Biodiversity And The Precautionary Principle

Great uncertainty typically surrounds decisions and management actions in the conservation of biodiversity and natural resource management, and yet there are risks of serious and irreversible harm for both biodiversity and the humans that rely on it. The precautionary principle arguably underlies all international conservation efforts and promotes acting to avoid serious or irreversible environmental harm, despite lack of scientific certainty as to the likelihood, magnitude or cause of harm. This book is the first to examine the application of the precautionary principle to biodiversity conservation and natural resource management, incorporating perspectives from scientists, economists, lawyers and practitioners from both developing and developed countries. It analyses the application and impacts of the principle in many areas including forestry, invasive alien species, wildlife trade, protected areas and fisheries, in a range of national and international contexts. Particular attention is drawn to issues of equity, livelihoods, science and politics, and the book provides guidelines for applying the precautionary principle to biodiversity conservation and natural resource management.

The precautionary principle, or precautionary approach, is now widely accepted in environmental law and policy at international and, increasingly, national level. However, the principle remains highly controversial, its meaning contested, its acceptance and implementation inconsistent across sectors and contexts and its impacts unclear. This paper aims to inform and assist IUCN and its members in developing greater shared understanding of the meaning and implementation of the principle in the context of biodiversity conservation and natural resource management, respecting priorities of both conservation and sustainable development. It examines the meaning of the precautionary principle and its incorporation into biodiversity and resource management law and policy, and discusses a series of issues raised by its implementation in this sector for biodiversity conservation and for livelihoods and poverty alleviation.

Great uncertainty typically surrounds decisions and management actions in the conservation of biodiversity and natural resource management, and yet there are risks of serious and irreversible harm for both biodiversity and the humans that rely on it. The precautionary principle arguably underlies all international conservation efforts and promotes acting to avoid serious or irreversible environmental harm, despite lack of scientific certainty as to the likelihood, magnitude or cause of harm. This book is the first to examine the application of the precautionary principle to biodiversity conservation and natural resource management, incorporating perspectives from scientists, economists, lawyers and practitioners from both developing and developed countries. It analyses the application and impacts of the principle in many areas including forestry, invasive alien species, wildlife trade, protected areas and fisheries, in a range of national and international contexts. Particular attention is drawn to issues of equity, livelihoods, science and politics, and the book provides guidelines for applying the precautionary principle to biodiversity conservation and natural resource management.

This challenging book takes a broad and thought-provoking look at the precautionary principle and its implementation, or potential implementation, in a number of fields. In particular, the essays within the book explore the challenges faced by public decision-making processes when applying the precautionary principle, including its role in risk management and risk assessment. Frameworks for improved decision making are considered, followed by a detailed analysis of prospective applications of the precautionary principle in a number of emerging fields including: nanotechnology, climate change.

The "precautionary principle"—the idea that society should guard against potentially harmful activities even if some cause and effect relationships have not been fully established—has often been attacked for being unscientific. However leading scientists studying the issue have begun to make the case that the precautionary principle is in fact science based, and that it creates a need for more rigorous and transparent science in examining complex and uncertain environmental risks.Precaution, Environmental Science, and Preventive Public Policy is the first book to explore the role of science in developing a more precautionary approach to environmental and public health policy. The book brings together leading scientists, legal experts, philosophers, environmental health professionals, and environmentalists to offer a multi-disciplinary perspective on the controversial debate over science and precaution. The book:discusses the critical need for science in promoting sustainabilityoutlines the ethical imperative of a more precautionary science and the philosophical foundations of that new approachconsiders some of the ways in which the current conduct of environmental science works against precautionary policiesexamines how the role and use of science differs across cultures and political systemsprovides the components of an approach to environmental science that more effectively supports precautionary decisionsThe book also offers case studies that consider various types of uncertainty and sets forth a framework for evaluating and addressing uncertainty in decision-making.Contributors include Juan Almendares, Katherine Barrett, Kamaljit Bawa, Finn Bro-Rasmussen, Donald Brown, Theofanis Christoforou, Terry Collins, Barry Commoner, Carl Cranor, Stephen Dovers, David Gee, Elizabeth Guillette, Cato ten Hallers-Tjabbes, James Huff, Matthias Kaiser, Richard Levins, Mary O'Brien, Carolyn Raffensperger, Jerry Ravetz, Vandana Shiva, Boyce Thorne-Miller, Joe Thornton, Reginald Victor, and Alistair Woodward.Precaution, Environmental Science, and Preventive Public Policy presents a broad overview of the role of science in implementing the precautionary principle and makes a compelling case that science should be used not just to study problems but to develop solutions.

Great uncertainty typically surrounds decisions and management actions in the conservation of biodiversity and natural resource management, and yet there are risks of serious and irreversible harm for both biodiversity and the humans that rely on it. The precautionary principle arguably underlies all international conservation efforts and promotes acting to avoid serious or irreversible environmental harm, despite lack of scientific certainty as to the likelihood, magnitude or cause of harm. This book is the first to examine the application of the precautionary principle to biodiversity conservation and natural resource management, incorporating perspectives from scientists, economists, lawyers and practitioners from both developing and developed countries. It analyses the application and impacts of the principle in many areas including forestry, invasive alien species, wildlife trade, protected areas and fisheries, in a range of national and international contexts. Particular attention is drawn to issues of equity, livelihoods, science and politics, and the book provides guidelines for applying the precautionary principle to biodiversity conservation and natural resource management.

The IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Research Studies' third colloquium brought together more than 130 experts from 27 nations on nearly every continent. This book brings together a number of papers presented there and offers a global perspective on biodiversity conservation and the maintenance of sustainable cultures.

The "precautionary principle" -- the environmental version of the admonition first, do no harm -- is now enshrined in numerous international environmental agreements including treaties addressing global warming, biological diversity, and various pollutants. Some environmentalists have invoked this principle to justify policies to control, if not ban, any technology that cannot be proven to cause no harm. In this innovative book, Goklany shows that the current use of the precautionary principle to justify such policies is flawed and could be counterproductive because it ignores the possible calamities those very policies might simultaneously create or prolong. The precautionary principle, unfortunately, does not provide any method of resolving such dilemmas, which are commonplace in the field of environmental policy. To address that problem, Goklany develops a framework consistent with the precautionary principle to resolve such dilemmas. That framework ranks potential threats to the environment on the basis of their nature, magnitude, immediacy, uncertainty, persistence, and the extent to which they can be alleviated. Applying that framework to three contentious environmental policy issues facing humanity and the globe -- DDT, bioengineered crops, and global warming -- Goklany shows that some popular policy prescriptions, despite good intentions, are in fact likely to do more harm than good.