Search results

Examines the incentives of the Endangered Species Act for landowner's to engage in anti-conservation behavior as a means of protecting the value of their property. Empirical evidence supporting the idea that the ESA is discouraging species conservation on private land is cited.

The opposition between nature and boundaries is well known : whereas nature knows no boundaries, public law is spatially structured by boundaries. However, such an opposition is currently being overcome under the influence of several factors. First, environmental law creates new boundaries that are no longer modelled on human boundaries but on nature ones. The notions of ecological zoning and above all ecological network illustrate this trend. Then, environmental law uses transboundary cooperation to mitigate the effects of boundaries on nature. Eventually, a complementarity is asserted between environmental law and infra-State transboundary cooperation law. The right to cooperate has been recognized to regional and local authorities and to public establishments responsible for nature conservation. Besides, relatively appropriate tools have been made available for cooperation in nature conservation. Nevertheless, this complementarity is being tested by the significant differences that may exist between national laws of neighbouring countries and, above all, by the lack of accountability of infra-State cooperation actors with respect to international environmental obligations. Thus, within transboundary environmental law, the emerging sector of transboundary nature is not as mature as the older one related to transboundary pollutions. ; Les relations entre la nature et les frontières sont traditionnellement conçues comme antagonistes : tandis que la nature ne connaîtrait pas de frontières, le droit public est, d'un point de vue spatial, structuré par les frontières. Le dépassement d'une telle opposition est cependant engagé, sous l'influence de plusieurs facteurs. D'abord, le droit de l'environnement crée ses propres frontières, indépendantes des frontières humaines et calquées sur celles de la nature. Les notions de zonage écologique et, surtout, de réseau écologique participent de ce mouvement. Ensuite, le droit de l'environnement recourt à la coopération transfrontalière, comme technique d'effacement fonctionnel de la frontière politique. Enfin, une complémentarité s'affirme entre le droit de l'environnement et le droit de la coopération transfrontalière infra-étatique. Le droit de coopérer a été reconnu aux collectivités territoriales et aux établissements publics compétents en matière de conservation de la nature, et des outils de coopération relativement adaptés à ce domaine ont été mis à leur disposition. Toutefois, une telle complémentarité est mise à l'épreuve par les différences importantes qui peuvent subsister entre les droits nationaux d'Etats frontaliers et, surtout, par la responsabilisation insuffisante des acteurs de la coopération infra-étatique face aux obligations internationales environnementales. Ainsi, au sein du droit de l'environnement transfrontalier, le secteur émergent de la nature transfrontalière n'est pas encore aussi mature que celui, plus ancien, des pollutions transfrontières.

"Many popular leisure pursuits and consumption habits drive and deepen global capitalism - from whale watching in the Azores to sipping an ethically-sourced cup of morning coffee. But what are the consequences for society, nature, and conservation? Capitalism and Conservation presents an important critique of conservation's role as a central driver of global capitalism. This thought-provoking collection of case studies from around the world vividly demonstrates the increase in intensity and variety of forms of capitalist conservation. They also reveal a surprising shift in the conservation movement's own conception of these practices: their current mainstream view is the idea that capitalism can and should help conservation save the world. By examining the works of various corporate billionaires, powerful political coalitions and foundations, international elites and NGOs, and new tourist and business opportunities, the essays show that conservation and capitalism have intertwined to distribute fortune and misfortune in many new ways - with entirely new dynamics of profit creation and marginalisation. Capitalism and Conservation offers illuminating insights and critique of the realities and tensions of capitalism and conservation's coexistence in today's world"--

Competencies in a large number of languages brought to our schools by representatives of linguistic minority groups are, through an unspoken policy of subtractive language education, irrevocably lost as national foreign language resources. This occurs in spite of repeated declarations of national leaders in commerce, defense, education, and international affairs that our foreign language resources are in a "scandalous" state. There are promising ways in which our schools can conserve the extraordinarily valuable language resources that are currently being squandered. A description of a model of two-way bilingual education is described that has the potential of providing opportunities for linguistic minority children to develop mature, adult literacy skills in their ancestral language.

Given the increasing incidence of serious flooding in Europe in recent years it might seem odd to be addressing the problem of water conservation. However, recent economic prosperity has led to an increased per capita use of water for domestic and industrial use. The traditional approach to meeting increased demand is to augment supply. However, mobilising new resources involves ever higher costs. Allied to this is the concept of sustainability, which can be defined as 'development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. An important consideration of itself, sustainability forms a major part of the new EU water strategy outlined in the Water Framework Directive 2000, which member states have 3 years to transpose into national legislation. Therefore, the concept of water conservation and water saving technologies are set to play a major role in our lives. Increasing the rate of water efficiency requires a multi-dimensional approach that can be achieved by adopting alternative technologies. The application of these technologies is further facilitated by the growth in urbanization and the scale of change in demand patterns.

1. Introduction : why marine conservation is necessary : significance, threats and management of the oceans and biodiversity -- 2. The marine environment : physicochemical characteristics : structures and processes : enduring and recurrent factors -- 3. The marine environment : ecology and biology : pelagic and benthic realms and coastal fringing communities -- 4. Approaches to marine conservation : traditional strategies and ecological frameworks -- 5. Representative areas : global to ecoregional : marine conservation at the ecosystem/habitat level -- 6. Habitats and communities : ecoregional to local : reality, variability and scales of relationships -- 7. Distinctive areas : species and ecosystem processes : ecosystem processes : ergoclines and hotspots -- 8. Patterns of biodiversity : species diversity : theories and relationships : global, regional, local -- 9. Species and focal species : keystones, umbrellas, flagships, indicators and others -- 10. Genetic diversity : significance of genetics : from genes to ecosystems -- 11. Coastal zones : components, complexities and classifications -- 12. High seas and deep seas : pelagic and benthic, hydrography and biogeography -- 13. Linking fisheries management with marine conservation objectives through ecosystem approaches : compatibility of exploitation and preservation -- 14. Size and boundaries of protected areas : rationale for function, location, dimensions -- 15. Evaluation of protected areas : the concept of 'value' as applied to marine biodiversity -- 16. Sets of protected areas : integrating distinctive and representative protected areas -- 17. Networks of protected areas : patterns of connectivity in the oceans -- 18. Approaches to the establishment of marine monitoring programmes : stabilizing the baselines -- 19. Remaining problems in marine conservation : present problems, future solutions.