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- Christiernsson, Anna
(författare)
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Conservation and management of fish and wildlife populations in Swedish law : a need for an ecoystem-based approach
- 2007
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The diversity of species has decreased massively during the last century. Despite the array of legal instruments aiming at conserving natural resources applied since the middle of the 20th century the eradication of species has not been hindered. There may be several explanations for why the instruments have not been successful in hindering the decreasing diversity. One proposition for the failures is the lack of a holistic approach in regarding ecosystem characteristics such as inter-species and habitats relations. Another proposition is that the legal system should have an adaptive capacity to deal with complexity and uncertainty. The purpose of this paper is to assess the adequacy of the legal instruments for the protection of wildlife and fish species within the Swedish jurisdiction with reference to these two propositions. The results of the paper show that the legal instruments for the protection of species mainly are concerned with the rational use or protection of a certain species rather than on the sustainability of ecosystems. There is also a lack of adaptive elements in the legislation, such as the lack of legal requirements on monitoring of the conservation status of species. The conclusion of the paper is thus that a legislative approach which is more holistic and more adaptive is necessary; otherwise there is a risk that the preservation of biodiversity will be further frustrated.
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| 2. |
- Christiernsson, Anna
(författare)
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Legal limits and adaptive management of wildlife populations in Swedish law
- 2006
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Ingår i: IASCP 2006 Conference Papers.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- During the last century the variety of species has decreased dramatically and numerous species are today classified as endangered or threatened. The main determining factor is human related activities such as forestry, farming, intensive hunting and fishing. Since the middle of the last century, a number of legal instruments concerning the use and conservation of natural resources have been applied, such as protection of individual species and their nests and restrictions on hunting and fishing, without hindering the eradication of species. One proposition for the failures of traditional legal instruments is the lack of a holistic approach in regarding ecosystem characteristics such as inter-species and habitats relations and biodiversity. The paper founds that the legal instruments mainly are concerned with the rational use or protection of a certain species rather than dealing with inter-relations and the sustainability of ecosystems. E.g. the motive for legal protection is based on a definition of a sustainable population which is determined with respect to the conservation status of the targeted species rather than with aim of achieving sufficient diversity of species in the ecosystems and legal limits related to the use of wildlife populations fail to integrate ecological concepts such as biodiversity for determining such limits. Another proposition is that since ecosystems are dynamic and complex it is important that the legal system has the capacity to respond to ecological changes. The analysis will show that the legal system concerning the protection of species generally lacks adaptive elements. A legislative approach which is more holistic and adaptive is thus necessary; otherwise there is a risk that the preservation of biodiversity will be further frustrated.
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| 3. |
- Christiernsson, Anna
(författare)
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Skyddet av biologisk mångfald vid jakt : en studie om rättens förhållande till komplexa och dynamiska ekosystem tillämpat på uttag av viltarter
- 2008
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Biological diversity, or the variety of genes, species and ecosystem, is fundamental to all life on Earth. The conservation of biodiversity is consequently recognized both in national and international law as one of the prerequisites for achieving a sustainable development. However, the decrease in biodiversity is continuing, at all levels. There may be several reasons for why the law has not been successful in preserving biodiversity. One hypothesis for the failures is the lack of consistency between ecological and legal criteria, in particular regarding the incorporation of legal criteria relating to the complex and dynamic characteristics of ecosystems. Biodiversity is ruled by the laws of nature and only humans can be ruled by legislation. The laws regulating human behaviour that in one or another way affects biodiversity, must therefore be developed with consideration to the rules of nature, if the goal is to be achieved. One activity with potential and factual effect on diversity is hunting. The purpose of this study is to analyze whether the legislation on hunting and management of wildlife populations is developed with respect to ecological criteria necessary for achieving the goal of conserving biodiversity. Both national and EC legislation on hunting and management of wildlife populations have been included in the analysis. The result of the analysis shows that there are considerable differences between legal and ecological criteria. The legislation is mainly concerned with the use and protection of single species. When limits for hunting are determined, criteria relating to the targeted species are generally used. However, even on the species-level there are inconsistencies between legal and ecological criteria. E.g. there is a lack of legally binding obligations to protect species during their breeding- and hibernation periods and to preserve genetic diversity within species. On the ecosystem-level the lack of criteria in consistency is even more profound. Legal obligations to preserve or to consider interspecies relations, ecosystem functions and other relationships between the species and the ecosystem are almost non-existing. A broader perspective is found in the Environmental Code with its general rules of consideration and the goal to preserve biodiversity. The Environmental Code therefore, in principle, has an important function in forcing decision making towards an increased ecosystem approach. However, as the Code lacks efficient instruments for control and enforcement related to hunting specifically, the Code has no essential impact on decision on hunting in practice. In addition, the analysis shows that there are considerable differences between national law and EC-law. Since EC-law is binding on its member states there are numerous situations where national hunting law must be changed. Since legal criteria in EC-law generally are more in consistence with ecological criteria a more efficient implementation of EC-law is motivated from a goal fulfillment perspective as well. There are several ways in which the law needs to be developed in order to achieve the goal to preserve biodiversity. The analysis in this licentiate thesis will serve as a starting point for a discussion on how to develop such instruments and legal systems.
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| 6. |
- Söderholm, Patrik, et al.
(författare)
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Policy effectiveness and acceptance in the taxation of environmentally damaging chemical compounds
- 2008
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 1462-9011 .- 1873-6416. ; 11:3, s. 240-252
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Taxes on chemical compounds still constitute a fairly small share of the total environmental tax base in Europe, but proposals for new chemical tax schemes have become common. The overall purposes of this paper are to analyze: (a) the economics and politics of taxing chemical compounds; and (b) the future potential for increased implementation of such taxation policies in Europe. While much of the discussion is general in scope, the empirical part focuses on the case of fertilizer taxation in Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. There exists an inevitable trade-off between costly monitoring on the one hand and the achievement of a cost-effective allocation of nitrate leaching abatement measures on the other. This is true for many types of chemicals and our analysis of the fertilizer case provides a number of general lessons for future implementation of environmental taxes in the chemicals field. The choice of tax scheme design matters not only for the cost effectiveness of the policy, but can also be an important mean of reducing any political opposition towards environmental taxes. The European experience in fertilizer taxation indicates that some kind of earmarking of tax revenues can be effective in increasing the legitimacy of the tax policy, and taxes which achieve a close proportionality to damage done will often be perceived as fair. The latter implies that taxation close to environmental damages and the reduction of the associated transaction costs should be policy priorities. Finally, an important feature of many legal provisions - including the EC Nitrate Directive - is the weight given to goal fulfilment, and although taxes are in no way prohibited they may be abandoned since their impacts on environmental quality (and ultimately on goal fulfilment) can be hard to predict.
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