Background

The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972, made a number of recommendations regarding international treaties. One of these, Recommendation 32 of the Action Plan, was that governments should consider the need to enact international conventions and treaties in order to protect species which inhabit international waters or migrate from one territory to another. Recommendation 32 arose out of the realisation that failure to protect a migratory species throughout every stage of its migration can severely damage efforts to maintain or restore its population. The endangered Siberian crane (Grus leucogeranus), for example, is relatively secure in its Russian breeding sites and Indian wintering grounds, but its numbers have steadily declined in recent years primarily because it is hunted on its migratory route through Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many species of North American breeding birds are thought to be declining because of deforestation and the continuing use of DDT and other pesticides in their Central and South American wintering habitats. Passerines breeding in Northern Europe run a biannual gauntlet through the Mediterranean region where they are shot and trapped in their thousands as they make their way to and from their African wintering areas.

PREAMBLE:

We the Heads of State and Government of Independent African States,

FULLY CONSCIOUS that soil, water, flora and faunal resources constitute a capital of vital importance to mankind;

CONFIRMING, as we accepted upon declaring our adherence to the Charter of the Organization of African Unity, that we know that it is our duty “to harness the natural and human resources of our continent for the total advancement of our peoples in spheres of human endeavour”;

FULLY CONSCIOUS of the ever-growing importance of natural resources from an economic, nutritional, scientific, educational, cultural and aesthetic point of view;

CONSCIOUS of the dangers which threaten some of these irreplaceable assets;

ACCEPTING that the utilization of the natural resources must aim at satisfying the needs of man according to the carrying capacity of the environment;

DESIROUS of undertaking individual and joint action for the conservation, utilization and development of these assets by establishing and maintaining their rational utilization for the present and future welfare of mankind;

CONVINCED that one of the most appropriate means of achieving this end is to bring into force a convention;

HAVE AGREED as follows:

Article I

The Contracting States hereby establish an African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Article II

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE

The Contracting States shall undertake to adopt the measures to ensure conservation, utilization and development of soil, water, flora and faunal resources in accordance with scientific principles and with due regard to the best interests of the people.

PREAMBLE

The Member States of the Council of Europe and the other signatories hereto,

CONSIDERING that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members;

CONSIDERING the wish of the Council of Europe to co-operate with other States in the field of nature conservation;

RECOGNIZING that wild flora and fauna constitute a natural heritage of aesthetic, scientific, cultural, recreational, economic and intrinsic value that needs to be preserved and handed on to future generations;

RECOGNIZING the essential role played by wild flora and fauna in maintaining biological balances;

NOTING that numerous species of wild flora and fauna are being seriously depleted and that some of them are threatened with extinction;

AWARE that the conservation of natural habitats is a vital component of the protection and conservation of wild flora and fauna;

RECOGNIZING that the conservation of wild flora and fauna should be taken into consideration by the governments in their national goals and programmes, and that international co-operation should be established to protect migratory species in particular;

BEARING in mind the widespread requests for common action made by governments or by international bodies, in particular the requests expressed by the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment 1972 and the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe;

DESIRING particularly to follow, in the field of wildlife conservation, the recommendations of Resolution No. 2 of the Second European Ministerial Conference on the Environment;

The Contracting States,

RECOGNIZING that wild fauna and flora in their many beautiful and varied forms are an irreplaceable part of the natural systems of the earth which must be protected for this and the generations to come;

CONSCIOUS of the ever-growing value of wild fauna and flora from aesthetic, scientific, cultural, recreational and economic points of view;

RECOGNIZING that peoples and States are and should be the best protectors of their own wild fauna and flora;

RECOGNIZING, in addition, that international cooperation is essential for the protection of certain species of wild fauna and flora against overexploitation through international trade;

CONVINCED of the urgency of taking appropriate measures to this end;

HAVE AGREED as follows:

Article I

DEFINITIONS

For the purpose of the present Convention, unless the context otherwise requires:

a) “Species” means any species, sub-species, or geographically separate population thereof;

b) “Specimen” means:

(i) an animal or plant, whether alive or dead;

(ii) in the case of an animal: for species included in Appendices I and II, any readily recognizable part or derivative thereof; and for species included in Appendix III, any readily recognizable part or derivative thereof specified in Appendix III in relation to the species; and

(iii) in the case of a plant: for species included in Appendix I, any readily recognizable part or derivative thereof; and for species included in Appendices II and III, any readily recognizable part or derivative thereof specified in Appendices II and III in relation to the species;

Part II includes treaties which are concerned either with a single species or with groups of related species. In the former category, there are treaties governing the conservation and exploitation of northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus), polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and vicuna (Vicugna vicugna) – indeed three treaties dealing exclusively with the conservation and exploitation of vicuna have been signed in the last fifteen years. In the latter category, there are treaties covering whales, birds, Antarctic seals and North Atlantic seals.

There are two common factors applicable to most of the treaties in Part II. The first is that nearly all of them are concerned with economically valuable animals which have been subjected to significant exploitation by man. Whales, seals, polar bears, birds and vicuna have all been killed in large numbers at one time or another for their meat, oil, skins, feathers or cloth. Consequently, the primary objective of almost every treaty in Part II is either to provide strict protection for species which have been seriously depleted in the past or to regulate exploitation of species which could become depleted in the future unless controls are imposed. Most of these treaties therefore place their greatest emphasis on regulating exploitation. With a few exceptions, other threats such as habitat loss and pollution, which could prove just as damaging in the long term, either receive lesser attention or are not covered at all.

Changing Values

When the General Assembly of German agriculturalists and foresters passed a resolution in 1868 urging the government of Austria-Hungary to enter into treaties with other countries for the protection of animals useful to agriculture or forestry, their primary concern was to prevent the depletion of insectivorous birds – their vital allies in the perpetual battle against insect pests. The General Assembly was strictly utilitarian in its approach and, at the same time as urging protection for these birds, had no hesitation in condemning grain-eating birds, fish-eating birds and birds of prey which they considered harmful and worthy of destruction. Its members would have been astonished to learn that birds of prey are now among the most strictly protected of all birds and that treaties now demand the conservation of amphibians, reptiles, insects and plants as well as the more obviously beneficial animals. This change in the values attributed to wildlife is perhaps the most striking feature in the development of international wildlife law. Until recently, wildlife treaties concentrated entirely on species of direct value to man, either because they consumed agricultural pests or because they were a source of food, sport, oil or clothing. Now the emphasis is more on the role species play in the ecosystems in which they occur and on the need to prevent any species, however unglamorous or of little apparent importance, from becoming extinct through agencies within man's control.

Many people seen to think that the conservation of nature is simply a matter of being kind to animals and enjoying walks in the countryside. Sadly, perhaps, it is a great deal more complicated than that. For one thing nature consists of both plants and animals as well as the places and environment in which they struggle to survive. Furthermore every animal and some plants only survive at the expense of other animals or plants and mankind has gradually become the most significant exploiter of nature of them all.

The most urgent problem of the conservation of nature is to control this exploitation and to modify the consequences of the massive increase in the world's human population.

Part of the solution lies in specific projects designed to directly protect the most endangered species and their habitats but these can only be last ditch attempts to save species from almost immediate extinction. In the long term effective conservation of the multitude of species in the plant and animal worlds depends upon acceptance and conscientious application of specific obligations under national and international law.

In this book Simon Lyster has rendered a most valuable service to the cause of conservation of nature worldwide by setting out in detail the purposes and provisions of the major international treaties and conventions designed to give the remaining wild places and populations of our world a reasonable chance of survival.

Part III examines four treaties which are concerned with the conservation of wildlife in four distinct geographical areas. The oldest is the Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation in the Western Hemisphere (the “Western Hemisphere Convention”). It was concluded in 1940 and is open to countries in North, Central and South America. Next came the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (the “African Convention”), which was adopted in Algiers in 1968 and is open to Member States of the Organization of African Unity. The other two treaties are much newer. The Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (generally known as the “Berne Convention” because it was concluded in Berne in Switzerland) was opened for signature in 1979 but only came into force in June 1982. It is open to Member States of the Council of Europe, although there are certain circumstances in which other countries may become Parties. The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (“CCAMLR”) was signed in 1980 and came into force in April 1982. CCAMLR emanated from the Antarctic Treaty and.has so far been signed only by Parties to the Antarctic Treaty, but other countries are allowed to join if they satisfy certain conditions.

The Western Hemisphere Convention, the African Convention and the Berne Convention have much in common. The most important link between them is the special emphasis that they each give to habitat protection.

The Contracting Parties,

RECOGNISING the importance of safeguarding the environment and protecting the integrity of the ecosystem of the seas surrounding Antarctica;

NOTING the concentration of marine living resources found in Antarctic waters and the increased interest in the possibilities offered by the utilization of these resources as a source of protein;

CONSCIOUS of the urgency of ensuring the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources;

CONSIDERING that it is essential to increase knowledge of the Antarctic marine ecosystem and its components so as to be able to base decisions on harvesting on sound scientific information;

BELIEVING that the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources calls for international co-operation with due regard for the provisions of the Antarctic Treaty and with the active involvement of all States engaged in research or harvesting activities in Antarctic waters;

RECOGNISING the prime responsibilities of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties for the protection and preservation of the Antarctic environment and, in particular, their responsibilities under Article IX, paragraph l(f) of the Antarctic Treaty in respect of the preservation and conservation of living resources in Antarctica;

RECALLING the action already taken by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties including in particular the Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora, as well as the provisions of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals;

BEARING in mind the concern regarding the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources expressed by the Consultative Parties at the Ninth Consultative Meeting of the Antarctic Treaty and the importance of the provisions of Recommendation IX-2 which led to the establishment of the present Convention;

Background

Wetlands are amongst the most productive life-support systems on earth, and their conservation is important for biological, hydrological and economic reasons. They provide essential habitat for hundreds of species of waterfowl, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and plants. They act as natural sponges which control floods and droughts. A sub-tropical saltmarsh may produce organic material at more than twice the rate of the most fertile hayfield, and two thirds of the commercially important fish and shellfish harvested along the U.S. Atlantic seaboard – and 98% of those harvested in the Gulf of Mexico – depend on estuaries and associated wetlands for food, spawning grounds and nurseries for their fry. In spite of tKeir valuable functions, wetlands in many parts of the world have been destroyed at an alarming rate in recent decades by drainage, land reclamation and pollution.

A series of international conferences and technical meetings were held in the 1960s, mainly under the auspices of the International Waterfowl Research Bureau (“IWRB”), in an effort to stem this tide of destruction. As a result of these discussions, the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat was drawn up and was eventually signed on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian town of Ramsar (hence the name “Ramsar” by which the Convention is commonly known and hereinafter referred to). Ramsar came into force on 21 December 1975.

The Contracting Parties,

RECOGNIZING the interdependence of man and his environment;

CONSIDERING the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands as regulators of water regimes and as habitats supporting a characteristic flora and fauna, especially waterfowl;

BEING convinced that wetlands constitute a resource of great economic, cultural, scientific and recreational value, the loss of which would be irreparable;

DESIRING to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future;

RECOGNIZING that waterfowl in their seasonal migrations may transcend frontiers and so should be regarded as an international resource;

BEING confident that the conservation of wetlands and their flora and fauna can be ensured by combining far-sighted national policies with coordinated international action;

HAVE AGREED as follows:

Article 1

1. For the purpose of this Convention wetlands are areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres.

2. For the purpose of this Convention waterfowl are birds ecologically dependent on wetlands.

Article 2

1. Each Contracting Party shall designate suitable wetlands within its territory for inclusion in a List of Wetlands of International Importance, hereinafter referred to as “the List” which is maintained by the bureau established under Article 8.

The Governments of Canada, Japan, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the United States of America,

DESIRING to take effective measures towards achieving the maximum sustainable productivity of the fur seal resources of the North Pacific Ocean so that the fur seal populations can be brought to and maintained at the levels which will provide the greatest harvest year after year, with due regard to their relation to the productivity of other living marine resources of the area,

RECOGNIZING that in order to determine such measures it is necessary to conduct adequate scientific research on the said resources, and

DESIRING to provide for international cooperation in achieving these objectives,

AGREE as follows:

Article I

1. The term “pelagic sealing” is hereby defined for the purposes of this Convention as meaning the killing, taking, or hunting in any manner whatsoever of fur seals at sea.

2. The words “each year”, “annual” and “annually” as used hereinafter refer to Convention year, that is, the year beginning on the date of entry into force of the Convention.

3. Nothing in this Convention shall be deemed to affect in any way the position of the Parties in regard to the limits of territorial waters or to the jurisdiction over fisheries.

The Contracting Parties,

RECOGNIZING that wild animals in their innumerable forms are an irreplaceable part of the earth's natural system which must be conserved for the good of mankind;

AWARE that each generation of man holds the resources of the earth for future generations and has an obligation to ensure that this legacy is conserved and, where utilized, is used wisely;

CONSCIOUS of the ever-growing value of wild animals from environmental, ecological, genetic, scientific, aesthetic, recreational, cultural, educational, social and economic points of view;

CONCERNED particularly with those species of wild animals that migrate across or outside national jurisdictional boundaries;

RECOGNIZING that the States are and must be the protectors of the migratory species of wild animals that live within or pass through their national jurisdictional boundaries;

CONVINCED that conservation and effective management of migratory species of wild animals require the concerted action of all States within the national jurisdictional boundaries of which such species spend any part of their life cycles;

RECALLING Recommendation 32 of the Action Plan adopted by the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, 1972) and noted with satisfaction at the Twenty-seventh Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations;

HAVE AGREED as follows:

Article I

INTERPRETATION

1. For the purpose of this Convention:

a) “Migratory species” means the entire population or any geographically separate part of the population of any species or lower taxon of wild animals, a significant proportion of whose members cyclically and predictably cross one or more national jurisdictional boundaries;

The General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization meeting in Paris from 17 October to 21 November 1972, at its seventeenth session,

NOTING that the cultural heritage and the natural heritage are increasingly threatened with destruction not only by the traditional causes of decay, but also by changing social and economic conditions which aggravate the situation with even more formidable phenomena of damage or destruction,

CONSIDERING that deterioration or disappearance of any item of the cultural or natural heritage constitutes a harmful impoverishment of the heritage of all the nations of the world,

CONSIDERING that protection of this heritage at the national level often remains incomplete because of the scale of the resources which it requires and of the insufficient economic, scientific and technical resources of the country where the property to be protected is situated,

RECALLING that the Constitution of the Organization provides that it will maintain, increase and diffuse knowledge, by assuring the conservation and protection of the world's heritage, and recommending to the nations concerned the necessary international conventions,

CONSIDERING that the existing international conventions, recommendations and resolutions concerning cultural and natural property demonstrate the importance, for all the peoples of the world, of safeguarding this unique and irreplaceable property, to whatever people it may belong,

CONSIDERING that parts of the cultural or natural heritage are of outstanding interest and therefore need to be preserved as part of the world heritage of mankind as a whole,

The use of law to protect wildlife has existed for centuries. Forestry conservation laws in Babylon date back to 1900 BC. Akhenaten, King of Egypt, set aside land as a nature reserve in 1370 BC. Emperor Ashoka of India issued a decree in the third century BC which has a particularly contemporary ring about it. Towards the end of his reign, he wrote:

However, the use of international treaties to protect wildlife is a more recent development. The first such treaty, the Treaty Concerning the Regulation of Salmon Fishing in the Rhine River Basin, was signed by Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland in 1886. Several more wildlife treaties were concluded in the first half of this century, but it is only in the last twenty five years that there has been a dramatic increase both in their number and in their importance as a force for conservation.

In one sense it is surprising that wildlife treaties have taken so long to develop. The need for international cooperation to protect species which migrate from one country to another, which are in demand for their skins in foreign markets or which live on the high seas, has existed for a long time.

Background

International trade in wildlife is big business. In 1981 the U.S.A. imported and exported wildlife and wildlife products worth over U.S.$962 million. A fur coat made from South American ocelots fetches up to U.S.$40,000 in the Federal Republic of Germany, a single orchid or macaw may sell for over U.S.$5,000 and an ounce of rhinoceros horn in an eastern medicine shop can cost more than an ounce of gold. The trade goes back for centuries, but there was a dramatic increase in its volume 15-20 years ago. By the late 1960s a staggering 5-10 million crocodilian skins were entering international trade each year. In 1968 the U.S.A. alone imported the skins of 1,300 cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), 9,600 leopard (Panthera pardus), 13,500 jaguar (Panthera onca) and 129,000 ocelot (Felis pardalis), and in 1972 Kenya's ivory exports reached their highest recorded annual level of 150 tonnes.

The first demand for controls on the international wildlife trade was made as early as 1911 when Paul Sarasin, a Swiss conservationist, called for restrictions on the import and export of bird feathers because of the effect of the vogue for plumed hats on bird populations.

Background

Man's recognition of the need to protect birds goes back many centuries, although man's reasons for protecting them have changed over the years. Birds were originally valued as a source of food, as controllers of insect pests and as sport hunting targets. In 1907, O. Herman claimed that the preservation of birds for gentlemen's sport had been a tradition in Germany since the thirteenth century and that the Lords of Europe's great grain region in Hungary had long understood the value of birds “against the perpetual insect foe”. More recently, increasing importance has been attached to their ecological and aesthetic qualities.

Since so many species of birds are migratory and cross international borders during the course of their migration, it is not surprising that numerous international agreements have been concluded to promote their conservation. Several of these treaties cover more than just birds, and they are considered later in this book. This chapter examines ten legal instruments – three multilateral European treaties, a European Economic Community Directive and six non-European bilateral treaties – which are all concerned exclusively with birds. The main objective of the earliest treaties was to prohibit the killing, capturing or trading of insectivores and birds of obvious agricultural value. Numerous other birds, particularly birds of prey, were considered “noxious” and unworthy of protection.

PREAMBLE

The Governments of the American Republics, wishing to protect and preserve in their natural habitat representatives of all species and genera of their native flora and fauna, including migratory birds, in sufficient numbers and over areas extensive enough to assure them from becoming extinct through any agency within man's control; and

WISHING to protect and preserve scenery of extraordinary beauty, unusual and striking geologic formations, regions and natural objects of aesthetic, historic or scientific value, and areas characterized by primitive conditions in those cases covered by this Convention; and

WISHING to conclude a convention on the protection of nature and the preservation of flora and fauna to effectuate the foregoing purposes, have agreed upon the following Articles:

Article I

DESCRIPTION OF TERMS USED IN THE WORDING OF THIS CONVENTION

1. The expression national parks shall denote:

Areas established for the protection and preservation of superlative scenery, flora and fauna of national significance which the general public may enjoy and from which it may benefit when placed under public control.

2. The expression national reserves shall denote:

Regions established for conservation and utilization of natural resources under government control, on which protection of animal and plant life will be afforded in so far as this may be consistent with the primary purpose of such reserves.

3. The expression nature monuments shall denote:

Regions, objects, or living species of flora and fauna of aesthetic, historic or scientific interest to which strict protection is given.