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Biodiversity Protection Agency Needed in Africa, Merkel Says
2010-10-06 16:39:37.776 GMT
By Brian Parkin and Jeremy van Loon
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- A global environment agency to
protect biodiversity should be established and based in Africa,
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
"Don't have any illusions -- it has to be in Africa,"
Merkel said today at a biodiversity congress in the German
parliament in Berlin. "I hope it can be achieved by 2012."
Negotiators meet in Nagoya, Japan, this week for United
Nations talks on preserving plant and animal species that are
worth billions of dollars to industries such as medicine,
engineering and tourism, in addition to their value to the
natural heritage.
About three-quarters of the genetic diversity of crops were
lost over the last century and hundreds of the 7,000 animal
breeds registered with the UN's Food and Agriculture
Organization are threatened with extinction, according to the
agency.
For Related News and Information:
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
--Editors: Todd White, Randall Hackley
To contact the reporter on this story:
Brian Parkin in Berlin at +49-30-70010-6229 or
bparkin@bloomberg.net;
Jeremy van Loon in Berlin at +49-30-70010-6231 or
jvanloon@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Hertling at +33-1-5365-5075 or jhertling@bloomberg.net;
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net.
