The Legal Nature of the Biodiversity Provisions adopted by the Andean Community

elni Review ◽  
2010 ◽  
pp. 64-70
Author(s):  
Jimena Murillo Chávarro ◽  
Frank Maas
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
General Description ◽  
Agenda 21 ◽  
Official Gazette ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Andean Countries ◽  
Andean Community

The Andean Community is a South American Regional Organization, nowadays composed of four of the seventeen states richest in biodiversity in the world. The Andean states are home to around 24 % of global biodiversity. Four countries are members: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The Andean Community began taking action in the field of biodiversity in the last ten years. As a result, it has elaborated a “Regional Biodiversity Strategy for the Tropical Andean Countries”, which was developed within the framework of the principles set out in the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (Agenda 21) and the Andean Community legislation. The main objective of the Regional Biodiversity Strategy is the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity as well as the region’s sustainable development. According to the legal system of this regional organisation, decisions are – irrespective of whether they are adopted by the Andean Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs or the Commission of the Andean Community (the two legislative institutions of the CAN) – part of the Andean legal system. Decisions are legally binding for the Member Countries and directly applicable from their day of publication in the official gazette onwards. This article explains the definition of soft law, and provides a general description of the Andean Community and its legal instruments. The authors discuss the nature of Decision 523: Should this provision be considered soft or hard law and what are its legal implications?

Justice and the Convention on Biological Diversity

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doris Schroeder ◽  
Thomas Pogge
Keyword(s):  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
International Economic Order ◽  
Social Utility ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Social Rules ◽  
Biological Resources ◽  
Thomas Pogge

Justice and the Convention on Biological DiversityDoris Schroeder and Thomas PoggeBenefit sharing as envisaged by the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a relatively new idea in international law. Within the context of non-human biological resources, it aims to guarantee the conservation of biodiversity and its sustainable use by ensuring that its custodians are adequately rewarded for its preservation.Prior to the adoption of the CBD, access to biological resources was frequently regarded as a free-for-all. Bioprospectors were able to take resources out of their natural habitat and develop commercial products without sharing benefits with states or local communities. This paper asks how CBD-style benefit-sharing fits into debates of justice. It is argued that the CBD is an example of a set of social rules designed to increase social utility. It is also argued that a common heritage of humankind principle with inbuilt benefit-sharing mechanisms would be preferable to assigning bureaucratic property rights to non-human biological resources. However, as long as the international economic order is characterized by serious distributive injustices, as reflected in the enormous poverty-related death toll in developing countries, any morally acceptable means toward redressing the balance in favor of the disadvantaged has to be welcomed. By legislating for a system of justice-in-exchange covering nonhuman biological resources in preference to a free-for-all situation, the CBD provides a small step forward in redressing the distributive justice balance. It therefore presents just legislation sensitive to the international relations context in the 21st century.

Convention on Biological Diversity: Towards a sustainable future

Social Change ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 173-191
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
United Nations Environment Programme ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Biological Resources ◽  
Transfer Benefit ◽  
Global Agreement

In an era of a rapidly shrinking biological resources, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a historic landmark, being the first global agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. The CBD is one of the few international agreements in the area of natural resource conservation in which sustainability and equitable benefit-sharing are central concerns. The CBD links traditional conservation efforts to the economic goal of using biological resources sustainably and sets forth principles for the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources, notably those destined for commercial use. Importantly, the CBD also gives traditional knowledge its due place in the sustainable use of genetic resources. The CBD also covers the rapidly expanding field of biotechnology, addressing technology development and transfer, benefit-sharing and biosafety, in an equitable framework. In the coming years, the CBD is likely to have major repercussions on the way biodiversity is conserved and benefits thereof, shared between the developing and developed worlds. The following commentary on the CBD has drawn heavily from a document produced by Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, at the United Nations Environment Programme. Articles 1 to 21 of the CBD have also been reproduced here in order to disseminate knowledge regarding the principles of the CBD-Editor.

Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Mesoamerica: environmental and developmental perspectives

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariel Aguilar-Støen ◽  
Shivcharn S. Dhillion
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Culturally Diverse ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Conservation Priority ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
Equitable Sharing

Mesoamerica (Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama) is a culturally diverse region considered a conservation priority due to its biotic richness and high endemism. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) sets out obligations and objectives for national parties to cope with biodiversity reduction, and encourages these national parties to develop measures to conserve and manage biodiversity. This paper presents trends in Mesoamerican countries in the implementation of the CBD, specifically in relation to the general measures for conservation and sustainable use (Article 6), identification and monitoring (Article 7), and in situ conservation (Article 8) derived from examination of reports from the CBD National Reports unit, questionnaires to national focal points, and interviews in the field. In general, there was increased effort toward CBD implementation and related issues. The scientific capacity, political stability, and accessibility to resources in each country, however, influenced the rate at which capacity was being built and the relative importance governments afforded to each of the CBD articles. Lack of resources or institutional limitations are identified as major impediments to fulfilling obligations. The CBD is also poorly known among actors in civil society and at several levels of administration. Overall, Costa Rica and Mexico are exceptions in the region with regard to inventory and monitoring, and the efforts to incorporate biodiversity into broader intersectoral policies. However, the measures required to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from biodiversity are poorly developed, or not developed at all, in the region. It is pivotal that, since Mesoamerica is one of the poorest regions in the world, any attempt to conserve biodiversity in the region must include sustainable use and equity.

The ‘Facilitator’: Proposing a New Mechanism to Strengthen the Equitable and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity

1995 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anatole F. Krattiger ◽  
William H. Lesser
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Side Effect ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Standard Practice ◽  
Equitable Sharing

The focus of the Convention on Biological Diversity on conservation, the sustainable use of the greatest possible diversity of biota, and the equitable sharing of the benefits derived therefrom, has broadened the opportunities and responsibilities of a range of entities that are involved with conservation. Countries seeking to market their genetic resources, as well as firms seeking access to these materials, are uncertain as to how to proceed under the new expectations brought about by the Convention, and the excitement stemming from prospecting revenues is having an unfortunate side-effect in emphasizing the perceived newness of this opportunity. The continued emphasis on newness discourages participation until a less risky standard practice emerges.

scholarly journals A global indicator of utilised wildlife populations: regional trends and the impact of management

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise McRae ◽  
Robin Freeman ◽  
Jonas Geldmann ◽  
Grace B. Moss ◽  
Louise Kjær-Hansen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Population Trends ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Wildlife Population ◽  
Wildlife Populations ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe sustainable use of wildlife is a core aspiration of multi-lateral conservation policy but is the subject to intense debate in the scientific literature. We use a global data set of over 11,000 population time-series to derive indices of ‘used’ and ‘unused’ species and assess global and regional changes in wildlife populations – principally for mammals, birds and fishes. We also assess whether ‘management’ makes a measurable difference to wildlife population trends, especially for the used species populations. Our results show that wildlife population trends globally are negative, but with used populations tending to decline more rapidly, especially in Africa and the Americas. Crucially, where used populations are managed, using a variety of mechanisms, there is a positive impact on the trend. It is therefore true that use of species can both be a driver of negative population trends, or a driver of species recovery, with numerous species and population specific case examples making up these broader trends. This work is relevant to the evidence base for the IPBES Sustainable Use Assessment, and to the development of indicators of sustainable use of species under the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework being developed under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

scholarly journals Mitigating the Challenges Related to the Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Ghana

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Thomas Prehi Botchway ◽  
Ishmael K. Hlovor
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Multilateral Environmental Agreements ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Civil Society Organisations ◽  
Alternative Livelihood ◽  
Information Gap

In our world today, the control over and the use of a country’s natural resources (and the biological diversity of which they are a part) usually present a lot of challenges for both policy makers and implementing agencies and institutions. These challenges range from weak institutional capacities and technocratic hurdles to opposition from local communities for whom policies may be meant for. However, if such challenges are effectively mitigated, large prospects usually associated with the sustainable use and management of these natural resources may be realised. In this article, based on intensive interview of experts and critical review of official reports and policy documents, we identify a number of challenges associated the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Ghana and recommend ways of addressing these challenges. The study finds that there is usually a wide knowledge and information gap on issues related to biodiversity in Ghana. Moreover, there is inadequate funding which also leads to the inability to retain relevant experts. In addition, there is the complex nature of implementing multilateral environmental agreements in Ghana and the lack of adequate publicity on the essence of the CBD. Key among the recommendations we make are effectively engaging civil society organisations on issues of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development; the enhancement of Alternative Livelihood Projects (EnALPs); stringent enforcement of punitive and preventive measures and; the implementation of finance-generating biodiversity services.

scholarly journals Global taxonomy initiative: Building capacity in taxonomy to underpin the conservation of biological diversity

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Junko Shimura ◽  
Kaduo Hiraki
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Building Capacity ◽  
The World ◽  
Equitable Sharing ◽  
United Nations Convention

The Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI) is across cutting issue of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to address the lack of taxonomic information and expertise available in many parts of the world, and thereby to improve decision making in conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of the benefits derived from genetic resources.

scholarly journals Conservation and Sustainable Use of PGRFA in Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Muhamad Sabran ◽  
Puji Lestari ◽  
Mastur Mastur
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
National Level ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Agriculture Development

<p>The high diverse of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) in Indonesia needs to be conserved for sustainable use to achieve food security despite a still growing population. Therefore, database and information system which could add value to the PGRFA have been developed by many international initiatives and conventions which impact to national level. Two international agreements that Indonesia intensively involved to govern access and share the benefit arising from the use of the valuable PGRFA are the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and the Nagoya Protocol of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. Agriculture development in Indonesia, however, is still faced many challenges. This review described and discussed the high biodiversity in Indonesia, utilization and conservation of PGRFA, supporting regulation and policy on PGRFA along with the progress of database and information system. Overall, promoting conservation and the sustainable use of PGRFA is a key goal of various national, regional, and global efforts, initiatives, and agreements governing them for human well-being.</p>

scholarly journals Protected areas: how will they contribute to third millennium challenges?

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Dinica
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
The Other ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Wilderness Areas ◽  
Clean Air ◽  
Area Classification

Biodiversity is valued for its intrinsic worth and for its role in generating ecosystem services, such as soil fertility, clean air, renewable bio-resources, and water quality and availability. While biodiversity outcomes are generally pursued by nations for land in various types of ownership, this article focuses on protected areas on publicly owned lands. Currently, the internationally agreed protected area classification used by the United Nation’s Convention on Biological Diversity differentiates them in terms of nature conservation objectives and ‘compatible’ human uses. This suggests that protected areas can be arranged along a spectrum of protection stringency, from reserves and wilderness areas at one end, to so-called ‘sustainable use lands’ at the other.

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