Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Natural resources – Environmental aspects – Law and legislation'

The purpose of this thesis is to propose a model of integrated resources management which uses techniques of negotiation and agreements to involve all interested parties in the decision making process. The thesis is developed in two parts. Part I defines the model and principles which are applied in Part II to a case study of forestry planning in community watersheds. For some years now there have been calls for natural resources management on an ecological basis. To achieve this, the law must define legal rights and procedures which ensure that all affected human interests are taken into account in management decision-making. The decision-making is characterized as a bargaining process aimed at balancing the competing interests of all affected parties. Bargaining connotes a use of negotiation and agreement. However, the established legal uses of these techniques are restricted to situations involving few parties. Complex integrated resources management has been conducted primarily through expert discretionary administration. But bureaucratic administration of complex issues is now understood as an inherently political process fraught with scientific and values uncertainties and lacking legitimacy because it is not effectively accountable to the parties whose interests are affected. The recent experience with environmental alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") suggests techniques for all affected parties to be taken into account by representative negotiation and agreement. A review of examples of environmental ADR provides some principles about the use of negotiation and agreements to supplement the regulatory processes of integrated resources management. Those principles relate to the assertion of legal rights, the need to remedy dissatisfaction with judicial procedures and the adversary system as means to challenge regulatory decisions, the negotiation process itself, and the regulatory approval and implementation of negotiated agreements. The case study commences with an analysis of the legal context. It reveals an uncertain regime of legal rights and authority. The Ministries involved have great discretionary authority; the forest licensee's legal relations are principally of a contractual nature with the Crown; and the water licensees' rights are ill-defined. This uncertain legal regime does not facilitate bargaining between the affected resource licensees. The integrated resources management framework established under administrative authority does have the potential to facilitate bargaining. Whilst the new framework is innovative and establishes new institutions, rights and duties, it is difficult to determine authoritatively the elements of that framework because they are found only in a set of policy documents and are still subject to the uncertainty of administrative discretion. Negotiation and agreements may occur in a number of different contexts in the integrated resources management framework, especially in the context of the Technical Review Committee which is the main arena for negotiation between the interested parties. There is a commentary on the negotiation process, much of the material for which was gathered in interviews with representatives of the parties involved. Various reforms of the framework should be considered to facilitate bargaining and confine administrative discretion. Principal among these are the right of all parties to appeal to an administrative tribunal when the regulatory decision is made without the consensus of the negotiating committee, and clarification of the method of adjudicating compliance with regulatory conditions. In summary, the whole framework established by the policy documents should be revised and given a legislated base. In doing this, certain legal questions need to be considered. Ultimately, the utility of the model proposed depends upon the capacity of the law to define the various natural resource interests of all people in the community.
Law, Peter A. Allard School of
Graduate

The movement to protect wilderness resources can conflict with local intentions for land use and development, particularly in economically marginal areas. In rural Italy, on the island of Sardinia, the plan to create a Gennargentu National Park has incited active opposition on the part of the communities affected. In the town of Baunei, responses to environmental legislation are motivated by the desire to maintain communal control over common lands. Political action, both formal and informal, is organised by local understandings about the impact of certain laws and institutions on the town economy, principally by the restriction of residents' usi civici (traditional rights of usufruct). This thesis considers the role and meaning of the usi civici in Baunei, and the implications of this for environmental politics in Sardinia.

The theory of intergenerational equity is closely linked to the notion of sustainable development. It is indeed considered to be one of its aspect. Intergenerational equity can be divided in two facets: the intergenerational component links the present generation to future generations, while the intragenerational aspect imposes, within the same generation, a duty for industrialized countries to help developing countries. The legal status of intergenerational equity appears to be limited because of its qualification as a concept. Therefore, this concept of intergenerational equity belongs to the realm of soft law. Nevertheless, legal implications can be drawn out from this theory. Different means of implementation can be envisioned, some belonging to the domain of soft law, other employing more classical tools, such as institutional mechanisms.

The evolution of environmental law in Mexico has developed efficient mechanisms for environmental protection. Mexico’s legal system stems from the civil law tradition and therefore is a system of positivelaw. Thus, the Mexican legal system is based in written laws, regulations and other legalprovisions, created by the legislature (Federal Congress) and applicable in the Mexicanterritory, without losing sight of Mexican Official Standards (NOM’s) and Mexican Standards (NMX).The present article will make and overview on the transformation of environmental law since 1987’s constitutional reforms, to the present day.
El tiempo y la experiencia en la aplicación de la Legislación Ambiental Mexicana ha sido detonante para el desarrollo de mecanismos cada vez más eficientes para la protección al medio ambiente.El Sistema Legal Mexicano es un sistema de derecho positivo. Así, el Derecho mexicano se encuentra basado en leyes escritas, reglamentos y otras disposiciones legales, creadas por el Congreso de la Unión y el Ejecutivo Federal; todas, aplicables en el territorio mexicano; sin perder de vista el rol de las Normas Oficiales Mexicanas (NOM’s) y las Normas Mexicanas (NMX).El presente artículo hará un recorrido en la transformación de la legislación ambiental desde las reformas constitucionales de 1987, hasta el día de hoy.

The principal research question addressed in this thesis is how the effectiveness of an environmental legal system can best be evaluated. A legal system is effective if it is achieving or likely to achieve its objectives. For an environmental legal system this means achieving sustainable development. The hypothesis tested in relation to this research question is that the pressure-state-response ("PSR") method of State of the Environment ("SoE") Reporting provides the best available framework for evaluating the effectiveness of an environmental legal system. A subsidiary research question addressed in this thesis is whether the environmental legal system protecting the Great Barrier Reef ("GBR") in north-eastern Australia is likely to achieve sustainable development of it. The hypothesis tested in relation to this research question is that the environmental legal system protecting the GBR is likely to achieve sustainable development of the GBR. The principal method used to address these research questions and test the hypotheses is a case study of the effectiveness of the laws protecting the GBR. Particular emphasis is given in the case study to climate change both because it is now recognised as the major threat to the GBR and is a topic of significant international and national interest. This thesis is intended to contribute, in particular, to the current public and policy debate on responding effectively to climate change by using the GBR as a yardstick against which to measure "dangerous climate change" and, conversely, acceptable climate change. There are five major findings of the research. First, most of the legal writing regarding environmental legal systems is descriptive, explanatory and interpretative rather than evaluative. Second, most legal writers who attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of part or the whole of an environmental legal system implicitly use the PSR method and refer to pressures, conditions, and responses but do not acknowledge this conceptual framework. Third, the best available conceptual and analytical framework for evaluating the effectiveness of an environmental legal system is the PSR method. It is the simplest, most systematic, comprehensive and meaningful framework with the greatest predictive power for evaluating the effectiveness of the total social and legal response to human-induced environmental degradation currently available. Fourth, current practice in SoE reporting, at least in relation to the GBR, is largely descriptive and rarely evaluates the effectiveness of the response. The fifth major finding of this research is that, while there are many effective parts of the response to pressures on the GBR, the current environmental legal system is not likely to be effective in preventing climate change from causing very serious damage to the GBR. Based on what we know at this point in time, particularly the technology that is currently available and current greenhouse gas emissions, the impacts of climate change appear likely to swamp the many good aspects of the legal system protecting the GBR. Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide in 2005 were approximately 379 parts per million ("ppm") and rising by 2 ppm per year. Including the effect of other greenhouse gases such as methane, the total concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases was around 455 ppm carbon dioxide equivalents ("CO2-eq") in 2005, although the cooling effect of aerosols and landuse changes reduced the net effect to around 375 ppm CO2-eq. Limiting the total increase in mean global temperature to approximately 1°C requires stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gases and aerosols around 350 ppm CO2-eq. Increasing the net effect of greenhouse gases and aerosols to 450-550 ppm CO2-eq is expected to result in a 2-3°C rise in mean surface temperatures. There are currently no international or national legal constraints to hold greenhouse gas concentrations beneath these levels and they appear likely to be exceeded. These increases in mean global temperatures are expected to severely degrade the GBR by 2030-2040. Even the targets being set by the new Australian Government of reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2050 appear insufficient to protect the GBR. If a 60% reduction in emissions can be achieved globally by 2050 a rise in mean global temperature of around 2.4°C is expected. This indicates the environmental legal system protecting the GBR is not likely to be effective in relation to climate change and, therefore, is failing to reach its objective of sustainable development. Three major recommendations arise from the research. First, legal writers attempting to evaluate the effectiveness of the whole or part of an environmental legal system should use and acknowledge the PSR method. Second, SoE reports should include a stand-alone chapter evaluating the effectiveness of the response. Third, the environmental legal system protecting the GBR should take strong and comprehensive measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if the objective of sustainable development is to be achieved. Such measures should include setting policy targets for stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas and aerosol concentrations around 350 ppm CO2-eq to limit increases in mean global temperature to 1°C. Policy targets of stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gases and aerosols at 450-550 ppm CO2-eq to limit increases in mean global temperatures to 2-3°C are likely to be too high to avoid severe impacts of coral bleaching to the GBR.

The principal research question addressed in this thesis is how the effectiveness of an environmental legal system can best be evaluated. A legal system is effective if it is achieving or likely to achieve its objectives. For an environmental legal system this means achieving sustainable development. The hypothesis tested in relation to this research question is that the pressure-state-response ("PSR") method of State of the Environment ("SoE") Reporting provides the best available framework for evaluating the effectiveness of an environmental legal system. A subsidiary research question addressed in this thesis is whether the environmental legal system protecting the Great Barrier Reef ("GBR") in north-eastern Australia is likely to achieve sustainable development of it. The hypothesis tested in relation to this research question is that the environmental legal system protecting the GBR is likely to achieve sustainable development of the GBR. The principal method used to address these research questions and test the hypotheses is a case study of the effectiveness of the laws protecting the GBR. Particular emphasis is given in the case study to climate change both because it is now recognised as the major threat to the GBR and is a topic of significant international and national interest. This thesis is intended to contribute, in particular, to the current public and policy debate on responding effectively to climate change by using the GBR as a yardstick against which to measure "dangerous climate change" and, conversely, acceptable climate change. There are five major findings of the research. First, most of the legal writing regarding environmental legal systems is descriptive, explanatory and interpretative rather than evaluative. Second, most legal writers who attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of part or the whole of an environmental legal system implicitly use the PSR method and refer to pressures, conditions, and responses but do not acknowledge this conceptual framework. Third, the best available conceptual and analytical framework for evaluating the effectiveness of an environmental legal system is the PSR method. It is the simplest, most systematic, comprehensive and meaningful framework with the greatest predictive power for evaluating the effectiveness of the total social and legal response to human-induced environmental degradation currently available. Fourth, current practice in SoE reporting, at least in relation to the GBR, is largely descriptive and rarely evaluates the effectiveness of the response. The fifth major finding of this research is that, while there are many effective parts of the response to pressures on the GBR, the current environmental legal system is not likely to be effective in preventing climate change from causing very serious damage to the GBR. Based on what we know at this point in time, particularly the technology that is currently available and current greenhouse gas emissions, the impacts of climate change appear likely to swamp the many good aspects of the legal system protecting the GBR. Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide in 2005 were approximately 379 parts per million ("ppm") and rising by 2 ppm per year. Including the effect of other greenhouse gases such as methane, the total concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases was around 455 ppm carbon dioxide equivalents ("CO2-eq") in 2005, although the cooling effect of aerosols and landuse changes reduced the net effect to around 375 ppm CO2-eq. Limiting the total increase in mean global temperature to approximately 1°C requires stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gases and aerosols around 350 ppm CO2-eq. Increasing the net effect of greenhouse gases and aerosols to 450-550 ppm CO2-eq is expected to result in a 2-3°C rise in mean surface temperatures. There are currently no international or national legal constraints to hold greenhouse gas concentrations beneath these levels and they appear likely to be exceeded. These increases in mean global temperatures are expected to severely degrade the GBR by 2030-2040. Even the targets being set by the new Australian Government of reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2050 appear insufficient to protect the GBR. If a 60% reduction in emissions can be achieved globally by 2050 a rise in mean global temperature of around 2.4°C is expected. This indicates the environmental legal system protecting the GBR is not likely to be effective in relation to climate change and, therefore, is failing to reach its objective of sustainable development. Three major recommendations arise from the research. First, legal writers attempting to evaluate the effectiveness of the whole or part of an environmental legal system should use and acknowledge the PSR method. Second, SoE reports should include a stand-alone chapter evaluating the effectiveness of the response. Third, the environmental legal system protecting the GBR should take strong and comprehensive measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if the objective of sustainable development is to be achieved. Such measures should include setting policy targets for stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas and aerosol concentrations around 350 ppm CO2-eq to limit increases in mean global temperature to 1°C. Policy targets of stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gases and aerosols at 450-550 ppm CO2-eq to limit increases in mean global temperatures to 2-3°C are likely to be too high to avoid severe impacts of coral bleaching to the GBR.

This study makes the assumption that community participation in the governance of mineral resources is a requirement of sustainable development and that through a fundamental rights-based approach, it can be made effective. The concern is that an affected community should not only be involved in the decision-making process, but its view must also influence the outcome in respect of whether or not a mineral project should take place and how it should address development issues at local level. It is assumed that this legal approach will improve mineral governance by bringing more transparency and accountability. In many African resource-rich countries, community participation has until now been practiced with more of a soft approach, with the consequence that it has been unable to eradicate the opacity existing in the management of revenues generated by mineral exploitation and also deal efficiently with the recurrence of fundamental rights violations in the mineral sector. Obviously, the success of the fundamental rights based-approach is not absolutely guaranteed because there are preconditions that must be fulfilled. The synergy between community participation and some relevant concepts like democracy, decentarlisation, accountability, (good) governance and sustainable development must be well balanced for the participation process to bring positive outcomes. Also, because the fundamental rights based-approach is conceived here within the framework of the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights, its normative and institutional components, despite the potential to make participation effective and successful, require that some critical challenges be addressed in practice. The study ends with the conclusion that the fundamental rights based-approach is appropriate to make community participation effective in the mineral-led development process taking place at local level, provided that its implementation is kept reasonable.
Constitutional, International & Indigenous Law
D.Law

Societies in Transkei, particularly those along the coast, are confronted to varying degrees by the problem and prospects of having to be removed from the areas which they have occupied for decades, sometimes from time immemorial, to make space for government schemes intended for the conservation of the environment and its resources, as determined by various conservation legislation (Chapters 3 and 4). These people have to be settled in new areas which lack the natural resources which they enjoyed in their old areas and on which they depended for their survival and their traditional style of life. What exacerbates the situation is that these removals are not accompanied by development programmes to compensate the people for their loss. Furthermore, the establishment of these conservation areas does not offer any incentives for them to appreciated and see the benefit of conservation (Chapters 5 and 6). Furthermore, although some of the conservation legislation anticipates that there should be consultations with, and participation by, the local people before the conservation programmes are implemented in order for them to present their opinions, it does not seem that the government officials charged with the control and administration of the legislation comply with this requirement. The result is that these conservation programmes are met with resistance from the local people, resulting in the government failing to attain the objectives of the legislation. This study will briefly deal with the history and development of conservation legislation in Transkei from the Colonial era (Chapter 2), and examine the provisions of the applicable conservation legislation during the self-government of Transkei including its independence up to its reincorporation into South Africa during April 1994.
Thesis (LL.M.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1995.

This paper outlines the current state of environmental legislation and administration in Botswana, identifying the various problems with that system. Those problems include fragmented and overlapping administration and out-dated legislation that is not in keeping with modem, holistic approaches to environmental management, ineffective and unreliable enforcement, compounded by rampant non-compliance. The paper then considers some the developments that are being made to improve this situation, including: the conversion of the environmental agency into a department and the introduction of an over-reaching environmental Act, preparation of a wetlands conservation strategy, the introduction of environmental impact assessment legislation. The paper concludes by querying the effectiveness of those developments when unsustainable attitudes continue to predominate in the country
Law
LL.M.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, illegal logging and, more broadly, Illegal Forest Activities (IFA) have occupied a growing and prominent place in international discussions about forest policy, management and governance. Despite widespread concerns, there is still significant uncertainty however, about the quantitative and qualitative nature of the problem. In many countries it is unclear what the political, economic, social and ecological dynamics that underpins IFAs are. To better understand those dynamics, one needs to weave together several theoretical and practical aspects that only when considered as a whole could help to clarifying the complex nature of IFAs, and to set the stage for devising policy options to effectively address the problem. Therefore, this research addresses two main questions: what is the nature of IFAs and what are their impacts? Through a series of published papers focussing on the case study of the Republic of Cameroon, in the context of the European Union's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, this thesis seeks to answer those questions by weaving together bodies of literature-namely on governance theory and sustainable forest management, forest certification and the redistribution of forest revenues-that have often neglected each other. The analysis suggests that a set of dichotomies, juxtaposing concepts such as 'legality-sustainability' versus 'illegality-unsustainability', or 'legality-better livelihoods' versus 'illegality-poverty', normally considered as clear-cut in the public discourse on IFAs, need to be dissected. This is necessary both to be able to assess the distinctive characteristics of their constitutive elements, and to allow the planning of more informed policies on IFAs. Results show, for instance, that forestry operations can in some cases be both legal and unsustainable. In other cases, the occurrence of illegal acts does not necessarily imply a need to prevent and repress them. In some instances, a revision of the legislation may be warranted. By considering the relation between legality, sustainability and environmental governance, the analysis indicates that non-state market-driven governance systems, such as forest certification, have the potential to improve the way logging companies manage the resource. Nonetheless, in countries where weak governance is the norm, there exists for logging companies a natural tendency, unchecked by those countries' concerned ministries, to try and adopt a degraded version of the original, more restrictive standards required by international forest certification schemes. The analysis also suggests that particular attention must be paid to the dynamics that weak governance, and notably corruption, engenders in the spaces where IFAs occur. Policy options developed without considering those dynamics-especially when corruption becomes systemic and it is allowed to spread over the long-term-are likely to fail. The legitimacy of the institutions proposing policy reforms, vis-a-vis forestry operators as well as the general population, becomes a fundamental issue in this regard, key to the ultimate success of any proposed reform. Lastly, the analysis discusses some implications for a future research agenda on the complex nature of IFAs and their impacts. -- provided by Candidate.

This study examines the need for nature conservation legislation and the enforcement thereof in the Gauteng province. The study commences with an in depth examination of the historical background to nature conservation and nature conservation legislation in order to explain why the present condition exists. Some of the guidelines of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) are considered in this regard as well as fines and penalties that are inadequate as deterrents for contraventions of nature conservation legislation. The necessity of the appointment of provincial departments of environmental affairs and the importance of environmental education as a means to an end are touched on. There is attention given to the economic importance of tourism for the realisation of economic prosperity to the regiol') and how that depends of adequate nature conservation legislation enforcement. The roles that different departments of the state and the private sector and organised pressure groups can play are also identified. An investigation has been conducted into the inner workings of the Gauteng Nature Conservation Directorate with a statistical analysis, sampling and arguments. Local and international case studies have been used as examples for analysis as well as statistics of previous trends. The study ends with conclusions which have been reached followed by recommendations which may be implemented.
Public Administration
Thesis (M. Pub. Admin.)--University of South Africa, 2001.
M. Pub. Admin.

The research focused on the assessment of the effectiveness of the methods used in the implementation of environmental legislation in the Mutasa district of Zimbabwe. Successful implementation of environmental legislation and any other legislation is determined by various factors. Some of the factors include environmental education, environmental awareness programmes, consistency in implementing environmental legislation, coordination of all stakeholders, willingness of communities to co-operate and the political will by political office bearers. This research revealed that the methods used to implement environmental legislation in the Mutasa district of Zimbabwe are ineffective. Poverty is the main reason for activities leading to environmental degradation. Communities in the Mutasa district of Zimbabwe are ignorant of environmental legislation which govern their activities. Environmental education and environmental awareness programmes are rarely carried out. The political office bearers in the Mutasa district lack the political will to ensure that environmental legislation are enforced.
Public Administration
MPA (Public Administration)

The study was aimed at assessing perceptions of local communities on the use of coastal natural resources in Coffee Bay and the “Hole in-the Wall” area. The environmental impact caused by non–compliance with environmental legislation was also assessed. Data was obtained through interviews conducted with members of 50 households chosen randomly and questionnaires that were distributed to government departments in charge of the resources. The study found that due to high illiteracy and unemployment in the area, people were compelled to use the available coastal natural resources to satisfy their basic needs. About 70% of them were aware of the legislation but felt they could not comply with it since they had not been consulted. The study’s recommendations are that the community should be consulted on legislation, more environmental awareness campaigns should be conducted and government plans should be aligned in terms of service delivery
Environmental Sciences
M.Sc. (Environmental Management)

The thesis analyzes the demographic, attitudinal and behavioral characteristics of animal rights activists, placing them in the context of resource policy. It is argued that the animal rights movement combined the Victorian critique of empiricism with a reaction to modernity that was characteristic of other contemporary mass movements. Animal rights activism emerged from a sociopolitical milieu that legitimized and encouraged political activism in the form of interest groups, and was consistent with American interest group politics. Nonetheless, the movement could not have appeared in its current form prior to the 1960's. Changes in American politics during the last four decades have facilitated the emergence of mass movements, including civil rights and environmentalism. Survey research indicated that activists were caucasian, highly-educated urban professional women approximately thirty years old with a median income of $33,000 (1989). Most were Democrats or Independents and had moderate to liberal political views. They were often suspicious of science. It was concluded that animal rights activism is, in part, a symbolic manifestation of egalitarian social and political beliefs reacting to scientific and technological change. The California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990 provided a case study of the movement's implications for natural resource policy. Activists were able to ban the hunting of mountain lions and reallocate $900 million dollars in the California budget toward habitat acquisition. They demonstrated sophistication and finesse in building a coalition with environmentalists. Nevertheless, both movements were divided by fundamental philosophical differences which makes political cooperation difficult. Animal rights activism was also marked by extraordinary levels of intensity which arose from quasi-religious fervor, and it is suggested that activism fulfills Yinger's functional definition of religion in the lives of at least some of the movement's core constituency. This explains the movement's ability to retain activism in the face of incremental change. The thesis concludes with a discussion concerning the future implications of animal rights activism in society (312 words).
Graduation date: 1994

Proponents and advocates of transfrontier conservation in southern Africa have postulated rural communities living adjacent to conservation areas as one of the main determinants of the success of such initiatives and thus they should be potential beneficiaries along with the state and the private sector. This assertion is reflected in the various memoranda of understanding (MOU), treaties, policies and agreements establishing transfrontier conservation initiatives. For community participation to be effective, the laws, policies and institutions establishing transfrontier conservation in southern Africa must lead to the empowerment of these rural communities who commonly subsist on local natural resources and perceive them as opportunities to earn a living. I derive a principle and set of criteria and indicators that are used to analyse the legal, policy and institutional framework and its implications for community participation and empowerment in transfrontier conservation in southern Africa. The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park provides a case study. I argue that while provisions for community participation are made in the laws, policies and institutions under which transfrontier conservation is being initiated and implemented in the region, they are not sufficiently prescriptive about empowering communities to secure commitment from conservation agencies to enable communities to effectively participate in transfrontier conservation. It is suggested that as presently defined, the laws, policies and institutions may lead to community disempowerment from transfrontier conservation, as they allow too much scope for interpretations that weaken options for censure where agencies are not demonstrating commitment to community participation and empowerment in conservation.
Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.