Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Biosphere - WBGU

International institutions K 2.4
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cable to thrash out guidelines or protocols for all of
the ‘Rio Conventions’.Therefore, the Council recommends
examining whether the process launched
under the auspices of the CBD could constitute an
element in a future overarching international regulation
on sustainable tourism.
K 2.4.7
Trade in endangered species: improving controls
and providing compensation
In the case of the species classified according to the
Convention on the International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) for
limited use (Appendix II), it should be ensured that
the profits derived from that use directly benefit the
preservation of species stocks, realization of preventive
measures and support for local subsistence communities.
The existing strategies for the appropriate
combination of conservation and use aspects should
be examined for weak points and supplemented
accordingly (Section D 3.4). Establishing admissible
export quotas should also be preceded by a scientific
evaluation of species stocks, habitat quality, etc.
There is also a continued need to develop individual
management plans focused on the range states and
their respective stocks for the sustainable use of
national biological diversity and benefit-sharing. The
controls and monitoring system for compliance with
CITES provisions must also be improved.To that end
the certification and corresponding recognition
methods (eg genetic testing) that facilitate distinction
between legally and illegally obtained specimens or
products of an endangered species must be
advanced. In the case of species excluded from use or
trade in accordance with CITES (Appendix I) the
strict trade regulations as foreseen in the convention
can cut off important revenue sources in certain
range states, particularly developing countries. The
German federal government should therefore at the
same time advocate compensatory measures for
these countries disadvantaged by the regulations.
One might think, for example, of compensatory payments
or an appropriate debt waiver.
K 2.4.8
Making progress on a legally binding instrument
for forest conservation
For a long time now the international community has
been endeavouring to achieve a global regulation for
forest management. A binding document failed at
UNCED in 1992.The result was a non-binding ‘Statement
of Principles for a Global Consensus on the
Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development
of all Types of Forests’ (WBGU, 1996). The
debate surrounding an international instrument is as
topical as ever. On the one hand, the topic of forests
can be dealt with in a special convention of its own
that would have to be agreed. On the other hand,
there is the possibility of adopting a forest protocol
under the auspices of the CBD. The Council has spoken
out in favour of a forest protocol under the auspices
of the CBD in the past and still considers this
solution to be the most promising (WBGU, 1995b).
In a new forest convention located within the FAO
and to be negotiated anew the equal status of conservation
and sustainable use that is already
enshrined in the CBD would first have to be
achieved. Given the lack of current international
enforceability of a protocol to the CBD, however, an
independent forest convention might in any case be
preferable to a merely non-binding continuation of
the discourse in an intergovernmental body (Section
I 4).
K 2.4.9
Strengthening UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere
programme
UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere programme
(MAB) established in 1970 is particularly important
because it combines individual areas into a worldwide
network (356 biosphere reserves, participation
of over 100 states) in which experiences and results
are exchanged and, for instance, transferred to comparable
regions. In 1995 the statutes were drawn up
for the network and a new strategy (Seville Strategy).
These documents provide a clear framework for the
programme and for individual biosphere reserves, eg
periodic reporting and evaluation is envisaged. In the
Seville Strategy the states are given a number of
objectives and recommendations, which provide not
just clear instructions for the design and management
of biosphere reserves with their modern, integrational
approach, but also form a bridge to the Biodiversity
Convention. It is the Council’s view that
these possibilities should be used to a greater extent
in the future, also in connection with corresponding
national strategies. This would include above all
application of the Seville Strategy and the further
development of the network of biosphere reserves.
The trend towards larger biosphere reserves better
linked with their environs and increasingly transnational
is something to be welcomed and should be
promoted further. Better use could be made of the
MAB programme as an instrument for international
cooperation on biosphere conservation. Since there
is no financing mechanism specifically for that pur-