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Governance criteria for effective transboundary biodiversity conservation

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics volume 16, pages 797–813 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Intact ecosystems across jurisdictional boundaries are of growing importance as the world continues to experience the impacts of climate change. International boundaries have, however, been drawn for political rather than ecological reasons. Ecosystem components often occur in more than one nation and are consequently subject to conflicting management and land-use practices. This research integrates the legal, institutional and environmental management components of transboundary biodiversity conservation to propose a comprehensive framework for evaluating the potential effectiveness of transboundary conservation regimes. The paper presents twelve criteria for the effective transboundary conservation of terrestrial biodiversity. These criteria can assist in the evaluation of existing initiatives and the design of future ones. The criteria will be of increasing importance as decision-makers seek to adapt to climate change and conserve biodiversity at all scales of political organization.

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Notes

  1. The Memorandum of Understanding about the joint implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan on Sustainable Land Management in the High Pamir and Pamir-Alai Mountains (‘the PALM MoU’) concluded February 2011 and the Declaration on the Heart of Borneo Initiative, 12 February 2007, Brunei Darussalam—Republic of Indonesia—Malaysia.

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Acknowledgments

Parts of this research were carried out in the context of the GEF/UNEP/UNU project ‘Sustainable Land Management in the High Pamir and Pamir-Alai Mountains (PALM)—An integrated and transboundary initiative in Central Asia’ (Project number: IMIS:GFL-2328-2770-4984). The paper reflects only the author’s views: neither the GEF, UNEP nor UNU can be held liable for any use of this information. I would like to thank Prof. Paul Martin (Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law, University of New England) and Dr Julian Prior (School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England) for the many insightful discussions that contributed to the development of this paper. Thanks also to Dr. Ian Hannam for facilitating the practical components of the research and to Maksatbek Anarbaev (National Centre for Mountain Regions Development of the Kyrygz Republic) for invaluable assistance in all aspects of field work in the PALM case study.

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  1. Griffith Law School, Arts, Education and Law Group, Griffith University, Building (G36), Room 3.76, Gold Coast Campus, Parklands Drive, Southport, QLD, 4222, Australia

    Michelle Lim

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Correspondence to Michelle Lim.

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Lim, M. Governance criteria for effective transboundary biodiversity conservation. Int Environ Agreements 16, 797–813 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-015-9296-3

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Keywords

  • Effective governance
  • Transboundary biodiversity conservation
  • High Pamir and Pamir-Alai Mountains
  • Heart of Borneo

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