Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Biosphere - WBGU

344 I Global biosphere policy
ural and cultural heritage in combination since they
are inextricably linked. In that sense the World Heritage
Convention could also be used as a building
block in the national strategy to implement the Biodiversity
Convention.
Trade in endangered animal and plant
species (CITES)
Section D 3.4 dealt in detail with the way in which the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) works and
the difficulties in implementing that convention. The
conservation of endangered species sought under
CITES concurs in principle with the objectives of the
CBD. The linkage of conservation and sustainable
use as pursued by the CBD and, for example, the consideration
of the concerns of indigenous and local
communities are aspects also being increasingly
addressed by CITES. In this regard there could be an
exchange of experience as well as joint development
of instruments and principles with regard to the specific
demands and circumstances of each.
Conservation of migratory species (CMS)
The aim of the Convention on Migratory Species
(CMS) is the development of effective nature conservation
strategies for countries that are located in
the regions along the migratory routes of migratory
species. In 1979 these ‘Range States’ signed the
agreement that entered into force in 1983; the convention’s
secretariat is based in Bonn.
The protective goal of the CMS is pursued at two
levels. Endangered species are listed in the first
Appendix (Art. 3). A species is considered endangered
if it ‘is in danger of extinction throughout all or
a significant portion of its range’ (Art. 1 para 1e).The
76 animals listed in Appendix I are placed under total
protection and may not under any circumstances be
extracted from nature. Furthermore, the parties are
obligated to preserve their habitat and to remove
hindrances from the migratory routes. Appendix II
lists species that have a poor conservation status and
for the protection of which international cooperation
is recommended (Art. 4 para 4). An information system
on migratory animal species is being developed.
Wetlands of particular importance (Ramsar
Convention)
The Convention on Wetlands of International
Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat was
signed in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, and entered into force
in 1975.The aim of this international cooperation was
initially to protect the endangered habitat of waterfowl
and wading birds. Since then the Convention has
been expanded to cover wetlands in general as valuable
ecosystems. The definition in Art. 1 includes a
variety of different ecosystems, eg mangrove
swamps, mountain streams, mudflats, tropical rivers
and coral reefs. The protective system under Ramsar
is based upon a listing of valuable wetland areas.
Each party to the convention commits to naming at
least one wetland area within its territory. The list so
far comprises 965 wetland areas in 113 states and a
total area of over 670,000 hectares.
The CBD’s programme of work for biodiversity in
inland waters provides for the Ramsar Convention as
an ‘executing agency’. The cooperation between the
CBD and Ramsar can be seen as an example for the
future interlinkage and harmonization of all conventions
with relevance to biodiversity.
Conclusions
On the basis of certain legal terms that have been left
imprecise and the broad protective canon of Art. 8,
the CBD comprises the protective areas of all global
protective conventions that entered into force before
it (particularly Arts. 8(a), 8(d), 8(l) of the CBD). The
rights and duties of a party arising from existing
agreements under international law are unaffected
(Art. 22 of the CBD).
The preamble of the CBD declares improved
coordination with existing conventions and programmes
to be a goal, as well as efforts to complement
the measures taken under these various
regimes. Cooperation with organizational units of
different agreements as provided for in Art. 23 IV h
and 24 I d of the CBD should be stepped up. Special
agreements establish the basis for cooperation
between the CBD secretariat and the secretariats of
Ramsar, CITES and CMS.The short-term goal of this
cooperation could initially be to harmonize the
reporting duties. The Council therefore recommends
advocacy at the forthcoming discussions regarding
the future national reports of CBD to achieve optimum
coordination with the reports and implementation
of other conventions. It is also important to have
a close exchange between the convention secretariats
and the bodies of the CSD.
One example for the transfer of implementation
programmes from the CBD to specialized conventions
is the decision by the CBD to designate the
Ramsar Convention as the executing organization
for the ecosystem topic ‘biodiversity of inland
waters’.
The specialized conventions all compile lists of
varying degrees of exhaustiveness on the respective
protected assets (endangered species, valuable territories).
Under the CBD the idea of producing lists of
valuable and endangered components of biological
diversity was rejected by the contracting states
effected (especially the developing countries) who
feared that by designating certain biodiversity