Biodiversity and Marine Resources Programme - Current Projects

Programme News and Events:

Download now! Introductory Guide to Marine Protected Areas on the High Seas

To assist international policy makers and other relevant stakeholders tasked with addressing the complex questions around establishing marine protected areas on the high seas, FIELD has developed a practical Introductory Guide geared to appeal to a diverse range of policymakers and other stakeholders.

Marine Protected Areas on the High Seas?
The health, productivity and biodiversity of the world's oceans are severely threatened by human activities. The level of harmful substances entering the seas has increased significantly over recent decades. The harvesting of living resources from the marine environment has been transformed into a highly industrialised commercial enterprise, reaching ever farther into the most remote areas and reducing many fish stocks far below sustainable levels. Shipping, offshore drilling and other uses of the sea have caused further damage. As a result of these varied pressures, many marine species may be obliterated before man has even had a chance to discover them - let alone plan for their protection. The establishment of marine protected areas may be the best way to successfully manage and conserve the marine environment. The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development called for the creation of a global network of marine protected areas by 2012. However, the creation and management of marine protected areas beyond national jurisdiction (the high seas) is proving uniquely challenging to the global community, due to the number of unresolved questions raised by the governing legal frameworks. To assist international policymakers and other relevant stakeholders tasked with addressing these questions, FIELD has developed a practical Introductory Guide to the legal issues involved in establishing and regulating marine protected areas in areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. FIELD's goal is to present a complex set of legal concepts in objective, accurate and non-legalistic prose to appeal to as diverse a range of policymakers as possible.

How many roads? Negotiating an international access and benefit sharing regime. Download presentation.
On 31 January, FIELD lawyer, Linda Siegele, who has participated in the negotiating sessions of an international access and benefit sharing regime within the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity, presented an analysis of the law and policy underlying the proposed international regime.

Biodiversity Convention's 6th Meeting of the Working Group on Access and Benefit Sharing
From 21 to 25 January 2008, FIELD attended the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)'s 6th meeting of the working group on access and benefit sharing held in Geneva, Switzerland. During the meeting FIELD and the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) co-authored an article on access and benefit sharing in the Pacific. Further information on the meeting and the resulting recommendations can be found at the CBD Website. The article can be downloaded by clicking on this link: www.cbdalliance.org

In 2002 the World Summit on Sustainable Development called on Parties to the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD) to negotiate an international regime for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. In answer to this call, in 2004 the Conference of the Parties to the CBD passed this mandate to the Ad Hoc Open Ended Working Group on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). After three years, the classic North - South division that has plagued the issue of access to genetic resources and benefit sharing since the negotiation of the CBD itself persists. In fact, at a recent negotiating session, one delegate expressed the fear that Parties were indeed travelling down 'two different roads'. On 31 January, FIELD lawyer, Linda Siegele, who has participated in the negotiating sessions, presented an analysis of the law and policy underlying the proposed international regime. This included an historical overview, a review of the terms of reference guiding the ABS working group, the positions of major stakeholders, the proposed elements to the regime, its relationship to other international processes, and the current state of play of the negotiations. The aim of this analysis was to generate discussion amongst seminar participants as to the necessity and feasibility of an international regime and the potential consequences should these negotiations ultimately fail. This presentation was part of a series of lectures organised by the Law, Environment and Development Centre at the School of Oriental and African Studies, in collaboration with the Institute Of Advanced Legal Studies and FIELD.

FIELD lawyer, Linda Siegele provided support to Pacific Island Countries at the fifth meeting of the CBD's Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing (WGABS-5), in Montreal 8-12 October 2007. In line with decision VIII/4 of the eighth Conference of the Parties (COP) to the CBD, WGABS-5 continued the elaboration and negotiation of an international regime on access and benefit-sharing.

The Working Group on ABS was first established by the COP in May 2000 to develop guidelines and other approaches to assist Parties and stakeholders with the implementation of the access and benefit-sharing provisions of the CBD. Following the call at the WSSD to negotiate an international regime for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, in 2004 the COP gave the Working Group a new mandate. The Working Group is to elaborate and negotiate an international regime on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing with the aim of adopting an instrument / instruments to effectively implement the provisions in Article 15 and Article 8(j) of the CBD, in addition to its three objectives of the Convention.

WGABS-5 represented the first half of a single session that will be completed at the Working Group's sixth session to be held from 21-25 January 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland. Delegates at WGABS-5 5 considered substantive elements of an international ABS regime including: access to genetic resources; fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use; measures to support compliance with prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms; an internationally recognized certificate of origin/source/legal provenance of genetic resources; traditional knowledge and genetic resources in the context of ABS; capacity building; and indicators for ABS. The Parties adopted a report stating that the notes of the Co-chairs on proposals made by delegates during the meeting will be circulated as information documents together with further submissions by Parties and stakeholders prior to WGABS-6.

For a report of the meeting, please visit: www.cbd.int/meetings/wgabs-05/default.shtml. Full coverage of the meeting is provided by the International Institute for Sustainable Development's Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) at www.iisd.ca/biodiv/abs5/.

Darwin Initiative Scoping Award: FIELD has received funds from the UK government's Darwin Initiative to support a trip to Samoa to discuss a potential project on biodiversity in marine areas beyond national jurisdiction. FIELD lawyer, Linda Siegele will be travelling to Apia, Samoa in July 2006, to prepare Darwin Initiative Phase 1 main project application. The purpose of Darwin Scoping Awards is to ensure that more UK organisations with biodiversity expertise have the chance to apply for Darwin project funding, by enabling less well-resourced organisations to develop project applications.

For more information on the Darwin Initiative click here

Wind Energy and Biodiversity: FIELD lawyers, in collaboration with lawyers from IUCN's Environmental Law Centre, have drafted a paper entitled, 'Wind Energy and Biodiversity-related Agreements: Emerging Trends' for the Renewable Energy and International Law (REIL) Project. The paper was discussed at the Yale-REIL-REEEP Roundtable on Renewable Energy & International Law held at Yale University's Center for Environmental Law & Policy on 29 April - 1 May 2006, in advance of the Commission on Sustainable Development 14 meeting in New York City. For further information click here

Biodiversity Convention's Eighth Conference of the Parties: From 20 to 31 March 2006, FIELD attended the Eighth Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 8) in Curitiba, Brazil. During this meeting FIELD provided legal advice and assistance to various Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Further information on the meeting and the resulting recommendations can be found at the CBD Website www.biodiv.org.

Pre-COP 8 Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting: On 19 and 20 March 2006, FIELD provided support to Pacific Regional delegates in a pre-COP 8 meeting of the Asia-Pacific Region. During the meeting FIELD participated in an informational presentation on the Global Environment Facility (GEF) with a representative from the Pacific Island Forum.

CBD COP 8 Side Event: On 24 March 2006, FIELD participated in a side event entitled ' Customary Law, Equitable Benefit-Sharing and Reversed ABS' with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), and the Association for Sustainable Livelihoods (ANDES). The side event was chaired by Maria Berlekom, Programme Director of SwedBio and focussed on: 1) The Agreement between the Potato Park and CIP for repatriation of traditional potatoes - the first-ever agreement for communities to access genetic resources from a gene bank (i.e. 'Reverse ABS'); 2) Use of Customary Law to develop an Inter-Community Agreement for Equitable Sharing amongst the Potato Park communities; 3) Options for including a Reversed ABS approach in the International Regime; and 4) Protection of "Collective Bio-Cultural Heritage".

For a copy of FIELD's power point presentation please click here.

Pacific Islands Ministerial Brief: On 27 March 2006, FIELD contributed to the 'Trade and Biodiversity Loss' section of a briefing document prepared for Pacific Island delegates participating in the High-Level Ministerial Segment of COP 8 held in Curitiba, Brazil.

Click here for archived Biodiversity Programme News and Events.

Current Projects:

International Biodiversity Conferences

Biosafety and Trade

Biofuels

Wind Energy Development and Biodiversity - Related International Agreements

Strengthening Implementation and Negotiation Capacity: Pacific Islands and the Climate Change and Biodiversity Conventions

Liability and Redress Issues

Biodiversity Programme - Past Projects