Great uncertainty typically surrounds decisions and management actions in the conservation of biodiversity and natural resource management, and yet there are risks of serious and irreversible harm for both biodiversity and the humans that rely on it. The precautionary principle arguably underlies all international conservation efforts and promotes acting to avoid serious or irreversible environmental harm, despite lack of scientific certainty as to the likelihood, magnitude or cause of harm.

This book is the first to examine the application of the precautionary principle to biodiversity conservation and natural resource management, incorporating perspectives from scientists, economists, lawyers and practitioners from both developing and developed countries. It analyses the application and impacts of the principle in many areas including forestry, invasive alien species, wildlife trade, protected areas and fisheries, in a range of national and international contexts. Particular attention is drawn to issues of equity, livelihoods, science and politics, and the book provides guidelines for applying the precautionary principle to biodiversity conservation and natural resource management.

About the author(s)

Rosie COONEY coordinates The Precautionary Principle Project — a partnership of IUCN, Fauna & Flora International, ResourceAfrica and TRAFFIC.
Barney DICKSON is Head of International Policy at Fauna & Flora International.

Contents

INTRODUCTION * From Promise to Practicalities: The Precautionary Principle in Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use * Part I: THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE IN INTERNATIONAL REGIMES AND POLICY PROCESSES * Forest Policy, the Precautionary Principle and Sustainable Forest Management * The Precautionary Principle: Knowledge Counts but Power Decides? * The Precautionary Principle, Uncertainty and Trophy-Hunting: A Review of the Torghar Population of Central Asian Markhor Capra Falconeri * The Precautionary Principle in Impact Assessment: An International Review * Part II: NATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN APPLYING THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE * The Evolution and Impact of Precautionary Fisheries Law and Policy in Australia: An Environmental NGO Perspective * Protection of Sea Turtles: Putting the Precautionary Principle into Practice * Application of the Precautionary Principle in Judicial and Administrative Decisions about Argentinian Biodiversity: A Case Study * Preventing Alien Invasions: The Precautionary Principle in Practice in Weed Risk Assessment in Australia * Part III: MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT UNCERTAIN THREATS: PRECAUTION, PROHIBITIONS AND ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT * Making the Precautionary Principle Work for Biodiversity: Avoiding Perverse Outcomes in Decision-making Under Uncertainty * Parrots, Precaution and Project Elé: Management in the Face of Multiple Uncertainties * Precaution in the American Endangered Species Act as a Precursor to Environmental Decline: The Case of the Northwest Forest Plan * Part IV: THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE AND LOCAL LIVELIHOODS * People, Parks and Precaution: the Evolution of the Precautionary Principle in Wildlife Conservation in India * Managing Uganda's Forests in the Face of Uncertainty and Competing Demands: What is the Precautionary Approach? * The Precautionary Approach and Local Livelihoods: A Study of a Protected Landscape and Seascape in the Philippines * Part V: ANALYTICAL PERSPECTIVES ON PRECAUTION * Economics, the Precautionary Principle and Natural Resource Management: Key Issues, Tools and Practices * Fairness and the Costs and Benefits of Precautionary Action * CONCLUSION * Precautionary Principle, Precautionary Practice: Lessons and Insights *