International Journal of Rural Law and Policy
This journal is no longer accepting submissions via UTS ePRESS. The International Journal of Rural Law and Policy is a peer reviewed journal covering the many interdisciplinary and complex issues which make up rural and regional law and policy. This journal, via UTS ePRESS, did not charge any type of article processing charge (APC) or any type of article submission charge. It continues to be published at AUSTLII: http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/IntJlRuralLawP/
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From Smokebush to Spinifex: Indigenous traditional knowledge and the commercialisation of plants
Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, have diverse relationships with plants and their seeds. This cultural knowledge has been passed on through the generations, creating a deep history that has produced sophisticated fields of knowledge intimately linked to both diverse cultural geographies and the natural environment across the country. Western scientific, government and private sector commercial institutions have been collecting Australian plant material for over 200 years. Sometimes, such ‘collectors’ obtain the Indigenous knowledge simultaneously with the plant material. On occasions, the culturally-based Indigenous ownership of that knowledge is acknowledged by collectors. However in the majority of instances that has not been the case. Furthermore, different western institutions take different approaches to the collection, management and use of Australian plant material and associated Indigenous plant knowledge. A particular challenge in this arena is the lack of any shared understanding of Indigenous knowledge and intellectual property issues that are involved, and how those might best be addressed. But there is a gathering momentum, from diverse quarters, to face such challenges. This paper aims to contribute to consideration of the issues involved in order to promote more robust inclusion of Indigenous rights, interests and concerns.
Proposed REDD+ project for the Sundarbans: Legal and institutional issues
Sundarbans, a Ramsar and World Heritage site, is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world covering parts of Bangladesh and India. Natural mangroves were very common along the entire coast of Bangladesh. However, all other natural mangrove forests, including the Chakaria Sundarbans with 21,000 hectares of mangrove, have been cleared for shrimp cultivation. Against this backdrop, the Forest Department of Bangladesh has developed project design documents for a project called ‘Collaborative REDD+ Improved Forest Management (IFM) Sundarbans Project’ (CRISP) to save the only remaining natural mangrove forest of the country. This project, involving conservation of 412,000 ha of natural mangrove forests, is expected to generate, over a 30-year period, a total emissions reduction of about 6.4 million tons of CO2. However, the successful implementation of this project involves a number of critical legal and institutional issues. It may involve complex legal issues such as forest ownership, forest use rights, rights of local people and carbon rights. It may also involve institutional reforms. Ensuring good governance of the proposed project is very vital considering the failure of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded and Bangladesh Forest Department managed ‘Sundarbans Biodiversity Conservation Project’. Considering this previous experience, this paper suggests that a comprehensive legal and institutional review and reform is needed for the successful implementation of the proposed CRISP project. This paper argues that without ensuring local people’s rights and their participation, no project can be successful in the Sundarbans. Moreover, corruption of local and international officials may be a serious hurdle in the successful implementation of the project.
This edition brings together issues of natural resources, social dynamics and complex policy challenges. The specific issues and the ways in which they are being addressed vary greatly around the world. While water law varies in response to the unique legal, social and ecological challnges of each jurisdiction, there are over-arching challenges to the effective use of the law. Water governance and legal scholarship can provide new insights into ways to address these universal challenges.
Public on Paper: The Failure of Law to Protect Public Water Uses in the Western United States
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A Tale of Two Systems: Conflict, Law and the Development of Water Allocation in Two Common Law Jurisdictions
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mso-ascii-font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; mso-fareast-font-family:SimSun; mso-hansi-font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; color:#404040; mso-themecolor:text1; mso-themetint:191; mso-ansi-language:EN-AU; font-style:italic;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:宋体; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt;} @page WordSection1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:宋体; mso-font-charset:80; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 680460288 22 0 262145 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:SimSun; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-alt:宋体; mso-font-charset:134; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 135135232 16 0 262144 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:6.0pt; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:0cm; margin-left:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:13.0pt; mso-line-height-rule:exactly; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; mso-fareast-font-family:SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.Abstract, li.Abstract, div.Abstract {mso-style-name:Abstract; 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font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:宋体; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt;} @page WordSection1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> This paper examines how the law governing water has evolved in the United States and Australia. The evolution of water law in these jurisdictions demonstrates that the ‘scientific modernism’ that prioritises economics and hydrology as the pivots around which water institutions are designed may be an incomplete model. From the history we recount, we suggest that, ranking equally with these considerations in shaping water law and policy, is the broader framework of laws and institutions, and legal culture within a society. These factors shape the types of solutions to conflicts in a society and determine, to a substantial degree, the solutions to water conflicts that become law, which then in part determine future legal solutions. This observation is of more than theoretical importance. Towards the end of this paper we consider the latest water modernist experiment, the Australian Water Act. We suggest that closer attention to social factors and legal traditions would have resulted in a more effective law. We believe this holds important lessons for water policy generally.
historical evolution of water allocations
Copyright (c) 2011 Paul Martin, John C Becker
Application of Environmental Conflict Resolution to Public Interest Issues in Water Disputes
This article examines the role of environmental conflict resolution (ECR) in the public interest issues of water disputes. The article endeavours to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of a range of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and negotiation approaches in the context of decision-making. Although many embrace ECR as the cheaper and more effective alternative to more formalistic and entrenched judicial processes before courts of law and quasi-judicial tribunals, the authors argue that there is an urgent need for a more critical, contextual and issue-oriented approach. In particular, the article highlights the significant difficulties associated with representing the full range of stakeholders who should be involved in an ADR process, and the lack of transparency and procedural safeguards associated with ADR in complex public interest disputes. The strength of ADR in smaller project-specific disputes involving a very limited number of stakeholders is well understood. The authors argue that ADR may have a significant role in scoping the issues and associated research as well as facilitating agreement on procedural aspects of large, complex public interest water disputes. However, ADR has severe limitations as a decision-making process. For example, water conflicts necessarily involve the concept of sustainability that in turn touches on a complex maze of social, political, economic and ecological values. The probability of reaching a mediated settlement in such a context is severely curtailed. A preferable approach may be one that is entirely transparent, capable of being both monitored and enforced, and is binding on all stakeholders whether or not they are parties to the mediation.
Copyright (c) 2011 Michael Jeffrey QC, Donna Craig
Water Law, Mining and Hydro-Energy Conflicts in South America: Tales from the Andes and Patagonia
Conflicts in connection with hydro-energy and mining activities vis-à-vis other water uses, mainly human consumption, agriculture, industry, tourism, or even the essential flows needed for ecosystem protection, call into question whether South America’s path in the 21st Century will be characterized as ‘open veins’ (borrowing from the title of Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano’s book) or sustainable development. In this era of ‘New Conquistadors’, as some have called it, the key question is whether water law and environmental legal frameworks in the region are fit to deal with the pressure posed by these extracting industries. The paper seeks to contribute to this debate by discussing legal issues in connection with a controversial gold mining project in the Argentina-Chile border and a hydro-energy project in the Chilean Patagonia. The goal of the paper is to provide a South American perspective of water law through the lens of conflict. The paper concludes that water-related conflicts in these projects reveal weaknesses in the regulatory scheme for such endeavours and underscores the need to adopt reforms or implement mechanisms to ensure that water resources are adequately assessed, protected, and monitored.
Too Hot to Handle: Climate Change and Agricultural Water Use
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Property Rights in Water and Social Conflict: An Example from Iceland
Social conflict in Iceland over property rights in natural resources has prompted a call for the introduction of a provision into the Constitution of Iceland declaring natural resources ‘the property of the nation’. The paper explores the social conflict concerning property rights in water and, based on recent proposals and recommendations for Constitutional amendments, the possible implications of such a Constitutional provision in light of existing water rights and how it accommodates the considerations raised.
Developments in Water Pollution Law and Policy in China: Effective Enough to Cope with Water Pollution Conflict?
Water pollution is one of the most serious environmental issues facing China. In 2005, an exceptionally serious water pollution accident in the Songhua River — caused by an unintended and sudden chemicals explosion — heralded an official recognition of a water pollution crisis in China. Although there have been new initiatives in national law and policy concerning water pollution that attempt to respond to issues of: social conflict caused by water pollution; government accountability; liability of polluting entities; and citizens’ rights in cases of water pollution, the challenges for the rule of environmental law in effectively reducing water pollution accidents and resolving water pollution conflict still exist. There is an urgent need to strengthen compliance and enforcement. This paper discusses the issues of water pollution conflict and the possible resolutions offered through law and policy.
Some Reflections on the Resolution of State-to-State Disputes in International Waters Governance Agreements
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Copyright (c) 2011 Richard Kyle Paisley, Alex Grzybowski
Poisoning the Right to Water in South Africa: What Can the Law Do?
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Great Big Hairy Bees! Regulating the European Bumblebee, Bombus Terrestris L. What does it say about the Precautionary Principle?
The previous Commonwealth Minister for the Environment, Mr Garrett, recently rejected a request to allow the importation of live bumblebees (Bombus terrestris L.) to mainland Australia. New South Wales and Victoria had already listed the introduction of bumblebees as, respectively, a key threatening process and a potentially threatening process. The Commonwealth, however, had previously declined an application to list the introduction of bumblebees as a key threatening process, although its Threatened Species Scientific Committee urged ‘that extreme caution be shown in considering any proposal to introduce this species to the mainland.’ The potential threat from bumblebees would appear to beg the questions posed by the precautionary principle. Would the presence of bumblebees to mainland Australia pose a threat of serious or irreversible environmental damage? Should a lack of full scientific certainty be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation? This paper considers the role of the precautionary principle in regulatory approaches to the bumblebee. It seeks to establish the application of the precautionary principle to this particular potential environmental threat, including its relationship to the principle of conservation of biological diversity. It concludes that, despite widespread adoption of the precautionary principle in policy, legislation and case law in Australia, its impact on regulating bumblebees has not been consistent.
Copyright (c) 2012 Cameron Alastair Moore, Caroline Gross
The impact of the law on consultation practices and purpose: A case study of Aboriginal cultural heritage consultations in NSW
Consultation research to date has largely concentrated on how consultation practices generally serve only the purpose of procedural compliance. This article identifies and explores the gap in existing research on the impact of law on consultation practices and purposes. To explore current practices and the potential contribution of law to the nature of consultation practices, the article focuses on the NSW duty to consult Aboriginal people before permitting harm to Aboriginal cultural heritage. Conventional regulatory approaches to consultation assume that Aboriginal interests are accommodated by the same consultation strategies applied to other stakeholders in rural law and policy. This article uses an administrative law doctrinal research approach to identify the specific issues and requirements for Aboriginal consultation relating to cultural heritage. Consideration is given to the effectiveness of the case study consultation requirements, the duty design, and the recent Land and Environment Court judgment of Ashton Coal Operations Pty Limited v Director-General, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water. The article argues that statutory consultation requirements and purposes can, and should, be taken more seriously. The law reform discussion highlighted in the paper considers how identified consultation requirements can be incorporated into Australian Cultural Heritage legislation, and the possible impact of such incorporation on the purpose of the consultation. More broadly, the law reform discussion indicates that when consultation requirements are tailored to suit the purpose of the consultation and the consultation parties, the law can play a positive role in consultation, engagement and capacity building.
The regulation of diffuse pollution in the European Union: science, governance and water resource management
Reducing diffuse pollution is a perpetuating problem for environmental regulators. This paper will consider novel ways to regulate its impacts on the aquatic environment, with particular reference to rural landuse. It will look at the relationship between science, policy and law, and the contributions of integrated water resources management and governance at regional, national and river basin scales. Regulatory frameworks for water in the European Union will be explored, along with their implementation nationally in Scotland and at catchment scale in the Tweed river basin. It will conclude that regulation has a role to play, but that it is necessary to take a visionary holistic and integrated approach, nesting regulation within a governance framework that involves all stakeholders and takes full account of developing science and socio-economic drivers to meet environmental objectives.
Copyright (c) 2012 Sarah Hendry, Alison Reeves
Mining, regional Australia and the economic multiplier
Mining in Australia has traditionally delivered a strong development multiplier for regional communities where most mines are based. This relationship has weakened in recent decades as a result of the introduction of mobile workforces - typically known as fly in, fly out. Political parties have responded with policies known as ‘royalties for regions’, though in designing them they overlooked long established Indigenous arrangements for sharing benefits with areas affected directly by mining.
Business structures and sustainable regional legal practice: the use of incorporated legal practices by regional, rural and remote legal practitioners
Since 2007 the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) has offered legal practitioners a wider choice of business structure other than sole practitioner or partnership, to include incorporated legal practice ('ILP') or multidisciplinary partnership. In particular the use of ILPs offers legal practitioners a range of benefits in terms of operating a law firm consistent with business management practices. The status of ILP however comes at a cost of putting in place 'appropriate management systems'. This paper refers to the legislation and the literature on the range of business structures, before giving an insight into the actual choice of business structures used by Queensland regional, rural and remote legal practitioners. What is the awareness of the new business structures? And are there factors inhibiting RRR legal practitioners from their use? This paper draws on over 30 interviews with sole practitioners, partners and legal practitioner directors about their choice of business structure.
‘Placing’ the other: final year law students’ ‘imagined’ experience of rural and regional practice within the law school context
This paper discusses the partial findings from a research study involving a narrative analysis of in-depth interviews with twelve final year law students. The research explored student attitudes to, and perceptions of, legal practice in rural, regional and remote (RRR) communities – that is, their ’imagined experience’. The research findings suggests that, at least in the context of the non-regional law school, the rural/regional is both absent and ‘other’, revealing the ‘urban-centric’ nature of legal education and its failure to adequately expose students to rural and regional practice contexts that can help to positively shape their ‘imagined’ experience. This paper argues that all law schools must take up the challenge of rural inclusiveness by integrating a sense of ‘place-consciousness’ into the law curriculum.
Centre-periphery tensions in legal theory and practice: can law and lawyers resist urban imperialism?
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"Fit in or F#$@ off": the (non) disclosure of sexual harassment in rural workplaces
In this paper we consider the complexities associated with the internal workplace disclosure of sexual harassment for rural employees. We acknowledge the existence of certain accompanying ‘special issues’ for rural women and predict that these elements (such as the traditionally conservative bush attitudes about violence against women, the added cultural dimensions of small-town gossip and self-reliance and the impact of isolation) would have some impact on the inclination of rural women to report workplace sexual harassment. To test that hypothesis, a sample of female employees and a sample of employers from different areas considered as ‘rural’ were interviewed. In defining ‘rural’ for this purpose we adopted a social constructionist approach. We report on participants’ experiences and attitudes about making an internal sexual harassment complaint. We discuss the barriers to disclosure that respondents perceive. We identify the types of rural workplaces (occupation, rurality, gender ratios) which tend to utilise sexual harassment policies and offer training, and we consider the impact of these on the likelihood of reporting. We also investigate whether other variables, such as the type of harassment experienced, employees’ attitude about what constitutes sexual harassment and reporting, age, seniority and/or education affect reporting. We conclude that disclosure practices could be improved by the implementation of visiting sexual harassment consultants/officers who would visit rural communities to educate, hear complaints, help with the development of policies, provide advice referral to counseling mediation and provide follow up.
Copyright (c) 2013 Skye Saunders, Patricia Lynn Easteal
Program and Abstracts - Second National Rural and Regional Law and Justice Conference
This file contains the program and abstracts of presentations made at the Second National Rural and Regional Law and Justice Conference held on 18-20 May 2012, Aanuka Beach Resort, Coffs Harbour. Many of the abstracts contain details of where further information can be found about the presentation topic.
REDD+ and the Clean Development Mechanism: A comparative perspective
The program, ‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation’ (REDD), which operates within the international climate change policy framework, is projected to emerge as one of the key climate change mitigation mechanisms for developing countries. The existing Afforestation/Reforestation (A/R) mechanism, operating under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, may prove useful for drawing lessons for the emerging REDD program, since both mechanisms represent flexible means for developed countries to achieve compliance with their mitigation targets under the Kyoto Protocol. The possible means include CDM as the basis for a project-based approach for the implementation of REDD (if adopted) or the inclusion of REDD within CDM. This article compares the features of A/R CDM and REDD, identifies similarities and differences, and analyses the extent to which the former can provide guidance for the development of a carbon governance mechanism for REDD.
Tropical wetlands and REDD+: Three unique scientific challenges for policy
The carbon sequestration and storage value of terrestrial habitats is now increasingly appreciated, and is the basis for Payment for Ecosystem Service (PES) policies such as REDD+. Tropical wetlands may be suitable for inclusion in such schemes because of the disproportionately large volume of carbon they are able to store. However, tropical wetlands offer a number of unique challenges for carbon management and policy compared to terrestrial forest systems: 1) Tropical wetlands are dynamic and subject to a wide range of physical and ecological processes that affect their long-term carbon storage potential – thus, such systems can quickly become a carbon source instead of a sink; 2) Carbon dynamics in tropical wetlands often operate over longer time-scales than are currently covered by REDD+ payments; and 3) Much of the carbon in a tropical wetland is stored in the soil, so monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) needs to adequately encapsulate the entire ecosystem and not just the vegetative component. This paper discusses these physical and biological concepts, and highlights key legal, management and policy questions that must be considered when constructing a policy framework to conserve these crucial ecosystems.
A survey of ASEAN instruments relating to peatlands, mangroves and other wetlands: The REDD+ context
Since the 13th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in November 2007, held in Singapore, ASEAN has accelerated its response to climate change issues, including REDD+ as a mechanism for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and to enhance conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. There are many wetlands in ASEAN including more than 25 million ha of peatlands spread over Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Philippines, Vietnam and Lao PDR. The peatlands account for 60 per cent of global tropical peatland resources. They are of significance for sequestration of carbon. However, degraded wetlands, including peatlands, are also a major source of greenhouse gases contributing to global warming. Of the types of wetlands, ASEAN has focused attention predominantly on peatlands in relation to REDD+, mainly because of the ‘Indonesian Haze’. The Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL) organised a Workshop titled, REDD+ and Legal Regimes of Mangroves, Peatland and Other Wetlands: ASEAN and the World, in Singapore from 15-16 November 2012. The articles contained in this special themed edition of the International Journal of Rural Law and Policy (IJRLP) contains a selection of the papers presented. This editorial will provide a brief background to some aspects of REDD+. Included in this issue of IJRLP is a summary of the proceedings of the workshop as interpreted by the assigned rapporteur and editors of APCEL. These summaries were reviewed and approved by the presenters.
The economics of ecosystems and biodiversity, REDD+ and climate change in mangrove ecosystems of Southeast Asia
Mangroves are trees and shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats. They occupy large stretches of the sub-tropical and tropical coastlines around the world. They not only provide valuable goods such as timber, fish and medicinal plants but also vital ecological services, such as prevention of coastal erosion. They also help buffer coastal communities from storms and floods. During the ASEAN Conference on Biodiversity held in Singapore in 2009, Ellison reported that mangrove forests in South East Asia are among the highest biodiversity resources in the world, occupying an area of 60.9 x 102 km2. Unfortunately, the region also has the highest rates of mangrove loss in the world, losing 628 km2 per year in two decades. In many parts of the world, where mangrove forests have been cleared, there are now problems of erosion and siltation, and loss of life and property have occurred due to destructive hurricanes, storms and tsunamis. The complex relationship between climate change and mangrove ecosystems can be seen from two different angles. On the one hand, mangrove ecosystems have a critical function in combating climate change; on the other hand, they are affected by climate change. The values of ecosystems vary according to local biophysical and ecological circumstances and the social, economic and cultural context. Intangible values, which may be reflected in society’s willingness to pay to conserve particular species or landscapes, or to protect common resources, must be considered alongside more tangible values such as food or timber to provide a complete economic picture. This has important implications for mangrove conservation strategies and suggests that the preservation of contiguous areas is preferable to patches that are spatially dispersed.
Copyright (c) 2013 Filiberto Pollisco, Dicky Simorangkir
The implementation limitations of and alternative policy solutions for Indonesia's REDD+ program concerning peatland restoration
<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:宋体; mso-font-charset:80; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 680460288 22 0 262145 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:6.0pt; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:0cm; margin-left:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule:exactly; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p.Abstract, li.Abstract, div.Abstract {mso-style-name:Abstract; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-link:"Abstract Char"; margin-top:6.0pt; margin-right:2.0cm; margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:42.55pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:inter-ideograph; line-height:12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule:exactly; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:9.0pt; font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; color:#404040; mso-themecolor:text1; mso-themetint:191; font-style:italic;} span.AbstractChar {mso-style-name:"Abstract Char"; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-locked:yes; mso-style-link:Abstract; mso-ansi-font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:9.0pt; font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; mso-ascii-font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; color:#404040; mso-themecolor:text1; mso-themetint:191; mso-ansi-language:EN-AU; font-style:italic;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:宋体; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt;} @page WordSection1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> Recent increases in global demand for palm oil have resulted in rapid, widespread deforestation in Indonesia, making Indonesia the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. Although the Indonesian government has sought to pursue progressive environmental policies to curb deforestation, such as through REDD+, implementation has been hampered by legal loopholes, corruption and weak rule of law. This paper will examine two alternative carbon sequestration policies to REDD+: a drying up of the palm oil market and a buy-out of palm oil plantations.
Copyright (c) 2013 Sarah Guzick, Nicholas Robinson
The risks of using REDD+ to manage rich socio-ecological systems
<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:宋体; mso-font-charset:80; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 680460288 22 0 262145 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:6.0pt; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:0cm; margin-left:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule:exactly; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-SG;} p.Abstract, li.Abstract, div.Abstract {mso-style-name:Abstract; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-link:"Abstract Char"; margin-top:6.0pt; margin-right:2.0cm; margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:42.55pt; text-align:justify; text-justify:inter-ideograph; line-height:12.0pt; mso-line-height-rule:exactly; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:9.0pt; font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; color:#404040; mso-ansi-language:EN-SG; font-style:italic;} span.AbstractChar {mso-style-name:"Abstract Char"; mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-locked:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-style-link:Abstract; mso-ansi-font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:9.0pt; font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; mso-ascii-font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family:"Trebuchet MS"; color:#404040; mso-ansi-language:EN-SG; font-style:italic;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family:宋体; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;} @page WordSection1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> REDD+ is an important development in environmental and social justice policy instruments. However, its success depends on a network of complex contingencies, and the achievement of difficult governance transformations in countries that are under severe economic pressure. It ought be obvious that there are significant risks associated with this endeavour, but overt risk management, using standard approaches, is not evident. This paper highlights some of the many risks that the governance of REDD+ (in common with most environmental policy innovations) needs to pay attention to in order to avoid policy failure. There are eight distinct elements that have to work for the REDD+ program to achieve its public policy goals, and each of these carries its own risk. These are: securitisation of carbon sequestration; protection for complex non-carbon values, ensuring the integrity of the supply of credit; multi-level administration and aggregation of tradeable carbon interests; managing the social and economic imbalance of interests; deploying new methods for measurement and securitisation of interests; ensuring a platform of rules, administrative and enforcement systems, teams and intelligence networks; and achieving price and ‘brand’ competitiveness in a crowded carbon offsets marketplace. Although the issues listed in this paper are not comprehensive, they highlight major concerns and support the argument that a comprehensive and systematic approach to policy risk is likely to add value to the REDD+ implementation. The paper suggests that good management practice would separate risk management from policy or instrument development, and embed this aspect of good governance with a sufficient level of authority to ensure that the negative potentials are managed with a degree of vigour consistent with the importance of the issues.
To exploit or not to exploit: The structure and development of arguments over the use of wetlands
This paper considers the discourse surrounding the exploitation of wetlands (also called marshlands, bogs, mires and peatlands) in Finland. The focus of the paper is on the development of the arguments used in the discourse – thus the paper also gives an insight into how the legal regimes concerning wetlands have developed. The arguments are analysed using the dualistic and deconstructive model developed in Critical Legal Studies by Martti Koskenniemi. The hypothesis is that, to some extent, the model developed for international law can be adapted to fit national laws, but that significant problems may still arise. Throughout the history of discourse on wetlands, legal arguments have essentially dealt with the conflict between the conservation of wetlands or their exploitation for peat, which is a source of energy. Three arguments are discussed in this paper: 1) The ‘sovereignty argument’; 2) The ‘no harm argument’; and 3) The ‘climate change argument’. The sovereignty argument has been dominant from the beginning of the industrialised production of peat, but the no harm argument has been steadily gaining weight. Interestingly, the climate change argument lacks traction in the discourse even though the importance of wetlands in adaptation to climate change is common knowledge. This paper argues that regional and national authorities use legislation and the no harm argument in innovative ways. These innovations may be useful for the aims underlying the climate change argument.
Extending REDD+ to mangroves and wetlands for small island states and a case study for the conservation of mangroves and inter-tidal mudflats in Singapore
This paper briefly discusses the prospects of using coastal wetlands as REDD+ projects for small island states. The paper contends that the city-state of Singapore would do well to enhance existing laws to more specifically address the challenges and threats faced in conserving mangroves and inter-tidal mudflats, and support their conservation and rehabilitation, not just to facilitate the implementation of REDD+ projects but also to meet other goals like biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation. The proposal is to expand Sungei Buloh to encompass the mudflats at Kranji which is home to the mangrove horseshoe crab (Carcinoscrorpius rotundicauda); aligned with inter-tidal and coastal management strategies advanced under the auspices of the Ramsar Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the IUCN. However, there are considerable challenges in maintaining an intact eco-system in the face of rapid development, not only in Singapore itself but also in the neighbouring state of Johor, Malaysia. The paper examines the specific legal strategies that will be required to meet the various objectives of conservation in the context of Singapore's laws and the challenges posed by the development plans of both Singapore and Malaysia.
Copyright (c) 2013 Lin Heng LYE, Vinayagan Dharmarajah