would mean
that the species is .
a. overexplored c. overcompensated
b. overused d. overhunted
5. Removing too many of a single species from the environment is problematic for all of the following
reasons, EXCEPT:
a. It threatens the biodiversity of the ecosystem.
b. Removing one species directly impacts all other species.
c. It can lead to the species becoming endangered.
d. It can cause the species’ population to increase unexpectedly.
6. Species are typically overfished because .
a. They are highly desired food items.
b. There are too many fish in the oceans.
c. Humans don’t want any other sources of food.
d. They are not important to the ecosystem.
7. The following are the short term impacts of overexploitation to the natural environment EXCEPT:
a. growing problems with global warming c. deforestation and overfishing
b. loss of natural habitat for native d. loss of apex predators
8. Which is NOT one of the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity in committing to
sustainable development?
a. conservation of biological diversity
b. sustainable use of natural resources
c. fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources
d. regulating the emission of the greenhouse gases to the atmosphere
9. The following are some of the strategic goals of Biodiversity 2011-2020 EXCEPT:
a. indirect causes of biodiversity loss
b. direct pressures on biodiversity
c. benefits from biodiversity
d. limitless utilization of resources
10. Which of the following government laws and policies which provides ethical framework that
recognizes nature’s right to exist, thrive and evolve, enabling it to defend these rights in court?
a. Earth Law or Jurisprudence
b. Rights on Nature (RoN)
c. Integrated Coastal Management (ICM)
d. Biodiversity 2011-2020
Excellent! You just finished lesson 2 of this module! Should you have any
questions or queries regarding this lesson, please do not hesitate to reach out to your
instructors.
Are you ready to take your next lesson? Lesson 3 will discuss about Invasive
Species. Good luck and enjoy reading.
