Protecting Protected Areas

PROTECTING PROTECTED AREAS

by Antonio C. Antonio

January 4, 2015

“How are protected areas actually protected?” is a sensible question.  There are principal international conventions and agreements relating to protected areas. These are: (1) The Convention on Biological Diversity or Earth Summit; (2) The World Heritage Convention; (3) The Ramsar or Wetlands Convention; and, (4) The Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals or Bonn Convention.  These conventions and agreements form the rock-solid foundation for the protection of the environment in general.

THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY OR EARTH SUMMIT

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Summit, the Rio Conference and the Earth Summit was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 3 to 14, 1992.  172 governments participated with 116 sending their heads of state.  Some 2,400 representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGO) attended with 17, people at the parallel NGP Global Forum.  The issues addressed included: (a) Systematic scrutiny of patterns of production particularly the production of toxic components such as lead in gasoline, and poisonous waste including radioactive chemicals; (b) Alternative sources of energy to replace the use of fossil fuels which are linked to global climate change; (c) New reliance on public transportation systems in order to reduce vehicle emissions, congestion in cities and the health problems cause by polluted air; and, (d) The growing scarcity of fresh water.  An important achievement was an agreement on the Climate Change Convention which in turn led to the Kyoto Protocol.  Another agreement was to “not carry out any activities on the lands of indigenous peoples that would cause environmental degradation or that would be culturally inappropriate”.  The Convention on Biological Diversity was opened for signature at the Earth Summit and made a start towards redefinition of measures that did not inherently encourage destruction of natural ecosystems.  In 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development was also held in Rio de Janeiro and is commonly called Rio+20 or Rio Earth Summit s2012.  The Earth Summit resulted in the following documents: (1) Rio Declaration on Environment and Development; (2) Agenda 21; (3) Forest Principles; (4) Convention on Biological Diversity; (5) Framework Convention on Climate Change; and, (6) United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

THE WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION

The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage is a successful global instrument for the protection of cultural and natural heritage.  The World Heritage Convention was adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) General Conference at its 17^th session in Paris, France on November 16 1972.  The Convention came into force in 1975.  The World Heritage Convention aims to promote cooperation among nations to protect heritage around the world that is of such outstanding universal value that its conservation is important for current and future generations.  States that are parties to the Convention agree to identify, protect, conserve, and present World Heritage properties.  Concerned countries recognize that the identification and safeguarding of heritage located in their territory is primarily their responsibility.  They agree, amongst other things, as far as possible to: (1) Adopt a general policy that aims to give the cultural and natural heritage a function in the life of the community and to integrate the protection of that heritage into comprehensive planning programs; (2) Undertake appropriate legal, scientific, technical administrative and financial measures necessary for the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and rehabilitation of this heritage; and, (3) Refrain from any deliberate measures which might damage, directly or indirectly, the cultural and natural heritage of other parties to the Convention, and to help other parties in the identification and protection of their properties.  The World Heritage Convention is administered by a World Heritage Committee which meets annually and consists of 21 members elected from those States that are parties to the Convention.  The Committee’s main tasks are to: (a) Decide on the inscriptions of new properties on the World Heritage List; (b) Discuss all matters relating to the implementation of the Convention; (c) Consider requests for international assistance; (d) Advise member countries on how they can ensure they meet their obligations under the Convention to protect World Heritage Properties; and, (e) Administer the World Heritage Fund.

THE RAMSAR CONVENTION

The Ramsar Convention or the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands while recognizing the fundamental functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific and recreational value.  It is named after the City of Ramsan, Iran where the Convention was signed in 1971 and came into force on December 21, 1975.  The Ramsar definition of wetlands is fairly wide to include areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed 6 meters as well as fish ponds, rice paddies and salt pans.  The Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance now includes 2,000 Sites (called “Ramsar Sites) covering 200 million hectares.  Presently there are 168 contracting parties from 21 initial signatory nations in 1971.  The state parties meet every three years as the Conference of the Contracting Parties, the first held in Cagliari, Italy in 1980.  The headquarters is located in Gland, Switzerland.

CONVENTOIN ON THE CONSERVATION OF MIGRATORY SPRCIES OF WILD ANIMALS

The more common abbreviation of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals is the Conservation on Migratory Species but others prefer to call this convention the Bonn Convention.  The convention was named so since it was signed in 1979 in Bas Godsberg, a suburb of Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany.  The Bonn Convention aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species.  It is an intergovernmental treaty concluded under the United Nations Environment Programme concerned with the conservation of wildlife and habitats on a global scale.  The Bonn Convention is the only global and UN-based intergovernmental organization established exclusively for the conservation and management of terrestrial, aquatic and avian migratory species.  As of November 2014, there are 120 Parties to the Convention.

There are other international agreements, conventions and protocols plus local initiated laws, rules and regulations that concern protected areas, but this four conventions form the nucleus of environmental protection.  This is not to say, however, that the others are less important; but these are “it” when it comes to protecting protected areas.

Just my little thoughts…

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