Netherlands

Biodiversity captured worldwide attention at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro when 150 nations signed the Convention on Biological Diversity. Although most countries by now have had some experience planning and implementing biodiversity-related measures, few have approached them in the comprehensive, integrated manner required by the Convention.

Papers presented at a symposium on the legal problems of the conservation of wetlands, jointly organized the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law and the Groupe des zones humides of the Société française pour le droit de l’environnement. The meeting, attended by almost 100 participants representing 25 countries, was held in Lyon, France, in September 1987.

This book is intended as a guide for the increasing number of people who find themselves with mandates to plan either national systems of marine and coastal protected areas or individual sites.