Transcript BCB341_Chapter16_national_international_treaties

LEGAL PROTECTION OF BIODIVERSITY
(NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL
TREATIES)
INTRODUCTION
 Global biodiversity is primarily concentrated in the tropical regions
of the planet
 Benefits are global, and often developed nations use a large
fraction for genetic material & resources:
 Agriculture
 Medicine
 Industry
 Developing world with its own problems:
 Rapid population growth
 Undergoing economic development
 High rates of habitat destruction
 Often prepared to undertake conservation, but lack funds and
means for:
 Research
 Management
 Purchase of land for habitat preservation
INTRODUCTION
 Although most legal & regulatory mechanisms are internal
to countries, there is a clear benefit to international
conservation treaties:
 Cross-border migration: Many species travel across the world,
and hence conservation of one area will be useless if habitat is
destroyed in alternative areas
 International trade in biological products: Demand elsewhere
can rapidly cause damage in poor or underpoliced countries
 Benefits are international: ecosystems regulate climate,
provide resources for various industries, & provide tourist &
scientific value
 Environmental problems are often international:
Pollution & draining of rivers & lakes
Atmospheric pollution & acid rain
Greenhouse gases & climate change
Ozone depletion
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
 Convention on Wetlands: signed in Ramsar, Iran
(1971) [Ramsar Convention]
 Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (1974) [CITES]
 World Heritage Convention (adopted by UNESCO
in 1972)
 UN Convention on Biological Diversity (1992)
[UNCBD, CBD]
 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
(1992) [UNFCCC]
 Kyoto Protocol on Carbon Dioxide Emmissions
(1977)
RATIFICATION OF TREATIES
200
150
CITES
Ramsar
World Heritage
100
CBD
UNFCC
Kyoto
50
0
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
SOURCE: http://earthtrends.wri.org/searchable_db/index.php?action=select_theme&theme=10
RAMSAR
 First international conservation treaty
 Designed to protect wetlands and promote wise use of water
resources
 Came into force in 1975
 Commitments:
 Listed sites – at least one wetland to be included in “List of Wetlands
of International Importance”, and promote its conservation
 Wise use – obligation to include wetland conservation into national
land use planning (National Wetland Policies)
 Reserves & training – establish nature reserves in wetlands whether
listed or not, and promote training in wetlands research &
management
 International cooperation – consult other parties about
implementation, particularly with regard to transfrontier water
resources
CITES
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Regulates trade in endangered species through a permit system.
Global wildlife trade is worth billions every year
Trade in hundreds of millions of plants & animals
Trade in the most endangered species is prohibited (whales, all
apes, tigers, sea turtles, many raptors & parrots)
 Trade in less endangered species is limited to a sustainable level
 Decisions about suitability for trade are informed by scientific
analysis & arrived at by all participating members
 Red data lists
 Offers varying degrees of protection to more than 30,000 different
plants & animals
UNCBD (CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY)
 Ratified at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit
 Unlike Rio Declaration, it is legally binding for all signatory nations
 3 main focuses:
 conservation of biodiversity
 sustainable use of the components of biodiversity
 equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources
 Embodies “precautionary principle” – where there is a threat of
significant reduction or loss of biological diversity, lack of full scientific
certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to
avoid or minimize such a threat
 Frames in terms of human resource value
 Not limited to particular species/areas
 Parties to report back to COP on measures taken and relative
success/failure of efforts
 Technical assistance provided through subsidiary body
 Problems:
 Rules on international intellectual property rights that fairly share benefits
 Unless research facilities built in 3rd world nations, research into ecology,
taxonomy & biodiversity in general has been curbed
UNFCCC
 Also a binding agreement from the Rio Summit in
1992
 Requires industrialized nations to reduce CO2
emissions & make regular reports on progress
 Annex I (developed nations) were to curb all
emissions to 1990 levels by 2000
 Funding for meeting guidelines to be provided
through GEF (Global Environment Fund), run by
World Bank
 Came into effect in 1994
 Russia & US refused to sign, so treaty was dead
in the water
KYOTO PROTOCOL
 Successor to UNFCCC, shares same structures
 Post-2000 commitments to reductions by developed
nations, limited growth in emissions from developing
nations
 Goals to be achieved by 2008-2012
 GEF to provide funding for CDM (clean development
mechanisms) for developing nations
 Emissions cuts: EU ~8%, US 7%, Canada, Hungary,
Japan & Poland 6%. Russia & Ukraine to stabilise
emissions
 Problem: cuts are from 1990 levels – since most did not
meet 2000 emissions targets, cuts are more in the region
of 10-15%
 US signed but not ratified in 1998 – dead in water again
FUNDING
 At Rio, initially proposed that developed nations would provide
$150bn pa as aid
 Developed nations demurred – agreed in principle to provide
0.7% of GDP as aid
 As of 2002, only Denmark (0.96), Norway (0.89%), Sweden
(0.83%) & the Netherlands (0.81%) reached this level
 Many have actually decreased funding: the US has dropped to
0.13% of GDP
 US$5bn spent every year on biodiversity protection
 GEF was created in 1991 and is one of the largest contributors –
together with World Bank they provide $250m p.a.
 This may seem like a lot, but in comparison with the costs and
other expenditures, it is not very much.
 US spends:
 $548.9bn on defense (4% of GDP, 20% of government spending)
 $15bn on NASA
 $451m on Human Genome Project
 Only 100m on biodiversity aid in developing countries
FUNDING II – DEBT-FOR-NATURE
SWAPS
 Developing nations owe about $1.3 trillion – 44% of
their GDP
 Since these debts often have a low expectation of
repayment, international loan organisations may sell
them on at a steep discount
 Some organisations buy these debts off the banks,
then cancel debts in return for commitments to
address biodiversity issues
 Other countries may also agree to cancel debts in
return for conservation activities.
 So far $1.5bn converted (0.1% of total debt)
 Does not address underlying problems leading to
degradation
THE IMPACT OF NON-BIODIVERSITY
TREATIES
 In many cases, global trade policies and
development treaties may lead directly to
loss of biodiversity, due to poor planning or
understanding of underlying forces
 In 70s & 80s, World Bank loaned $560m to
Indonesia for resettlement from crowded
Java & Bali to Borneo & New Guinea
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Relocated families were supposed to undertake subsistence agriculture
as well as produce cash crops (rubber, oil-palm) for export
Tropical islands have poor soil, & were unable to support intensive
agriculture of this nature
Infrastructure did not develop, partly due to corruption/mismanagement
Impoverished farmers forced to move to shifting slash-and-burn
agriculture.
Massive forest fires & deforestation, with smoke reaching Australia
Large number of settlers in rural areas also led to ethnic conflict
CASE STUDY: BRAZILIAN HIGHWAYS
 Since 1981, WB & Inter-American
Development Bank loaned Brazil hundreds
of millions to develop Rondonia (in the
Amazon forest)
 Highways built, and farmers encouraged to
move on to free land
 Huge areas of forest cut down next to
roads for ranching – fastest deforestation
ever
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In 1987, 20m ha (2.5% of Brazil’s total area) of forest were burned
Since too little was put aside for research and for protection, highways cut right
through Amerindian reserves & biological reserves, opening them up for
deforestation
Cattle ranches & tree plantations failed due to poor soils & reduced rainfall, so
loans were not paid back.
Increased Brazil’s national debt, for no real gain & large losses of biodiversity
Deforestation & burning continued – particularly high in 1997 &1998
A second round of development is being embarked on, building 6245km of new
roads
IUCN RED DATA LIST
 International Union for the
Conservation of Nature and
Natural Resources is a global
coalition of NGOs
 Provides information and
recommendations to all
conservation bodies
 Divided into six different
commissions
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The percentage of species in several groups which are listed as critical,
endangered or vulnerable on the 2007 IUCN Red List.
World Commission on Protected Areas promotes the establishment of a
global network of terrestrial & marine protected areas & reserves
Species Survival Commission advises on species conservation, mobilises
action on endangered species & maintains Red Data List
Establishes conservation priorities for all levels of conservation planning
worldwide
There are nine groups of threat, depending on rate of decline, population
size, area of geographic distribution & degree of fragmentation: Extinct,
Extinct in the Wild, {{Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable}}, Near
Threatened, Least Concern, Data Deficient, Not Evaluated.
NATIONAL LEGISLATION
 To some extent informed by international treaties
 Deal with local issues
 Regulate activities that directly influence
species/ecosystem balances
 Restrictions generally enforced where
species/systems are identified as vulnerable
 Hence, initial scoping is essential – still not complete
in many countries
 SA has local Red Data List – classification of species
into several different categories of threat
 On the basis of this, there are usually protected area
networks that limit potential development and activities
within the area.
PROTECTIVE LEGISLATION
 Zoning laws prevent construction in sensitive areas, and
limit extent of activities ( eg: wetlands, barrier beaches
are often zoned for no development)
 In areas zoned for development, there may different
classifications of development allowed
 Scrutiny of all development is increasing in many
countries
 Hence environmental impact assessments may be
required for certain activities (especially in SA)
 EIAs scope the potential damage that an activity may
have on the environment – recent development globally
 Protected areas & reserves are generally legislated by
different levels of local, regional & national government
PUBLIC PRIVATE PATNERSHIPS
 In addition to legal reserves there are a number of strategies
open to governments for conservation in conjunction with private
landowners
 Land trusts: Private organisations that purchase land for
conservation purposes and either run it or donate it to the
government
 Conservation easements: landowners contractually give up the
right for development of land in return for tax breaks or monetary
compensation.
 Limited development: some part of the land is allocated for
development, whilst the remainder falls within an easement.
Useful for agricultural areas
 Conservation leasing/concessions: private landowners actively
manage land for conservation, or may outbid logging companies
to run sites for conservation purposes
 The problem is that these all need monitoring to ensure fulfilment
of contractual obligations
CONCLUSION
 International treaties are essential to biodiversity
maintenance, because many issues are
transnational in scope.
 Development funding should be planned, and
biodiversity impacts considered
 Scoping & monitoring of species and systems on
the ground is a priority
 National environmental legislation should be
influenced by international treaties but address
local issues
 Alternatives to protected areas should be
considered to reduce government expenditure