Craig, Donna --- "Biodiversity Conservation, Law + Livelihoods: Bridging the North-South Divide" [2008] MqJlICEnvLaw 6; (2008) 5(1) Macquarie Journal of International and Comparative Environmental Law 111

• Biodiversity Conservation, Law + Livelihoods:
• Bridging the North-South Divide

BOOK REVIEW

Biodiversity Conservation, Law + Livelihoods:
Bridging the North-South Divide

EDITED BY MICHAEL I. JEFFERY, JEREMY FIRESTONE, KAREN BUBNA-LITIC

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2008: 598 PAGES

This book is the third book in the series of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Research Studies and contains many of the excellent papers presented at the Academy’s 3^rd Annual Colloquium hosted by Macquarie University’s Centre for Environmental Law. As indicated in the front matter to the book it provides a global peer reviewed perspective on biodiversity conservation and the maintenance of sustainable cultures.

For those interested in a serious discussion of the issues threatening biological diversity from the perspective of many of the distinguished experts from around the world who have been, and remain, at the cutting edge of all major areas of biodiversity law, this book is required reading. The IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, although a relatively new institution on the international educational scene, has attracted the interest of environmental law academics from an increasing number of countries from across the North-South divide. It provides a forum, on an annual basis, for an in-depth examination of environmental issues in a global context by knowledgeable experts who are often in a position in their home countries to make a difference and move the international debate on finding appropriate solutions forward.

Of particular interest to readers will be the consensus reached by delegates attending the Colloquium on the need to protect biological diversity as a fundamental part of efforts to ensure a healthy environment for present and future generations of humans and other living species. The statement, to be known as the “Macquarie Statement” is reproduced in full at the outset of the book and sets the overall tone for the thirty papers that follow.

The book is divided into seven parts commencing with Part One that seeks to place biodiversity law within the context of environmental law which must in turn be examined within the larger context of international law and the global community. Professor Joseph Sax, who delivered the Distinguished Lectures at the Colloquium, provided a thought- provoking paper entitled “Environmental Law Forty Years Later: Looking Back and Looking Ahead” and demonstrated how property law has developed to encourage exploitation of the land for human purposes. He argues that notwithstanding the effort of environmental laws to curb the abuse the underlying property law has not changed and environmental values have not been sufficiently integrated into the basic structure of the law. The following three papers in Part One continue to set the stage for more the detailed discussions that follow on more thematic approaches to biodiversity issues.

Dr. Francoise Burhenne-Guilmin delivered the keynote paper entitled “Biodiversity and International Law: Historical Perspectives and Present Challenges – Where Do We Come From, Where Are We Going” and focussed on a discussion of the ecosystem approach and promoting sustainable use within the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Those familiar with this area of law will immediately recognise and appreciate the insight of this eminent scholar who was intimately involved in the development of the CBD and co-author of the informative guides to both the CBD and the Biosafety Protocol.

Part Two deals with biodiversity conservation in three sub-parts. The first provides an introduction to the needs, problems and prerequisites starting off with a thoughtful paper by Professor Michael Jeffery focussing on the CBD’s role in poverty eradication and the poverty-environment paradigm. Professor Douglas Fisher furthers the debate by questioning our perceptions and understanding of the concept and nature of biodiversity conservation, particularly with respect to our use of language and suggests how it should be expressed and treated in the legal system. Professor Abdul Haseeb Ansari follows with an important examination of the ethical and policy underpinnings of biodiversity from an Islamic perspective. The second sub-part provides a broad overview of biodiversity conservation issues in Brazil while the third sub-part includes two papers dealing with biodiversity issues in Europe in the context of EC law and policy, and community-based biodiversity governance issues in the Pacific Region, respectively.

Part Three, providing an in-depth discussion of conservation measures, is again divided into two sub-parts with Section A comprised of three papers focussing primarily upon area-based measures in New South Wales, Ethiopia and Japan. Section B of Part Three highlights species-based conservation measures with a paper by Professor Karen Bubna-Litic on the Threatened Species Legislation in NSW, followed by a paper on Australia’s protection of marine biodiversity in the context of marine protected areas. Professor Nicholas Robinson provides an interesting and informative discussion on the legal stewardship of mountain regions.

The remaining fourteen papers in this treasure trove of scholarly analysis by some of the worlds leading authorities on biodiversity issues have been grouped under chapters covering the Uses of Components of Biodiversity such as the sustainable use of soil, the Ghanian forestry regime and subsistence whaling by Indigenous peoples; Processes Affecting Biodiversity with papers on global warming, land management, and two papers describing ecological projects recently undertaken by China; Biosecurity Issues covering alien invasive species and genetically modified organisms and finally Access and Benefit Sharing issues with papers on the regulation of bioprospecting in Antarctica, and Indigenous intellectual and cultural property rights.

It is a book that fulfils its objective of gathering together in one volume a wealth of insight and information on an environmental topic that is of critical importance to the future of this planet and all of its inhabitants. Most importantly, the environmental law dimension is much more fully developed than in many biodiversity publications. It should find a prominent place in any contemporary environmental law library.

Professor Donna Craig

Associate Director,

Centre for Environmental Law

Macquarie University