Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
As of May 2006, 1,604 wetlands were listed from 152 participating countries, covering
134,722,002 hectares. Unlike the World Heritage Convention, individual States have uni-
lateral power to list their wetlands of 'international importance', which, once listed, must
be preserved and protected. Here too, enforcement is left to the discretion of individual
States, with delisting again the only overt sanction. In addition, there are a number of
similar regional nature treaties for the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia. These include
the 1940 Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation in the Western
Hemisphere, the 1968 African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources, the 1979 Berne Convention (Europe) and subsequent EU Council Directives,
and the 1985 ASEAN Agreement on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
(not yet in force).
Protection of sites under these nature treaties (even plans to study sites for possible pro-
tection) can provide significant leverage for NGOs and others in dealing with mining pro-
posals. Site protection under these treaties can be used to block or redirect mining access
and development (
Case 7.10
).
Protection of sites under these
nature treaties (even plans
to study sites for possible
protection) can provide
signifi cant leverage for NGOs
and others in dealing with mining
proposals.
Agenda 21
The international scope of many environmental problems was first highlighted by
the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (the Stockholm
Conference or the first Earth summit), which led to the United Nations Environmental
Program (UNEP) and the Earth summits of Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and Johannesburg in
2002.
The 1992 Rio de Janeiro was attended by 172 nations making it the greatest interna-
agenda, calling for an Earth Charter that would have the status of international constitu-
tional law, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, consisting of 27 revised
environmental principles, an action plan for the 21st-century accomplishment of these
goals (called 'Agenda 21'), and the ceremonial signing of three treaties on biodiversity,
climate change, and forestry. All documents have much to say about global mining opera-
tions, and nearly half the Declaration's principles have relevance to mineral development
CASE 7.10
Mineral Resources in World Heritage Areas
The Lorentz National Park (2.5 million ha) is the largest
protected area in South-East Asia and a World Heritage
Site since 1999. It is the only protected area in the world
to incorporate a continuous, intact transect from snowcap
to tropical marine environment, including extensive lowland
wetlands. Located at the meeting-point of two colliding
continental plates, the area has a complex geology with
ongoing mountain formation as well as major sculpting by
glaciation. The area also contains fossil sites which provide
evidence of the evolution of life on New Guinea, a high
level of endemism and the highest level of biodiversity in
the region.
Airborne geological surveys have confi rmed the exist-
ence of potential mineralization zones that rival the nearby
Grasberg Copper and Gold deposit. Developing of these
potential mineral resources has been explicitly stopped by
the Government of Indonesia.
A second example is the defeat of the Windy Craggy
mine proposal by the listing of the Tatshenshini-Alsek
Region, British Columbia, Canada, as a World Heritage Site.
The Coronation Hill mine in the Northern Territory of
Australia is yet another example being turned down pri-
marily because of Aborigines' claims; signifi cantly, however,
concerns were also raised that, while the mine itself would
not have negative environmental effects on downstream
Kakadu National Park, the cumulative environmental impact
if other mines were allowed in the area 'would threaten…
the World Heritage listing' of the Park.
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