Figure 8.3 IUCN commission member distribution (including all six).
Source: HQ and country offices of IUCN and membership portal 2010.
Note: These commissions’ members are the major source of knowledge for IUCN, who mostly contribute for the conservation policy formation through the national committees and the focal points. India has the largest commission membership (425) followed by Nepal (91), Pakistan (75), and Bangladesh (51), whereas among the four countries, SSC has the largest members 451 individuals, followed by CEESP 65, CEC 43, WCPA 32, CEL 33, and CEM 18 individuals, respectively (Source: HQ and country offices of the IUCN). Commissions’ members are the experts of IUCN’s commission themes. The larger membership in India represents its strength of knowledge and its network within the commission’s member.
in helping IUCN for program extension. In contrast, Nepal committee is functioning only for the name shake (based on the interviews).
8.3 IUCN’s Roles in Environmental Regime Creation in the Region
Asia – A Source of Inspiration: Asia is one of the richest regions in the world in terms of its species and ecosystems and one of the most vibrant in terms of the diversity of cultural groups. It is also a region where nature and natural resources are contested domains, where geopolitical tensions threaten to damage the potential for economic development, and where millions of poor struggle to survive in degrading environments. Yet, Asia has long been one of the world’s most dynamic regions in terms of its evolving institutions for bio- diversity conservation and equitable natural resource management.
IUCN is playing an active role in this evolution, from guiding pol- icy reform and legislation in support of community participation, to fostering partnerships between different stakeholders. Through
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its progressive initiatives, IUCN in Asia has much to teach the rest of the world about integrating biodiversity conservation and social equity (Achim Steiner former IUCN, Director General, currently the Chief of the UNEP, IUCN Asia 2003: ii).
The statement of Dr. Achim Steiner clearly summarizes the major role of IUCN in Asia, which solely fits the cases of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, where IUCN has been involved in preparation of most of the policy instruments, conservation strategies, and empowerment of the conservation- related sectors. As it has been playing a major role in most of the international conservation forums and in preparing a number of key publications such as the World Conservation Strategies and Caring for the Earth for the Sus- tainable Future, it has engaged in the preparation of the MEAs CITES, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and the WHC. Sustained involvement in the CBD, it also worked hard to engage with the processes of the World Trade Organization and the UNFCCC. And most importantly, it has given more attention to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and made important contributions in existing and new regional initiatives such as the Mekong River Commission, the Central American Commission on Envi- ronment and Development, and the Environmental Action Plan of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and its involvement in the presence at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002 are some of the selected works of IUCN in the global conservation forum (IUCN 2003:7).
The entry of IUCN in Asia was completely based on its vision to empow- ering the world for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. As noted above, IUCN began its conservation regime formation task from Nepal in the 1960s and extended to the other countries who invited for the help.
After Nepal, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam invited IUCN to assist them in policy formation. Its strong percent further extended after the establishment of a country office in Pakistan in 1982 and Bangladesh in 1989. Among the other Asian countries, particularly for Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, it has been involving almost all environment-related issues throughout. Its involvement in three nations’ policy sectors includes:
Contributions to important policy reforms in Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh:
NCS; (in the Pakistan case, IUCN has prepared not only the NCS, but also prepared all provincials and some of the districts conservation strategies as well); National Environmental Policy and Action Plan; Environmental Impact
8.3 IUCN’s Roles in Environmental Regime Creation in the Region 161 Assessment; Environmental Protection Acts; Environmental Protection Reg- ulations; National Wetlands Policy; Environmental education curricula and materials; Various Area Program Strategies; Draft Bill on Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing; and Gender, Poverty, and Social Equity monitoring indicators (e.g., IUCN 2009).
• IUCN in Pakistan: Following the formulation of the World Conservation Strategy in 1980, the Government of Pakistan requested the World Conservation Union (IUCN) to help develop an NCS. In 1982, an exploratory mission from IUCN Headquarters laid the foundation for the IUCN country program in Pakistan, culminating in the establishment of IUCNP country office in Karachi. Since then, IUCNP has grown into the largest country program with five program offices as well as a number of field offices. After an extensive consultative process, the NCS was completed and approved by the Government of Pakistan in 1992. IUCN Pakistan also contributed to the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997, facilitated, and participated in the development of all key environmental policies including the NEQS. IUCNP has also co- designed and facilitated most of the post-NCS environmental projects helped develop the Biodiversity Action Plan for Pakistan and success- fully advocated more space for civil society in public policy and decision making. IUCNP’s work on district and local strategies offers insights into the debates and possibilities that need to be explored to address the issue of good governance. Following the NCS, geographically specific and contextually relevant strategies have been developed for the NWFP, Balochistan, Northern Areas, Sindh, and the districts of Abbottabad, Chitral, Dera Ismail Khan, Gwadar, Qila Saifullah, and Badin (IUCN 2009:17).
IUCN Bangladesh: The Government of Bangladesh joined IUCN as a State Member in 1972. IUCN started its operation in Bangladesh as a “liaison office” in 1989 and a fully operation Country Office was established in Bangladesh on November 22, 1992. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Government and IUCN on November 22, 1992. The Bangladesh Country Office aligns its activities with the current IUCN thematic areas: conserving the diversity of life, changing the climate fore- cast, naturally energizing our future, managing nature for human well-being, and greening the world economy. To achieve its goals
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and objectives, IUCN Bangladesh parallels the vision and mis- sion of IUCN globally, with well-set strategic directions. IUCN Bangladesh Country Office works in close association with its members formed from a collective of national non-government organizations with key support from the Ministry of Environment and Forest, a State member. Support, advice, and encouragement are also received valued from partners, donors and commission members, and volunteer scientists at home and abroad (IUCN 2009:28).
IUCN Nepal: IUCN has been assisting conservation efforts in Nepal since the late 1960s. With strong support from civil society, government, and donors, IUCN has been able to contribute greatly in linking conservation with better livelihoods, mobilizing local communities, and generating tangi- ble results to promote biodiversity conservation, environmental justice, and sustainable livelihoods in Nepal, even in the conflict situation. Contributions at the field level include improved conservation of important biodiversity;
enhanced local natural resource management capacity; improved livelihood security for the natural resource-dependent poor; greater awareness of con- servation and sustainable livelihood strategies; and increased knowledge development and policy feedback (IUCN 20009:31). As seen in the quotes above, in addition to preparation of policies, IUCN has also been helping these three countries in preparation of national inventories of biodiversity, wetlands, forest, river systems, and the tool books for environmental gov- ernance. For example, only in the wetlands’ management sector, IUCN Bangladesh has published 29 books and reports. For Nepal, 31 books and reports, and 59 for Pakistan have been published, respectively. A similar account is visible in biodiversity and forest sectors as well, in all three nations.
In the global, regional, and national context, most of the policy directives have been completed and the focus of the global conservation forums is shifted toward the implementation phase. The four countries of this study have the conservation strategies and policy directives in hands and also have shown their commitments by signing and ratifying the international treaties, conventions, protocols, and agreements related to the environment conser- vation. Similarly, all four countries have shown the strength or weakness of national state of environment by submitting their position papers to the CBD, UNFCCC, or to other international venues (UN, World Bank, Donor agencies, or whoever requires them). This clearly shows that there should be shifts in the mission of the organizations like IUCN, whose purpose is to
8.3 IUCN’s Roles in Environmental Regime Creation in the Region 163 influence and build capacity to improve people’s livelihoods and to conserve the diversity and integrity of the region’s ecosystems and the livelihoods they provide. IUCN has not shifted its core mission, which is to improve the scien- tific understanding of what natural ecosystems provide for humans. However, it has shown the concentration toward conserving the fragile ecosystems with the linkage of livelihood. This tendency is clearly depicted in IUCN Asia’s goal, which states: “to conserve biodiversity and to promote sustainable and equitable use of ecosystems and natural resources. Despite a regional awakening of the importance of conserving the environment, people still need to better understand and realize the goods and services that nature, biodiversity, and ecosystems provide to mankind” (IUCN 2008:15). The importance of well-functioning ecosystems in helping reduce poverty and improve livelihoods, societies, and economies needs to be integrated into decisions and actions. In the case of Asia, these goals are pursued through a combination of territorially based activities (country programs) and thematic- based activities (the ecosystems and livelihoods and two thematic programs – global marine and water). To manage these programs, IUCN in Asia has been supporting to develop cutting-edge conservation science and implementing research in field activities throughout the region. By linking both research and results to local, national, regional, and global policies, IUCN Asia is building bridges, convening dialogs among governments, civil society, and the private sector to find pragmatic solutions to pressing environmental problems (IUCN 2010).
IUCN’s Chief Scientist’s opinion on IUCN Asia: IUCN is above all a networking organization, so that building a strong regional network was seen as essential. In cooperation with various partners, IUCN therefore designed regional projects to start building capac- ities in a number of fields. These involved carrying out taxonomic work (with BioNET International and the CBD), supporting the preparation of NBSAPs, designing environmental legislation (with the Asian Development Bank and the National University of Singa- pore), and implementing the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (with the GEF). IUCN in Asia has provided opportunities for many young professionals and interns, who are supported by senior staff. Young professionals may be hired for a fixed term, and are able to stay on if they find the right niche. Interns work for IUCN for up to a year, before returning to their studies or former positions, often with an
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IUCN member. Some may return to IUCN after gaining experi- ence, while others will go on to work for their government, or for another conservation organization. For IUCN, building capacity for conservation is more important than simply building staff capacity for itself. Many of the regional staff already possessed considerable skills from their work at the national level, but adapting those skills to address the greater challenges at the regional level would not happen overnight. IUCN staff from outside the region, but who had long worked in Asia, was able to provide mentoring for the new regional staff. Today, over 90% of the staff of IUCN in Asia is from the region (McNeely 2008:1–2).
IUCN Asia regional office is based in Bangkok, Thailand. It manages IUCN’s policies and provides coordination support for the region. It oversees 10 coun- try offices (Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos PDR, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam). IUCN Asian region is considered by some as the best managed office in comparison to other regions (McNeely 2009;
face to face interview in Gland, Switzerland, in June 2009). However, there is some limitation which is depicted in Table 8.1 (based on IUCN-ARO 2009:39).
Table 8.1 shows a general picture of the strengths, weaknesses, oppor- tunities, and threats (SWOT) of the regional program of IUCN Asia. It has strength of its reputation and opportunities to extend its programs; however, funding and conflict over natural resource management are its weaknesses and threats.