1,721,038 research outputs found
REDD+ and mangroves : a study on Sundarbans
No full textSundarbans, a Ramsar and World Heritage site, is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world covering parts of Bangladesh and India. Natural mangroves were very common along the entire coast of Bangladesh. However, all other natural mangrove forests, including the Chakaria Sundarbans with 21,000 hectares of mangrove, have been cleared for shrimp cultivation. Against this backdrop, the Forest Department of Bangladesh has developed project design documents for a project called ‘Collaborative REDD+ Improved Forest Management (IFM) Sundarbans Project’ (CRISP) to save the only remaining natural mangrove forest of the country. This project, involving conservation of 412,000 ha of natural mangrove forests, is expected to generate, over a 30-year period, a total emissions reduction of about 6.4 million tons of CO2. However, the successful implementation of this project involves a number of critical legal and institutional issues. It may involve complex legal issues such as forest ownership, forest use rights, rights of local people and carbon rights. It may also involve institutional reforms. Ensuring good governance of the proposed project is very vital considering the failure of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded and Bangladesh Forest Department managed ‘Sundarbans Biodiversity Conservation Project’. Considering this previous experience, this paper suggests that a comprehensive legal and institutional review and reform is needed for the successful implementation of the proposed CRISP project. This paper argues that without ensuring local people’s rights and their participation, no project can be successful in the Sundarbans. Moreover, corruption of local and international officials may be a serious hurdle in the successful implementation of the project
Agroforestry and sustainable livelihoods in Vanuatu: insights from two case studies
No full textThis paper provides a brief overview of agroforestry systems in Vanuatu through case studies on two villages on Efate Island, Etas and Epau. Epau village is longer settled and is characterised by secure property rights, while Etas is a newly settled village with less secure property rights. Common problems facing both villages relate to access to markets and technology, and lack of storage facilities for agricultural produce. These limit farm productivity and profitability, and undermine sustainable livelihoods in both villages. The findings indicate the need to provide an enabling environment for the farming communities by ensuring easier access to markets and technology. This calls for strengthening the agricultural research and development and extension services and stronger marketing agencies. Livelihoods in the village with less secure property rights appear less sustainable
Agroforestry and sustainable livelihoods in Fiji: Two case studies
No full textThis paper reports two case studies on agriculture and agroforestry systems in two contrasting farming settlements on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji. The settlements differ in terms of cropping systems and land tenure regimes. In one settlement farmers’ livelihoods are based on diversified cropping systems including agroforestry, while in the other farmers have sugarcane-based farming systems. One settlement is characterised by secure property rights while the other has less secure property rights. Common problems facing both villages relate to access to markets and improved technology, obtaining fair prices for agricultural produce, high transportation cost, vulnerability to natural disasters, and poor access to credit and research and extension services. Problems specific to the sugarcane-based farming systems relate to land tenure insecurity, non-availability of farm workers during harvesting season and lack of labour-saving technology. It is argued that support is needed for the farming communities in terms of ensuring easier access to product markets and storage, access to improved technology including mechanisation, creating a more secure land tenure regime, increased research and extension services, and affordable transportation services. The policy response may involve consolidation of holdings so that bigger farms can employ mechanical technology more efficiently for sugarcane cultivation. Smaller farmers currently growing sugarcane require support to diversify their farming activities and grow other crops such as vegetables, fruit and staples
Policies and laws for promoting sustainable agroforestry in Vanuatu
No full textAn appropriate legal and policy framework is important for the development of agroforestry. This paper identifies and discusses some of the key legal and policy issues arising with respect to Vanuatu’s move to develop sustainable agroforestry. Fundamentally, there is a lack of a joint agroforestry strategy for relevant government departments, and this challenges the effectiveness of existing policies that touch upon agroforestry, particularly those relating to agriculture and forestry. There is a significant overlap of agroforestry-related activities across several government departments, and coordination and cooperation between these departments is wanting. Finally, alienation of local communities from their land is a major hurdle for agroforestry development in Vanuatu. This paper suggests that the government should take immediate initiatives for management of agriculture leases, particularly regarding lease to foreigners; and support for interagency cooperation is needed for promotion of agroforestry
Non-market values of agroforestry systems and implications for Pacific island agroforestry
No full textIn general, financial analysis of forestry and agroforestry investments does not take into account the broader social, environmental, cultural, traditional and other benefits of these systems. Hence, this paper examines methods of estimating non-market values to provide policy support. Such values would have relevance with respect to carbon sequestration, sea-level rise, watershed protection, preserving mangrove areas and coastal fisheries, improving the supply of healthy food products to improve public health, and in general, a wide range of policy areas. Under social cost–benefit analysis, if the overall benefits—private, social and environmental—are found to exceed the costs (or the benefit-to-cost ratio is greater than 1.0), a project is considered to be justified on economic grounds. Because some important benefits are not reflected in market transactions, various methods have been developed to estimate values of non-market goods and services. \ud
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Among the better known methods are: travel cost method(TCM) for valuing recreation benefits; contingent valuation method (CVM) for estimating consumer willingingness to pay (WTP) for a wide package of benefits; and environmental choice modelling, which breaks WTP down into a number of components. The hedonic price method (HPM) is used to estimate values associated with market transactions, such as the values of attractive landscapes, low noise and proximity to public transport, with these estimated by their impact on property prices (i.e. as revealed rather than just stated preferences). In practice, the benefit transfer method (utilising values adopted from previous research rather than conducting new and costly evaluation efforts) is often used as a convenient expedient for non-market values. Many databases of environmental values have been developed, which allow values from a source site to be inferred for a target site. The importance of watershed protection or remediation is well recognised in Fiji and Vanuatu. Flooding is often associated with cyclones and can have serious impacts on tourism, cropping areas and watercourses. Various Pacific island tree species have wide-spreading root systems and are well suited for stream bank and coastal land stabilisation. Revegetation of these areas can have considerable non-market benefits. Estimation of values of such benefits—say by CVM or benefit transfer—could be used to place dollar values on riparian and coastal tree plantings and to guide government policy as to whether such investment would be justified on broad socio-economic grounds
Policy and legal framework for promoting sustainable agroforestry in Fiji
No full textThis paper critically examines the key legal and policy issues in developing sustainable agroforestry on unproductive land in Viti Levu, Fiji. Much of this land has become unproductive because of the decline in Fiji’s sugar industry, on which the country has long relied. Interest in other land uses has thus arisen. Recent reports indicate that only a very minimal amount of agroforestry is being practised in Fiji, and it is pertinent to examine the opportunities and constraints facing the promotion of sustainable agroforestry development. This paper presents an overview of existing laws and policies in Fiji relevant to agroforestry and provides some policy recommendations for promotion of agroforestry. It appears that, although there is strong support for agroforestry in agricultural and forestry polices, practical efforts and the coordination for implementation of the broader policy objectives are lacking
Environmental pollution from shipbreaking industry : international law and national legal response
No full textThe international legal regime on shipbreaking is in its formative years. At the international level, the shipbreaking industry is partially governed by the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. However, how far this convention will be applicable for all aspects of transboundary movement of end-of-life ships is still, at least in the view of some scholars, a debatable issue. Against this backdrop, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has adopted a new, legally binding convention for shipbreaking. There is a rising voice from the developing countries that the convention is likely to impose more obligations on recycling facilities in the developing countries than on shipowners from rich nations. This may be identified as a clear derogation from the globally recognized international environmental law principle of common but differentiated treatment. This article will examine in detail major international conventions regulating transboundary movement and environmentally sound disposal of obsolete ships, as well as the corresponding laws of Bangladesh for implementing these conventions in the domestic arena. Moreover this article will examine in detail the recently adopted IMO Ship Recycling Convention
Flag state responsibility for maritime terrorism
No full textModern international shipping is largely a flag state-based system. Only the flag state has complete authority over the vessels that fly its flag, and as a result, other states’ jurisdiction over these vessels is very limited. Against this backdrop, this article examines the flag state’s responsibility for maritime terrorism, a major security issue and vulnerability in the global supply chain. It is not an exaggeration that the global community’s repeated statements regarding the illegality of terrorism have created a customary international law obligation for states to take all possible steps for the prevention of terrorism. This article argues that providing flags to suspicious entities in an obscure registration system is not compatible with this obligation
Future of the haze agreement– is the glass half empty or half full?
No full text"In 1997–98, the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region suffered an unprecedented health and environmental catastrophe due to choking haze created by a massive forest !re in Indonesia. It is estimated that the total losses from the fire could be US$5–6 billion after taking into account the loss of trees and other natural resources as well as the long-term impact on human health. This unprecedented anthropogenic disaster not only created a severe health and environmental hazard but also raised a question mark about the credibility and effectiveness of the ASEAN regional grouping. Against this background, ASEAN took a number of regional initiatives to try and solve the problem and finally adopted a new treaty for regional cooperation to combat forest fire and haze in 2002. This paper assesses the future success of this agreement from the perspectives of the legal, institutional and geopolitical reality of the region. Since numerous studies have examined state responsibility for transboundary environmental harm under international law and its implications on the ASEAN haze problem, this article will not touch upon that general debate nor the remedies that are possibly available to victim states. Rather, it will focus on the ASEAN regional legal and institutional initiatives to combat the haze pollution and compare them with a similar European regional agreement.\ud
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Regarding the following analysis, it is important to recognise the uncertainty arising from Indonesia’s status (presently a non-party to the Agreement). A primary indication of the future effectiveness of this agreement can be drawn from an analysis of the principles involved in this agreement, bearing in mind the inherent difficulty of enforcing norms in the international environmental legal system as a whole, and the geopolitical reality of the region.
Implementation of the MARPOL convention in Bangladesh
No full textVessel-source marine pollution is one of the main sources of marine pollution in Bangladesh. Due to unfettered operation of vessels, the country has been exposed to massive pollution that is causing a serious imbalance in the marine environment. Against this backdrop, this article seeks to demonstrate that the regulatory system of Bangladesh should be strengthened and made more effective in the light of international instruments to ensure the conservation and sustainable management of its marine environment. With this aim the article examines the present status of implementation of the MARPOL Convention in Bangladesh
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