IUCN, Environmental Law Programme

With ‘good governance’ firmly entrenched on the international agenda, this publication analyses the trends affecting protected area governance at the international level, and goes on to explore emerging issues concerning certification, standards, partnerships and funding mechanisms. It does not seek to prescribe the answers, rather it seeks to clearly articulate the issues, the competing arguments, and the challenges that all need to be addressed as we strive for the optimal protected area governance arrangements.

The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development placed a responsibility on States to protect the local, regional and global environment, especially problems shared by the whole community such as soil degradation.

The attention given to landscape in environmental law is new and the subject raises a series of interesting problems, which were highlighted at a Colloquium. Its central theme was the draft European Landscape Convention prepared by the Council of Europe, the first of its kind. Since 1998, the draft has evolved, and has reached its almost final form; it is expected to be adopted during 2000. In addition to considering the draft Convention, the Colloquium also explored the elements of landscape conservation law in various parts of the world

Synthesis of the various components of international law that have an impact on forests and provides a policy framework for conservation and sustainable use, against which any future global forest regime shoud be measured.