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International Law Instruments on Biological Diversity Protection
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1. INTERNATIONAL LAW INSTRUMENTS ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY PROTECTION
1. The Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus and Ukraine take part in the universal process launched by the decisions of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, 1992). The Conference final document, Agenda for the 21st Century (or Agenda 21), regards the preservation of biological diversity as one of the major prerequisites of sustainable development. It sets forth the following objectives in this area:
- Develop national strategies for the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological resources and integrate them into the national development strategies;
- Carry out country studies on the conservation of biological diversity;
- Undertake long-term research into the importance of biodiversity for the functioning of ecosystems and the role of ecosystems in producing goods, environmental services and other values supporting sustainable development;
- Take effective economic, social and other appropriate incentive measures to encourage the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological resources, including the promotion of sustainable production systems, such as traditional methods of agriculture, agroforestry, forestry, range and wildlife management, which use, maintain or increase biodiversity;
- Share in a fair and equitable way the benefits arising from the commercial and other utilization of biological and genetic resources among all users, including indigenous peoples and local communities;
- Promote the protection of natural habitats in protected areas, including the environmentally sound and sustainable development in areas adjacent to protected areas;
- Promote the rehabilitation and restoration of damaged ecosystems and the recovery of threatened and endangered species;
- Develop methods of sustainable use of biotechnology and transfer technology to other Contracting Parties, particularly, to developing countries.
2. A decisive step forward was made in promoting the conservation of biodiversity when the Convention on Biological Diversity was open to signing on June 5, 1992 at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. The Republic of Belarus was among 140 countries of the world that signed the Convention on June 5, 1992. On June 10, 1993 Belarus ratified it. The Russian Federation and Ukraine also signed and ratified the Convention. The objectives of the Convention are: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over those resources and to technologies, and by appropriate funding. The major principle proclaimed by the Convention is the recognition of each State’s sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.
Each state that acceded to the Convention committed to take measures to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, the major of them being as follows:
- Develop national strategies, plans or programs for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity;
Integrate, as far as possible and as appropriate, the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity into relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral plans, programs and policies;
- Identify components of biological diversity important for its conservation and sustainable use;
- Monitor, through sampling and other techniques, the components of biological diversity paying particular attention to those requiring urgent conservation measures and those which offer the greatest potential for sustainable use, and identify processes and categories of activities which have or are likely to have significant adverse impacts on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity;
- Establish a system of protected areas or areas where special measures need to be taken to conserve biological diversity, rehabilitate and restore degraded ecosystems and promote the recovery of threatened species;
- Establish or maintain means to regulate, manage or control the risks associated with the use and release of living modified organisms resulting from biotechnology;
- Prevent the introduction of, control or eradicate those alien species which threaten ecosystems, habitats or species;
- Recognize and foster the traditional methods and the knowledge of indigenous people and their communities relevant to the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological resources;
- Develop or maintain necessary legislation and/or other regulatory provisions for the protection of threatened species and populations;
- Adopt measures for the ex-situ conservation of components of biological diversity (i.e. the conservation of components of biological diversity outside their natural habitats);
- Adopt measures for the recovery and rehabilitation of threatened species and for their reintroduction into their natural habitats under appropriate conditions;
- Adopt measures relating to the use of biological resources to avoid or minimize adverse impacts on biological diversity.
3. In 1971, the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat was signed in the city of Ramsar (Iran), and, thus, is commonly referred to as the Ramsar Convention. The major aim of the Convention is to identify, designate and conserve the most valuable wetlands (marsh, fen, peatland, lakes, areas of marine water, stretches of river basins), irrespective of their geographical location, that have, according to a number of criteria, the status of lands of international importance. The criteria determining the importance of wetlands suggest that these lands should be typical or unique for their respective area, play an essential role in maintaining biological diversity and be regularly visited by big flocks of waterfowl. Wetlands designation as “having international importance” and their inclusion into the List of Wetlands of International Importance means that the State undertakes responsibility for facilitating the preservation and sustainable use of wetlands and for the conservation, management and wise use of migratory stocks of waterfowl. The major areas of activity under the Convention are:
- development, revision and implementation of criteria for designating the most valuable wetlands;
- development of legal frameworks for designating, conserving and using the most valuable wetlands;
- wetland stock-taking and research;
- conservation of wetlands and waterfowl;
- monitoring of the most valuable wetlands, exchange of data and publications regarding wetlands and their flora and fauna among the Contracting Parties of the Convention.
The former USSR acceded to the Convention in 1975. A special Resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers was passed to designate 12 wetlands of international importance. The Russian Federation, as a legal successor to the USSR, continues to fulfill its obligations under the Convention. Thus, the Russian government, by a relevant resolution, expanded the list of wetlands of international significance. It designated 35 such wetlands, including 3 formerly selected for the List. In the Republic of Belarus, on May 25, 1999, the President issued a Decree recognizing the country’s legal succession in respect of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat. In Ukraine, wetlands of international importance were also officially designated to include the following: “the Prypiat’ Valley” (12,000 hectares) and “the Stokhod Valley” (10,000 hectares) on the Stokhod River.
The Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus and Ukraine also cooperate within other conventions on biodiversity conservation: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage adopted in 1972 at the UNESCO General Conference in Paris. In 1992, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus and Ukraine signed an Agreement on Cooperation in the Sphere of Environmental Protection and Ecology. According to Article 2 of this Agreement, the Parties pledged to “take measures facilitating the reproduction of live resources, conservation and restoration of biological diversity”.
Given a special role the Dnipro Basin has to play in the conservation of biological diversity, it seems advisable that an international agreement on biodiversity preservation in the Dnipro Basin be drafted and signed by the interested parties. The Dnipro Basin is a holistic natural-and-economic system; therefore a basin-wide approach should be adopted to the activities affecting its environmental state. The riparian countries’ administrative borders do not coincide with those of river basins, and the natural river water is the property of the riparian nations. The rehabilitation, protection and sustainable use of the Dnipro Basin located in the territory of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus and Ukraine constitute an important and urgent task, which can never be performed without a close cooperation of these three states under an international agreement. The need for a coordinated policy of joint use and protection of water resources on the basis of such an agreement is conditioned by the national governments’ commitments to improve the living standards of the population, to ensure the conservation and rehabilitation of the Dnipro River and related ecosystems, as well as by the demands of economic development of the three countries. The agreement in question is to establish the following fundamental cooperation principles:
- ensuring the ecologically and environmentally sustainable use and protection of water resources;
- preventing, limiting and reducing water contamination for priority provision of the population with high-quality drinking water;
- maintaining and rehabilitating, when necessary, water and related ecosystems;
- barring, in the countries’ respective territories, unilateral actions detrimental to the other Contracting Parties’ interests;
- envisaging environmental responsibility for the breach of the agreement;
- promoting the introduction, in the countries’ respective territories, of environmental insurance systems in compliance with the national legislations with a view to enhancing environmental safety of production and creating favorable conditions for life and economic activities of the population.
The agreement will become a step forward in the implementation of the UN/ECE Convention on the Protection of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (1992).
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