Roe, Dilys

A symposium on community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) for the conservation of CITES-listed species was organized by the Austrian Ministry of the Environment and the European Commission in Vienna, Austria, in May 2010. Its aim was to provide the necessary knowledge base for a broad policy discussion within the European Union on the relevance of local conservation programmes for CITES to achieve the goals as set out in its current Strategic Vision 2008-2013 (Res. Conf. 14.2).

This briefing discusses the human rights impact of conservation policies and the role of non-governmental and international conservation organizations in protecting human rights while supporting conservation initiatives. The article includes information relating to the Conservation Initiative on Human Rights and a description of the IUCN resolutions and recommendations regarding human rights and conservation.

There is growing awareness of the social significance of wild resources, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) making a clear link between biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being. There remains, however, much ignorance concerning the role that trade in wild products plays in supporting the livelihoods of poor people and the potential of this trade to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In the last decade biodiversity loss and persistent poverty in developing countries have been recognised as major international problems that require urgent attention. However, the nature and scale of the links between these two problems, and between efforts to address them, has been the subject of much heated debate. Understanding the different elements of this debate is critical for the move towards constructive solutions.