The African Convention on the conservation of nature and natural resources was adopted in 1968 in Algiers. Considered the most forward looking regional agreement of the time, it influenced significantly the development of environmental law in Africa. Two and a half decades of intense developments in international environmental law made it necessary to revise this treaty, update its provisions and enlarge its scope. This was undertaken under the auspices of the African Union (previously OAU), and the revision was adopted by its Heads of State and Government in July 2003 in Maputo. The introduction provides an overview of this new international treaty, as well as a commentary to each of its provisions.
The development of international wildlife law has been one of the most significant exercises in international law-making during the last fifty years. This second edition of Lyster's International Wildlife Law coincides with both the UN Year of Biological Diversity and the twenty-fifth anniversary of Simon Lyster's first edition. The risk of wildlife depletion and species extinction has become even greater since the 1980s. This new edition provides a clear and authoritative analysis of the key treaties which regulate the conservation of wildlife and habitat protection, and of the mechanisms available to make them work. The original text has also been significantly expanded to include analysis of the philosophical and welfare considerations underpinning wildlife protection, the cross-cutting themes of wildlife and trade, and the impact of climate change and other anthropogenic interferences with species and habitat. Lyster's International Wildlife Law is an indispensable reference work for scholars, practitioners and policy-makers alike.
This is an updated edition of the 1995 version. In the mid-1980's, the IUCN CEL, in consultation with leading experts from around the world, began to respond to a need later identified by Agenda 21: the preparation of an integrated framework for international environmental law.
Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa comprehensively explores the challenges and potential solutions to key conservation issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Easy to read, this lucid and accessible textbook includes fifteen chapters that cover a full range of conservation topics, including threats to biodiversity, environmental laws, and protected areas management, as well as related topics such as sustainability, poverty, and human-wildlife conflict. This rich resource also includes a background discussion of what conservation biology is, a wide range of theoretical approaches to the subject, and concrete examples of conservation practice in specific African contexts. Strategies are outlined to protect biodiversity whilst promoting economic development in the region. Boxes covering specific themes written by scientists who live and work throughout the region are included in each chapter, together with recommended readings and suggested discussion topics. Each chapter also includes an extensive bibliography. Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa provides the most up-to-date study in the field. It is an essential resource, available on-line without charge, for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a handy guide for professionals working to stop the rapid loss of biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere.
Provides a pan-African synthesis of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), drawing on multiple authors and a wide range of documented experiences from Southern, Eastern, Western and Central Africa. This title discusses the degree to which CBNRM has met poverty alleviation, economic development and nature conservation objectives.
IUCN's Protected Areas Management Categories, which classify protected areas according to their management objectives, are today accepted as the benchmark for defining, recording, and classifying protected areas. They are recognized by international bodies such as the United Nations as well as many national governments. As a result, they are increasingly being incorporated into government legislation. These guidelines provide as much clarity as possible regarding the meaning and application of the Categories. They describe the definition of the Categories and discuss application in particular biomes and management approaches.
With a Foreword by Prof. Asbjørn Eide, a former Chairman of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations, Chairman of the UN Working Group on Minorities, President of the Advisory Committee on National Minorities of the Council of Europe Following the internationalization of the indigenous rights movement, a growing number of African hunter-gatherers, pastoralists and other communities have channelled their claims for special legal protection through the global indigenous rights movement. Their claims as the indigenous peoples of Africa are backed by many (international) actors such as indigenous rights activists, donors and some academia. However, indigenous identification is contested by many African governments, some members of non-claimant communities and a number of anthropologists who have extensively interacted with claimant indigenous groups. This book explores the sources as well as the legal and political implications of indigenous identification in Africa. By highlighting the quasi-inexistence of systematic and discursive – rather than activist – studies on the subject-matter, the analysis questions the appropriateness of this framework in efforts aimed at empowering claimant communities in inherently multiethnic African countries. The book navigates between various disciplines in trying to better capture the phenomenon of indigenous rights advocacy in Africa. The book is valuable reading for academics in law and all (other) social sciences such as anthropology, sociology, history, political science, as well as for economists. It is also a useful tool for policy-makers, legal practitioners, indigenous rights activists, and a wide range of NGOs. Dr. Felix Mukwiza Ndahinda is Associate Professor at the International Victimology Institute Tilburg (INTERVICT), Tilburg University, The Netherlands.
This work presents a thorough analysis of the biodiversity concept in international law and commentary on the 1992 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity which was opened for signature following the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development. This Convention is the first international treaty explicitly to address all aspects of biodiversity ranging from the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources, to access to biotechnology and the safety of activities related to modified living organisms. The work extends beyond the ambit of the Convention itself to examine the conservation of biodiversity in international law generally, including measures for the protection of the terrestrial, marine and Antarctic environment and particular features relating to sustainable use of biological resources, ex-situ conservation and plant genetic resources. It further analyses the controversial issue of intellectual property rights, the problems of implementation in the European Union and the United States, differences between developing and developed states and the role of indigenous peoples. This major new work has been written by members of the Committee on Environmental Law of the British Branch of the International Law Association following an earlier study on the subject of International Law and Global Climate Change (Graham & Trotman, 1991). It is the first major study of the Convention of the context in which it was negotiated, and of the prospects for its implementation, following the entry into force of the Convention on 29 December 1993.
The central aim of this publication is to consider the key elements of a modern, comprehensive, and effective legal framework for successful management of protected areas. They provide practical guidance for all those involved in developing, improving, or reviewing national legislation on protected areas, be they legal drafters and practitioners, protected area managers, interested NGOs, or scholars. These guidelines include fifteen case studies, eight dealing with the protected area legislation of individual countries and six cases dealing with specific sites providing fundamental solutions that stand the test of time.
