The Bonn Convention. A study of approaches and decisionmaking within the field of biodiversity conservation

Abstract: The last decades the number of international Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEA) has increased dramatically. At the same time the loss of biodiversity has accelerated. The effectiveness of these agreements has therefore been questioned. On the other side, they have been recognised to play an important part in the process of bringing together and facilitating cooperation between states, and influence government policy and practice in fields related to conservation of biodiversity. Cooperation, along with coordination, is one of the key aspects to halt the loss of biodiversity. This is especially true in the field of transboundary resources, such as migratory species, where no state single handed effectively can manage these resources. However, as shown in this thesis, even though cooperation would be a great success, there is no guarantee that such cooperation would have a positive impact on the conservation of biological diversity. This thesis is a review and analysis of the effectiveness of biodiversity-related treaties. It gives a deeper insight in various treaties and the different approaches they use to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity. The purpose of this review was to compare these approaches with the approach used by the Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), in order to provide proposals to UNEP/CMS Secretariat to consider increasing their contribution to the preservation of the earth’s biodiversity, while fulfilling the objectives of the convention. A challenge this thesis encountered was the difficulty of comparing CMS with other biodiversity-related treaties. This was due largely to difference in structure and approach to the object. While most biodiversity-related treaties contribute to the conservation of biodiversity through its own text, the primary purpose of CMS is to serve as a breeding ground where other agreements may be entered into and spun off. In recent years, CMS has not been focused on the legally binding agreements, but on non-legally binding agreements, Memorandum of Understanding. As a result, these agreements are included in this thesis. This thesis and its conclusion is that if the legal text itself can not effectively contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, then the actions taken as a result of this text can neither make an effective contribution.