Biodiversity includes the entire range
of biological variation--molecules, organisms, species, communities,
and biomes. There is an increasing realization that, as a direct
result of human activity habitats and species are being lost at an accelerating
rate world wide. Correspondingly, there is an increasing realization
that human beings need to do something urgently in order to protect,
conserve and wisely use what is left of the amazing diversity of life
on earth. Nations signed the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) in
1992 in order to make this happen.
In this seminar we will examine the CBD, try to understand what it is and how/why it came into being, and examine issues surrounding its formulation and implementation.
After initial introductory sessions familiarizing ourselves
with the facts, we will pick one or two (or 3 or 4) case studies and
try to understand the nitty-gritty of the issues that the case studies
illustrate.
Pat Wright (Anthropology) and Jackie Smith (Sociology) will participate, as will Tim Boyle at UNDP/GEF. Tim Boyle will provide information on case studies that his group has been involved with; we would examine those in detail in small groups. I am sure that we will all learn something from this exercise.
Two books that are informative AND provide interesting perspectives:
Le Prestre, P. G. 2002. "Governing Global Biodiversity: The evolution and implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity." Ashgate Publishing. Aldershot, England. ISBN 0-7546-1744-0.
Rosendal, G. K. 2000. "The Convention on Biological Diversity and Developing Countries." Kluwer Academic Publishers. Dordrecht. ISBN 0-7923-6375-2.
Here (1, 2) are some perspectives on "How the CBD was won." These pages summarize points, made in the two books, regarding the origins and evolution of the CBD.
Here is an annotated text of the CBD, with brief comments (mainly drawn from the two books) and links to the relevant portions of the CBD at the CBD web site (http://www.biodiv.org/doc/publications/guide.asp).
Here is a page on some historical aspects of the environmental movement in Madagascar.
Here is a page of some links that might be useful for the Vietnam project.
R. Geeta This page last updated on August 23, 2003