2.20 Conservation of marine biodiversity

RECALLING Recommendations 17.38 Marine and coastal zone conservation adopted by the 17^th Session of the IUCN General Assembly (San Jose, 1988) and 1.37 Marine Protected Areas adopted by the 1^st Session of the World Conservation Congress (Montreal, 1996), 19.46 Marine and Coastal Area Conservation, and 19.56 Global Fisheries adopted by the 19^th Session of the IUCN General Assembly (Buenos Aires, 1994);

ACKNOWLEDGING the jurisdictional framework for the marine environment provided by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982;

RECALLING that Article 197 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 calls upon States to “cooperate on a global basis and, as appropriate, on a regional basis … for the protection and preservation of the marine environment, taking into account regional features”;

RECALLING that the 1995 Jakarta Mandate on Marine and Coastal Biological Diversity, adopted by the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), reaffirmed that there is a critical need to address the conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal biological diversity;

RECALLING that the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries calls upon states to apply the precautionary approach widely to conservation, management, and exploitation of living aquatic resources in order to protect them and preserve the aquatic environment;

RECALLING that Decision 7/1(22) of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development encouraged States to establish and manage Marine Protected Areas, along with other appropriate management tools, in order to ensure the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable management and use of oceans;

RECOGNIZING that the biodiversity of the marine environment, both within coastal State jurisdictions and on the high seas, as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982, is an integral part of the natural and cultural heritage of the world;

FURTHER RECOGNIZING that recent discoveries have demonstrated that seamounts support highly diverse fauna with a high degree of endemism, and that these faunas are little known and may be threatened;

CONCERNED that many marine ecosystems both within coastal State jurisdictions and on the high seas have become seriously degraded as a result of human activities and that the rate of degradation continues to increase;

ACKNOWLEDGING that the biodiversity of the oceans is extensive, including phyla not found on land, and that a significant portion of the oceans’ biodiversity can be found in areas far from shallow coastal waters and beyond the jurisdictional limits of coastal States;

RECOGNIZING that while knowledge of the resources of the high seas is limited, increasingly areas with significant biodiversity values and potential economic value are being identified that would benefit from a conservation approach, whereby any use must be ecologically sustainable, and based on a precautionary approach to initial exploration and potential use, consistent with Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development;

CONCERNED that there are limited international mechanisms to ensure sustainable management of living and non-living marine resources that straddle coastal State jurisdictions and the high seas, or that they are restricted entirely to the high seas;

OBSERVING that technology and capacity are rapidly developing to facilitate increased extraction of living and non-living marine resources;

BELIEVING that the marine environment of the high seas, including all living and non-living resources, is the common heritage of all people, to be used with judgement, and not to excess;

BELIEVING that, linked with common ownership, is a common responsibility to ensure the maintenance of marine resources for the direct benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations and to ensure that any use of marine resources is appropriate; and

RECOGNIZING that Marine Protected Areas, covering the full range of IUCN categories and providing for ‘multiple use’, can be valuable tools for integrating biodiversity conservation, responsible fisheries, mineral exploration and extraction, particularly sensitive sea areas, tourism, and scientific research in a sustainable manner;

The World Conservation Congress at its 2^nd Session in Amman, Jordan, 4-11 October 2000:

1. URGES all countries that have not already done so to sign and ratify the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 and the UN Fish Stock Agreement, 1995;

2. REAFFIRMS IUCN’s commitment to the creation of a representative system of Marine Protected Areas at regional and global scales to provide for the protection, restoration, sustainable use, understanding, and enjoyment of the marine heritage of the world in perpetuity;

3. RENEWS IUCN’s recommendation that each national government should seek cooperative action between the public and all levels of government for the development and management of a national system of Marine Protected Areas;

4. CALLS ON the Director General to work with IUCN members and multilateral agencies to explore an appropriate range of tools, including high seas Marine Protected Areas, with the objective of implementing effective protection, restoration, and sustainable use of biological diversity and ecosystem processes on the high seas;

5. CALLS ON national governments, international agencies, and the non-governmental community to better integrate established multilateral agencies and existing legal mechanisms to identify areas of the high seas suitable for collaborative management action, and to reach agreement by consensus on regimes for their conservation and management.

This Resolution was adopted by consensus. The delegation of the State member United States indicated that had there been a vote the delegation would have abstained.

2.25 Conservation of plants

RECOGNIZING the fundamental importance of plants for the maintenance of all other forms of life;

ALARMED at the massive extinction crisis affecting plant species;

NOTING the Plant Conservation Programme that has been developed by the Species Survival Commission (SSC) to address this crisis;

RECOGNIZING the Gran Canaria Declaration on the Need for a Global Programme for Plant Conservation issued by 16 of the world’s leading botanists, including eight members of the SSC Plant Conservation Committee, on 4 April 2000; and

FURTHER NOTING Decision V/10 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) that agrees to consider the establishment of a global strategy for plant conservation at the 6^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD;

The World Conservation Congress at its 2^nd Session in Amman, Jordan, 4-11 October 2000:

1. COMMENDS the Species Survival Commission for its work in developing the Plant Conservation Programme, and calls for the rapid implementation of this Component Programme within the context of IUCN’s Overall Programme;

2. ENDORSES the Gran Canaria Declaration on the Need for a Global Programme for Plant Conservation;

3. URGES Parties to the CBD to consider the establishment of a global strategy for plant conservation at the 6^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD;

4. REQUESTS the Director General and the Species Survival Commission to provide technical and scientific assistance to the CBD in the development of a global plant conservation strategy;

5. AGREES to assist and promote the development and implementation of a global plant conservation strategy under the auspices of the CBD (Key Result Area 2, Result 6) in IUCN’s Overall Programme.

2.29 IUCN Policy Statement on Sustainable Use of Wild Living Resources

RECALLING Resolution 1.39 Sustainable Use Initiative adopted by the 1^st Session of the World Conservation Congress, requested the Species Survival Commission’s (SSC) Sustainable Use Specialist Group (SUSG) to develop urgently a short policy paper on sustainable use for written comment from IUCN members, and for SSC to take these comments into account in preparing a final draft for presentation at the next World Conservation Congress;

ACKNOWLEDGING that, in accordance with Resolution 1.39, the Steering Committee of the SUSG drafted the Policy Statement on Sustainable Use of Wild Living Resources, the final version of which is attached as an Annex to this Resolution;

ALSO ACKNOWLEDGING that successive drafts of this statement were reviewed by members of 14 regional SUSGs, Chairs and members of the SSC Specialist Groups, the SSC Steering Committee, Chairs of other Commissions, heads of IUCN’s Thematic and Regional Component Programmes, and IUCN’s members;

RECOGNIZING that sustainable use is one of the three components of the objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity and that the Convention provides a definition of ‘sustainable use’;

NOTING that Article 3 of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention) obliges its Contracting Parties to implement wise use approaches and that, in particular, the Convention has recently produced a series of Wise Use Handbooks;

ALSO NOTING that the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) have endorsed the principle of sustainable use in Resolution Conf. 8.3;

RECOGNIZING that sustainability and sustainable use are concepts that are now being applied to sectors beyond the scope of this policy statement per se, e.g. water, agriculture, soils; and

NOTING that most Component Programmes of IUCN work on sustainable use and that there is a need for the principles of sustainable use to be mainstreamed in all pertinent IUCN technical, regional, national, project, and Commission activities;

The World Conservation Congress at its 2^nd Session in Amman, Jordan, 4-11 October 2000:

1. ADOPTS the Policy Statement attached herewith and commends the policy to IUCN’s members, Commissions, and Secretariat for implementation in the context of its Overall Programme, and in accordance with the objectives of IUCN;

2. CALLS ON the Secretariat to report on the progress achieved in implementing the terms of the Policy Statement at the 3^rd World Conservation Congress.

This Resolution was adopted by a show of hands. The delegation of the State member United States indicated that it had abstained.

Policy Statement on Sustainable Use of Wild Living Resources (Annex to Resolution 2.29)

1. Conservation of biological diversity is central to the mission of IUCN, and accordingly IUCN recommends that decisions of whether to use, or not to use, wild living resources should be consistent with this aim.

2. Both consumptive and non-consumptive use of biological diversity are fundamental to the economies, cultures, and well-being of all nations and peoples.

3. Use, if sustainable, can serve human needs on an ongoing basis while contributing to the conservation of biological diversity.

4. In Recommendation 18.24, adopted by the 18^th Session of the General Assembly (Perth, 1990), IUCN – The World Conservation Union recognized that “the ethical, wise and sustainable use of some wildlife can provide an alternative or supplementary means of productive land use, and can be consistent with and encourage conservation, where such use is in accordance with appropriate safeguards”.

5. This position was reaffirmed in Recommendation 19.54 at the following session of the Union’s General Assembly in 1994 and subsequently in Resolution 1.39 at the 1^st Session of the World Conservation Congress in 1996.

6. Analyses of uses of wild living resources in a number of different contexts demonstrate that there are many biological, social, cultural, and economic factors, which combine in a variety of configurations to affect the likelihood that a particular use may be sustainable.

7. On the basis of these analyses, IUCN concludes that:

(a) Use of wild living resources, IF sustainable, is an important conservation tool because the social and economic benefits derived from such use provide incentives for people to conserve them;

(b) When using wild living resources, people should seek to minimize losses of biological diversity;

(c) Enhancing the sustainability of uses of wild living resources involves an ongoing process of improved management of those resources; and

(d) Such management should be adaptive, incorporating monitoring and the ability to modify management to take account of risk and uncertainty.

8. To increase the likelihood that any use of a wild living resource will be sustainable requires consideration of the following:

(a) The supply of biological products and ecological services available for use is limited by intrinsic biological characteristics of both species and ecosystems, including productivity, resilience, and stability, which themselves are subject to extrinsic environmental change;

(b) Institutional structures of management and control require both positive incentives and negative sanctions, good governance, and implementation at an appropriate scale. Such structures should include participation of relevant stake-holders and take account of land tenure, access rights, regulatory systems, traditional knowledge, and customary law;

(c) Wild living resources have many cultural, ethical, ecological and economic values, which can provide incentives for conservation. Where an economic value can be attached to a wild living resource, perverse incentives removed, and costs and benefits internalized, favourable conditions can be created for investment in the conservation and the sustainable use of the resource, thus reducing the risk of resource degradation, depletion, and habitat conversion; and

(d) Levels and fluctuations of demand for wild living resources are affected by a complex array of social, demographic, and economic factors, and are likely to increase in coming years. Thus attention to both demand and supply is necessary to promote sustainability of uses.

9. IUCN is committed to ensuring any uses of wild living resources are equitable and ecologically sustainable, and to this end it has established the Sustainable Use Initiative which incorporates regionally structured Specialist Groups of the Species Survival Commission to:

(a) Identify, evaluate, and promote the principles of management that contribute to sustainability and enhanced efficiency in the use of wild living resources; and

(b) Regularly communicate their findings to members and the broader community.

2.31 Genetically Modified Organisms and biodiversity

WHEREAS there is widespread concern that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) could have potentially dangerous effects on living organisms and their ecosystems;

AWARE of the growing movements throughout the world opposing genetic modification and aware of rejections of genetic modification in agriculture and food production;

WHEREAS, in particular, releasing genetically modified organisms into the environment may pose a threat of significant reduction or loss of biological diversity;

MINDFUL of the obligations undertaken by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and welcoming the adoption of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity and calling for its early ratification and implementation;

NOTING that potential effects of GMOs for achieving global food security have not been adequately demonstrated so far;

RECALLING the principles expressed in Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living published jointly by IUCN, WWF, and UNEP in 1991; and

RECOGNIZING the lack of knowledge on the effects on biodiversity of GMOs and the consequent importance of applying the precautionary approach as set out in Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and as reflected in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and in numerous international treaties;

The World Conservation Congress at its 2^nd Session in Amman, Jordan, 4-11 October 2000:

1. URGES IUCN’s members to apply the precautionary principle in their respective regions regarding further releases of genetically modified organisms into the environment;

2. REQUESTS the Director General to

(a) support initiatives to implement the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety; and

(b) propose to Council options for an IUCN contribution that will advance leadership, research, analysis, and the dissemination of knowledge regarding the potential ecological impact of the release of genetically modified organisms into the environment, focusing especially on biodiversity, socio-economic impact, and food security.

This Resolution was adopted by a show of hands. The delegations of the State members Australia, Canada, New Zealand and United States indicated that had there been a vote they would have abstained. The delegation of Canada provided a formal Statement for the Record indicating that the delegation had formally objected to an amendment changing the words “precautionary approach” to “precautionary principle”. The full statement of the Canadian delegation is contained in the Congress Proceedings. The delegation of the United States provided a formal Statement for the Record indicating inter alia that “the Resolution taken as a whole still appears to prejudge, in a negative and unbalanced manner, the question of the potential risks and benefits of biotechnology”. The full statement of the US delegation is contained in the Congress Proceedings.

2.64 The unsustainable commercial trade in wild meat

RECOGNIZING that wildlife is essential to both ecological systems and human cultures;

ACKNOWLEDGING the importance of wildlife to the well-being of human communities in many countries;

NOTING that despite the potential for sustainable exploitation of wildlife for commercial and subsistence purposes, there is an increasing unsustainable, and often illegal commercial trade in ‘meat and other products derived from wild animals for human consumption’ (in parts of Africa known as ‘bushmeat’, hereafter referred to as ‘wild meat’);

UNDERSTANDING that:

(a) this trade is a significant immediate threat to wildlife populations particularly in forest and grassland ecosystems throughout the world;

(b) a very wide range of species, even those not currently identified as threatened, are at risk of local extinction across wide areas;

(d) several species are already presumed extinct as a result of this trade;

CONCERNED that an unintended consequence of some international and national development programmes and resource extraction activities has contributed to the magnitude of the problem;

AWARE that political instability and deteriorating economic conditions in many countries also contribute to the magnitude of the problem;

CONCERNED that depletion of wildlife in many areas will have a substantial negative effect on the livelihoods and nutritional status of local human communities; and

CONSIDERING the complex relationship of the economic, cultural, ecological, and nutritional importance of this resource to local, national, and international stakeholders;