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GLOBALIZATION AND DECENTRALISATION: WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR PROTECTED AREAS?
26 August 2003
 We are all experiencing the impacts of globalization, no matter where we are. At the same time there is an increasing push for greater decentralization of authority. How are these trends and tensions manifesting themselves in the context of protected areas? How have different countries attempted to manage these trends and tensions through legal frameworks - or failed to do so - in the context of protected areas? On the morning of 12th September highly regarded speakers from six countries will gather in Durban to present their own perceptions on these critical questions and share their ideas on where we are headed over the next ten years. The views of the speakers will not be allowed to stand unchallenged - they will be put to the test by an expert panel together with all session participants in a lively interactive session that will follow the presentations.
Programme.
Speakers notes: Brazil,
Costa Rica (English/Spanish),
Peru,
Philippines,
South Africa, USA
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IUCN ELP PLANNING FOR BANGKOK
2004 UNDERWAY
22 August 2003
 IUCN Environmental Law Programme (ELP) has embarked on a co-ordinated and collaborative planning process in the lead up to the next IUCN World Conservation Congress (Bangkok, November 2004). At the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law (CEL) Steering Committee meeting held in the Carpathian Mountains, Ukraine in May 2003 CEL and the Head of the IUCN ELP agreed to undertake a co-ordinated joint CEL/ELC planning process for the development of a single IUCN ELP Component Programme Plan for the next IUCN Intersessional period and to establish a Core IUCN ELP Programme Planning Team consisting of members of the Steering Committee and the IUCN Environmental Law Centre (ELC) for this purpose (see full story). The planning team met for the first time at the ELC Bonn, from 18-19 August, together with invited guests, Professor Alexandre Kiss and Professor Alfred Rest, during which it agreed a draft plan. This plan will soon be released for direct consultation with IUCN non governmental Members with 'environmental law' as their principal objective, IUCN Commission on Environmental Law Members, IUCN Commission Focal Points, and the IUCN Secretariat (Headquarters and Regional and Country Offices), before being further considered in November in Shanghai.
Full story
AN "INTERNATIONAL REGIME FOR ACCESS AND BENEFIT-SHARING"
18 August 2003
 IUCN-ELC has embarked on a 3-year project addressing the development and implementation of "access to genetic resources and equitable sharing of the benefits from their use" (usually referred to as "access and benefit-sharing" or "ABS") under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Despite a general lack of clarity regarding the concept, representatives of the 187 countries that are parties to the CBD will sit down to finalise the Convention's "international ABS regime" - a process mandated both by earlier conferences of the CBD parties, as well as by an express statement in the WSSD Plan of Implementation. The IUCN-ELC project focuses on the practical elements of such a regime. In 2004-2005, it will place primary emphasis on technical assistance for implementation of the elements of the regime at the national and regional levels collaborating closely with the secretariats from the CBD and other conventions, and working with and through a number of experts and partner organisations. A web-page (for general information) and web-portal (for collaborating partners and advisors) are being developed and will be posted within the next few months. This project is possible due to the generous and far-sighted support of the German Ministry for International Co-operation (BMZ).
Full story
IUCN CEL DELEGATION VISITS THE PHILIPPINES
18 August 2002
 IUCN Commission on Environmental Law (CEL) Chair, Prof. Nicholas Robinson, Regional Vice Chair for South and East Asia, Prof. Koh Kheng Lian and Dr. Parvez Hassan, former Chair, have held a series of meetings with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the University of the Philippines and the ASEAN Regional Centre for Biological Conservation (ARCBC) in Los Baños, south of Manila, Philippines. Accompanied by CEL member John Boyd, the three IUCN CEL Steering Committee members briefed ADB officials about the work of CEL and the IUCN Environmental Law Programme. A key meeting with the University of the Philippines regarding the "train the trainers" course planned for law professors in the Philippines in January 2004 followed. Discussions with the ARCBC focused on how to advance the ASEAN Agreement on Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. The CEL team also met with several CEL members who are based in the Philippines.
ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS: THE WATER MANAGEMENT CHALLENGE OF THE DECADE
12 August 2003
 A landmark IUCN publication on establishing and maintaining environmental flows for healthy river systems has been released in Adelaide by the Hon. John Hill MP, South Australian Minister for Land, Water and Biodiversity Conservation. This world's first guide, which addresses the legal, policy, financial, political, scientific, communications and capacity building aspects of establishing and maintaining environmental flows, is a joint effort of the IUCN Water and Nature Initiative and IUCN Environmental Law Programme, through the IUCN CEL Water and Wetlands Specialist Group and IUCN ELC, Bonn. IUCN ELP Editors, Megan Dyson and John Scanlon, described establishing and maintaining environmental flows as "the most significant challenge confronting water resource managers over the next decade." The guide was released on the same day in Stockholm by Co-editor Dr Ger Bergkamp, IUCN WANI. The year 2003 is the UN International Year of Freshwater.
IUCN Media Release
Download a free copy of 'Flow: the essentials of environmental flows' here (1,374KB).
Find IUCN WANI here.
RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT FOR THE HUONG RIVER BASIN MOVES ONE STEP CLOSER
8 August 2003
 Officials from Central and Provincial Government, along with representatives from other interested institutions, have gathered in Hue, Vietnam for a full day Workshop to review options for establishing a river basin organisation (RBO) for the Huong River Basin. The Workshop was Chaired by Dr Nguyen Ngoc Thien, Vice-Chairman of the Peoples Committee for the Thua Thien Hue Province and Mr Nguyen Minh Thong, IUCN Vietnam Country Representative. The discussion was facilitated by the presentation of options for establishing an RBO at the initial Workshop (March 2003) by the Head of IUCN ELP, who joined the meeting as a commentator. The Workshop also heard a presentation by Chaminda Rajapakse, IUCN ARO on 'environmental flows' and the possible application of the concept to the Huong River Basin. Participants requested copies of the forthcoming IUCN publication, 'Flow. The essentials of environmental flows', a joint initiative of IUCN WANI and ELP, and for its translation into Vietnamese.
INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE. AN INTERNATIONAL LEGAL REGIME FOR PROTECTED AREAS?
4 August 2003
Is there an international legal regime for protected areas, and if so what is it? How are emerging issues such as: management effectiveness and standards, certification, new financial mechanisms, and new ways of creating and supporting partnerships, being addressed at the international level? These questions and more are addressed in the paper prepared by IUCN Environmental Law Programme on 'International Environmental Governance' for the V IUCN World Parks Congress. Experts from across the globe will address this insightful paper as they gather in Durban to debate 'International Designations and Global Governance' on 11th September. IUCN ELP leads the Secretariat's contribution to the Congress Governance Workshop Stream and is most grateful to Parks Canada for funding this paper. For more information on IUCN ELP at the WPC click here.
'An International Legal Regime For Protected Areas'
Section 1: Executive Summary (English/French/Spanish).
Section 2: An International Legal Regime for Protected Areas.
Section 3: Protected Areas and Certification.
Section 4: International Funds, 'Partnerships' and other Mechanisms for Protected Areas.
IUCN WELCOMES NEW LEGAL COUNSEL
August 4, 2003
 Today, Mr Giuseppe Zaccagnini joins IUCN as the Legal Counsel. Giuseppe worked most recently for the World Intellectual Property Organization in the Office of the Legal Counsel. Prior to that assignment, he acted as Legal Counsel then Senior Legal Counsel with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) from 1998 to 2002. Giuseppe will now be in charge of handling all legal issues arising within IUCN. Based in IUCN Headquarters in Gland, Switzerland, he will report to the Director General and provide legal advice to IUCN’s global Secretariat. More specifically, he will be responsible for advising on dispute settlement and litigation; providing technical advice on issues related to Memoranda of Understanding with host countries and other intergovernmental organizations; and assisting in the negotiation and drafting of contracts. As well as having attended the New York Law School, Giuseppe also studied at Harvard University and the State University of New York at Binghamton.
News July 2003 >
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