Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T18:57:09.989Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Between the forests and the trees – an emerging international forest law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 October 2009

Jutta Brunnée  and
André Nollkaemper
Jutta Brunnée
Affiliation:
Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia, 1822 East Mall, Vancouver B.C., Canada V6T 1Z1, the Netherlands
André Nollkaemper*
Affiliation:
Centre for International Natural Resources Law, Faculty of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
*
* Dr André Nollkaemper Tel: +31 10 4082608/4081574 Fax: +31 10 4532913 e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

International forest law remains an undeveloped area of law. It consists of a multitude of treaties and non-treaty instruments dealing in a rather unprincipled and uncoordinated manner with such issues as biodiversity in forests; protection of forests as sinks of carbon dioxide; protection of endangered tree species; and trade in timber. However, in the face of mounting pressure on the world's tropical and other forests, in recent years there have been attempts to clarify and articulate the values and objectives underlying international forest policy that may induce a further development of the law.

A tension exists between the firmly-rooted claims of sovereignty over forests and the emerging, increasingly-accepted legal principles which could guide international forest law: the principles of common concern, inter-generational equity and precaution. This shift has begun to influence the development of international forest law in critical international initiatives, including the Biodiversity Convention, the Climate Change Convention and, particularly, through the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests. The various layers of dialogue which have emerged to address different aspects of the forest issue (including legal, trade, and ecological issues) promote a gradual convergence of expectations and interests and thus ultimately may further normative development. Despite the diversity of forests and forest concerns between regions and continents, there is an important role for a set of general legal principles, objectives and procedures defining the parameters and establishing the ground rules of global forest law.

Keywords

forestsbiodiversityclimate changeconservationinternational environmental lawinternational law
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , December 1996 , pp. 307 - 314
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bergen Ministerial Declaration (1990) Ministerial Declaration on Sustainable Development in the ECE Region, 16 May 1990. In: Yearbook of International Environmental Law, Vol. I, ed. Handl, G.. London: Graham and Trotman: 429 pp.Google Scholar
Birnie, P. & Boyle, A. (1992) International Law and the Environment. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press: 563 pp.Google Scholar
Bodansky, D. (1993) The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: a commentary. Yale Journal of International Law 18: 451–558.Google Scholar
Boyle, A. (1994) The Convention on Biological Diversity. In: The Environment After Rio – International Law and Economics, ed. Campiglio, L.et al., pp. 111–27. London: Graham & Trotman.Google Scholar
Brown Weiss, E. (1989) In Fairness to Future Generations: International Law, Common Patrimony and Intergenerational Equity. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Transnational Publishers: 385 pp.Google Scholar
Brunnée, J. (1996) A conceptual framework for an international forests convention. In: Global Forests and International Environmental Law, ed. Canadian Council on International Law, pp. 41–77. London: Graham & Trotman.Google Scholar
Earth Negotiations Bulletin (1996) Vol. 13, No. 25. International Institute for Sustainable Development, (http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/).Google Scholar
Food and Agricultural Organization (1995) State of the World's Forests. Rome: FAO: 48 pp.Google Scholar
Cameron, J. & Abouchar, J. (1996) The status of the Precautionary Principle in international law. In: The Precautionary Principle and International Law – The Challenge of Implementation, ed. Freestone, D. & Hey, E., pp. 29–52. London: Kluwer International.Google Scholar
Gibson, D. (1995) Sustainable development and the forestry law of the Tongass National Forest and Indonesian Forests. Willamette Law Review 31: 403.Google Scholar
Franck, T.M. (1995) Fairness in International Law and Institutions. Oxford: Clarendon Press: 500 pp.Google Scholar
Helsinki Process (1995) General guidelines for the sustainable management of forests in Europe. In: Interim report on the Follow-up of the Second Ministerial Conference, Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, Helsinki, Finland, pp. 206–9. Helsinki, Finland: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.Google Scholar
Hurrell, A. (1991) Brazil and the international politics of Amazonian deforestation. In: The International Politics of the Environment, ed. Hurrell, A. & Kingsbury, B., pp. 398–429. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
International Legal Materials (1992) Vol. 31, Washington: American Society of International Law.Google Scholar
International Legal Materials (1994) Vol. 33, Washington: American Society of International Law.Google Scholar
Johnson, S.P., ed. (1993) The Earth Summit: The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). London: Graham & Trotman.Google Scholar
Kirgis, F.L. Jr, (1990) Standing to challenge human endeavours that could change the climate. American Journal of International Law 84(2): 525–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiss, A. (1996) The rights and interests of future generations and the Precautionary Principle. In: The Precautionary Principle and International Law – The Challenge of Implementation, ed. Freestone, D. & Hey, E., pp. 19–28. London: Kluwer International.Google Scholar
Levy, M.A. (1993) European acid rain: the power of tote-board diplomacy. In: Institutions for The Earth. Sources of Effective International Environmental Protection, ed. Haas, P. M.et al., pp. 75–132. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.Google Scholar
MacNcill, J., Winsemius, P. & Yakushiji, T. (1992) Beyond Interdependence – The Meshing of the World's Economy and the Earth's Ecology. New York: Oxford University Press: 159 pp.Google Scholar
Maini, J.S. & Ullsten, O. (1993) Conservation and sustainable development of forests globally: issues and opportunities. In: World Forests for the Future: Their Use and Conservation, ed. Ramakrishna, K. & Woodwell, G.M., pp. 111–19. New Haven: Yale University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myers, N. (1989) The future of forests. In: The Fragile Environment, ed. Friday, L. & Laskcy, R.A., pp. 430–54 (Darwin College Lecture Series). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Myers, N. (1991) The anatomy of environmental action: the case of tropical deforestation. In: The International Politics of the Environment, ed. Hurrell, A. & Kingsbury, B., pp. 430–54. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Nollkacmper, A. (1996) Protecting forests through trade measures: the search for substantive benchmarks. Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 8: 389–513.Google Scholar
Parson, E.A. (1993) Assessing UNCED,. and the state of sustainable development. In: American Society of International Law, Proceedings of the 87th Annual Meeting, pp. 508–13. Washington DC: American Society of International Law.Google Scholar
RIAA (1941) Trail Smelter case (United States v. Canada). In: Reports of International Arbitral Awards 3. New York: United Nations: 1905.Google Scholar
Saunders, P.M. (1996) Development assistance issues related to a convention on forests. In: Global Forests and International Environmental Law, ed. Canadian Council on International Law, pp. 265–313. London: Graham & Trotman.Google Scholar
Schally, H.M. (1993) Forests: towards an international legal regime? Yearbook of International Environmental Law 4: 30–50.Google Scholar
Szekely, A. (1994) The legal protection of the world's forests after Rio ‘92. In: The Environment After Rio – International Law and Economics, ed. Campiglio, L.et al., pp. 65–9. London: Graham & Trotman.Google Scholar
Tarasofsky, R.G. (1995) The International Forests Regime: Legal and Policy Issues. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN – The World Conservation Union and World Wide Fund for Nature: 61 pp.Google Scholar
Trolldalen, J.M. (1992) ‘Forestry and Biodiversity’ in International Environmental Conflict Resolution – The Role of the United Nations. Oslo: World Foundation for Environment and Development: 199 pp.Google Scholar
UNEP (1996) Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Biological Diversity and Forests. Note by the Executive Secretariat, Doc. UNEP/CBD/COP/3/16: United Nations Document.Google Scholar
United Nations Treaty Series (1973) Vol. 993: 243.Google Scholar
Wakker, E. (1993) Handboek Tropische Houtsoorten. Bedreigde tropisclie boom-soorten op de Nederlandse houtmarkt. Amsterdam: Vereniging voor Milieudefensie: 36 pp.Google Scholar
Wilston, P.E. Jr, (1996) Backing up the right tree: proposals for enhancing the effectiveness of the international tropical timber agreement. Temple International and Comparative Law Journal 10: 229–53.Google Scholar
World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Our Common Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 383 pp.Google Scholar
World Resources Institute (1990) World Resources 1990–91. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
World Resources Institute (1992) World Resources 1992–93. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
World Resources Institute (1996) World Resources 1996–1997. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar