wise use of mires and peatlands - Peatland Ecology Research Group

FRAMEWORK FOR WISE USE1278. The principle of distributive justice: allmeans of meeting wants should bedistributed equally unless an unequaldistribution is to the advantage of the leastfavoured.9. The principle of minimum intervention: ifinterventions have to take place, they shouldbe limited to the minimum necessary. 1710. The principle of re-location: thoseactivities that are harmful, and cannot beavoided, should be relocated to areas wherethey will cause least impact.11. The precautionary principle: where it isanticipated that the effects of an interventioncould be seriously damaging, measures toprevent this damage 18 should not be avoidedbecause of lack of full scientific certainty 19 .12. The principle of avoidance: theexploitation of mires and peatlands shouldbe adapted to the natural characteristics andconstraints 20 of the mires and peatlandsconcerned.13. The principle of species integrity: theecological processes responsible for thesurvival of mire and peatland species shouldbe protected and the habitats on which theirsurvival depends maintained. 2114. The principle of compensation 22 : whenthe fundamental properties of mires andpeatlands and their hinterlands are violated,other than in accordance with theseprinciples, the cost of measures to prevent,control, reduce, repair, and compensate forany damage should be borne by theresponsible party 23 .5.5 MODIFIERSGuidance principles are general in nature andmay be modified in practice 24 . Factors whichmodify principles are defined here asModifiers. An example of a modifier takenfrom law and morality would be:Principle: Thou shalt not kill.Modifier: Special circumstances - for exampleself-defence.The main modifiers for the guidanceprinciples outlined in §5.4 above are SPACEand TIME (Table 5/5).Thus, the conditions for Wise Use will differin different regions, countries and areas.Wise Use in one particular peatland may notbe Wise Use in another. Similarly, theconditions for Wise Use will differ at differentpoints and over different periods of time. WiseUse under one particular circumstance maynot be Wise Use under other circumstancesand changes over time may alter Wise Use tounwise use.Modifier Aspect ExplanationSPACE Location What might be relevant in Africa might not be at allrelevant in Australia.Spatial scale What might apply at national level might not applyat village level.TIME Point of time What might be wise in 1980 might not be wise in 2020.Period of time Wise over a decade may not be wise over a year.Table 5/5 Illustrations of Modifiers of Space and Time