IUCN's Protected Areas Management Categories, which classify protected areas according to their management objectives, are today accepted as the benchmark for defining, recording, and classifying protected areas. They are recognized by international bodies such as the United Nations as well as many national governments. As a result, they are increasingly being incorporated into government legislation. These guidelines provide as much clarity as possible regarding the meaning and application of the Categories. They describe the definition of the Categories and discuss application in particular biomes and management approaches.

Management planning guidelines represent the second major step in the process for planning protected areas, following implementation of the Establishment Guidelines. This publication was developed as a part of the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Turkeys’ Steppe Ecosystem Project. It is the one of seven sets of guidelines designed for the development of recommendations and strategies for the management of the country’s natural assets. This guidelines are based on international and national standards and are divided into 15 steps for successful management. A fundamental pre-condition for any form of management planning is clear definition of the overall management objectives to be achieved. These management objectives are linked to the IUCN protected area categories, which form the basis for the guidelines. Important recommendations for successful management include the creation of thematic preparatory maps on topography, habitats, borders and zones, and habitat-based planning. The guidelines provide basic recommendations for the integration of global trends and requirements connected with nature conservation and protected areas into the protected area management process. A central element of this process is the management plan, which sets out the management approach and goals, together with a framework for decision-making to be applied in the protected area over a given period of time. The management plan is usually valid for a period of 10 years but may include a mid-term review. Changes can only be made to the plan on the basis of ecological or natural reasons.

Protected areas can be found in a wide variety of environments, ranging from mountains to the sea, deserts, forests and freshwater lakes, and even traverse borders. They differ in almost every respect, including the purposes for which they are managed, their size, the types of sites and resources they protect, and their management. In recent decades, the number of protected areas has increased rapidly. Although, there has been good progress in expanding the coverage of terrestrial protected areas 14.9%, the further areas are needed for a full representation of areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services (UNEP-WCMC, IUCN and NGS, 2018). In general, this rapid and recent growth in protected areas has not been accompanied by commensurate expansion in management capacity. The designation of protected status both on land and water has often failed to resolve (and in some cases has heightened) conflicts over access, use or control of the areas concerned. Economic recession and hardship have thrown such issues into sharper focus in recent years. Protected areas will not survive unless they enjoy broad public support, which is dependent on people’s fundamental needs being met. Land use and resource management conflicts, inequities or impacts do not cease to exist simply because an area is granted protected status. When established by nation states or related entities, protected area boundaries often reflect considerations of sovereignty, governance and tenure as much as the environment types they seek to protect. For all these reasons, the planning and management of protected areas must be coordinated with the use and management of other areas rather than treated in isolation. The long-term success of protected areas must be framed by the search for more sustainable patterns of development in general. The present Guidelines are intended to support the establishment process for protected areas.

Effective protection of the marine and terrestrial environment increasingly requires cooperation between neighbouring States, international organizations, government entities and communities within States. This book analyses key aspects of transboundary environmental law and policy and their implementation in Asia, Australasia and Australian offshore territories, and surrounding areas beyond national jurisdiction including Antarctica. It discusses the potential for implementing key transboundary environmental mechanisms such as the 1991 Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention) and its 1997 Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (Kiev Protocol) in Australia and Asia drawing on experience from other regions and the potential application of these agreements to all UN member states. The book makes an innovative contribution to research in the area of transboundary environmental governance particularly as it applies to Asia, Australasia and international areas, supplementing similar research which has predominantly focused on Europe and North America.

This Handbook is the first comprehensive account of comparative environmental law. It examines in detail the methodological foundations of the discipline as well as the substance of environmental law across countries from four vantage points: country studies from all continents, responses to common problems (including air pollution, water management, nature conservation, genetically modified organisms, climate change and energy, chemicals, waste), foundational components of environmental law systems (including principles, property rights, administrative and judicial organisation, command-and-control regulation, market mechanisms, informational techniques and liability mechanisms), and common interactions of environmental protection with the broader public, private, and criminal law contexts. The volume brings together the foremost authorities in this field from around the world to provide a concise, self-contained, and technically rigorous account of environmental law as a single overall system.

This book comprises studies that reflect on various influences of excessive tourism development in protected areas, and solutions designed and initiated to mitigate such challenges. A large proportion of tourism in Mediterranean destinations constitutes nature-based tourism, in particular, tourism in parks and protected areas. As a destination experiences higher intensity and density of tourism, the potential conflict between maintaining a healthy natural environment and economic development also increases. This has urged planners and decision-makers to devise and adopt innovative approaches that seek to strike a balance between tourism development and nature conservation. This book demonstrates the importance of collaboration across and beyond disciplines and of all groups of stakeholders for maximization of societal impacts and tourism-related benefits.

The central aim of this publication is to consider the key elements of a modern, comprehensive, and effective legal framework for successful management of protected areas. They provide practical guidance for all those involved in developing, improving, or reviewing national legislation on protected areas, be they legal drafters and practitioners, protected area managers, interested NGOs, or scholars. These guidelines include fifteen case studies, eight dealing with the protected area legislation of individual countries and six cases dealing with specific sites providing fundamental solutions that stand the test of time.

Unconventional Lawmaking in the Law of the Sea explores the ways that actors operating at the international level develop standards of behaviour to regulate varied maritime activities beyond traditional lawmaking. Other than conventions and customary international law, there is a plethora of international agreements that influence international conduct. This 'soft law' or 'informal law' is now prolific in ocean governance, and so it is time to consider its significance for the law of the sea. This monograph brings together women law-of-the-sea scholars with expertise in specific areas of the law of the sea, as well as international law more generally. Informal lawmaking is examined in relation to ocean resources, maritime security, shipping and navigation, and the marine environment. In each instance, there are reflections on the diverse actors, processes, and outputs shaping the regulation of the oceans. The analyses in this book further consider what this activity means within the rules on the sources, formation, and interpretation of international law. The growing reliance on informal agreements to fill legal gaps provides quick responses to pressing matters. We must assess and understand these new forms of cooperation in order to influence existing treaties or customary international law. Unconventional Lawmaking in the Law of the Sea surveys the scope of informal lawmaking in the law of the sea and evaluates the significance of this activity for the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, as well as for ocean governance more broadly, now and in the future.