This book analyses how protecting the rights of local communities can contribute to the alleviation of ecological harms through the development of an innovative 'Rights for Ecosystem Services' framework. Ecosystem services describe the range of social, ecological, and economic benefits that people obtain from nature. Recognising the role of local communities, and criticizing the very use of the term services, this book draws on arguments for the rights of nature. Against a market approach to nature conservation it thereby transforms the current 'Payments for Ecosystem Services' framework into a unique 'Rights for Ecosystem Services' framework. With reference to a case study from Sicily, the book develops such a framework as a crucial means through which the environmental role of local communities can be recognised, protected, and fostered. Employing insights from a range of disciplines, this book will appeal to scholars working in the areas of environmental law, legal theory, political philosophy, human rights, and environmental studies, as well as others with practical concerns in the fields of conservation science and local communities' rights.

The Law and Policy of Ecosystem Services is the first comprehensive exploration of the status and future of natural capital and ecosystem services in American law and policy. The book develops a framework for thinking about ecosystem services across their ecologic, geographic, economic, social, and legal dimensions and evaluates the prospects of crafting a legal infrastructure that can help build an ecosystem service economy that is as robust as existing economies for manufactured goods, natural resource commodities, and human-provided services. The book examines the geographic, ecological, and economic context of ecosystem services and provides a baseline of the current status of ecosystem services in law and society. It identifies shortcomings of current law and policy and the critical areas for improvement and forges an approach for the design of new law and policy for ecosystem services. Included are a series of nine empirical case studies that explore the problems caused by society’s failure to properly value natural capital. Among the case study topics considered are water issues, The Conservation Reserve Program, the National Conservation Buffer Initiative, the agricultural policy of the European Union, wetland mitigation, and pollution trading. The Law and Policy of Ecosystem Services is a groundbreaking look at the question of whether and how law and policy can shape a sustainable system of ecosystem service management. It is an accessible and informative work for faculty, students, and policy makers concerned with ecology, economics, geography, political science, environmental studies, law, and related fields.

The idea that nature provides services to people is one of the most powerful concepts to have emerged over the last two decades. It is shaping our understanding of the role that biodiverse ecosystems play in the environment and their benefits for humankind. As a result, there is a growing interest in operational and methodological issues surrounding ecosystem services amongst environmental managers, and many institutions are now developing teaching programmes to equip the next generation with the skills needed to apply the concepts more effectively. This handbook provides a comprehensive reference text on ecosystem services, integrating natural and social science (including economics). Collectively the chapters, written by the world's leading authorities, demonstrate the importance of biodiversity for people, policy and practice. They also show how the value of ecosystems to society can be expressed in monetary and non-monetary terms, so that the environment can be better taken into account in decision making. The significance of the ecosystem service paradigm is that it helps us redefine and better communicate the relationships between people and nature. It is shown how these are essential to resolving challenges such as sustainable development and poverty reduction, and the creation of a green economy in developing and developed world contexts.

Using “the sharing paradigm” as a guiding concept, this book demonstrates that “sharing” has much greater potential to make rural society resilient, sustainable and inclusive through enriching all four sharing dimensions: informal, mediated, communal and commercial sharing. The chapters are divided into two parts, one that focuses on case studies of the sharing ecosystem services in Japan, the other on case studies from around the world including in the regions of Africa, Asia-Pacific, South America and Europe. Reflecting the recent growing attention to sharing concept and its application to economic and urban context, this publication explores opportunities and challenges to build more resilient and sustainable society in harmony with nature by critical examination of sharing practices in rural landscapes and seascapes around the world. This book introduces not only traditional communal and non-market sharing practices in different rural areas, but also new forms of sharing through integration of traditional practices and modern science and technologies.

This book considers and clarifies many different facets of the international human right to a healthy environment.

This book presents an in-depth analysis of how UN human rights institutions and mechanisms have addressed environmental protection, sustainable development, and climate change. Despite the increasing involvement of UN human rights bodies in addressing environmental degradation and climate change, a systematic review of the convergence between human rights and the environment in these bodies has not been carried out. Filing this lacuna, this book surveys the resolutions, general comments, concluding observations, decisions on individual communications and press releases. It identifies principles that have emerged, explores the ways in which human rights charter-based and treaty-based institutions are interpreting environmental principles and examines how they contribute to the emerging field of human rights and the environment. Given the disproportionate effect that polluting activities have on marginalized and vulnerable groups, Atapattu also discusses how these human rights mechanisms have addressed the impact on women, children, indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, and racial minorities. Written by a world-renowned expert on human rights and the environment, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars researching and teaching in this important field of study.

Aquatic ecosystems are rich in biodiversity and home to a diverse array of species and habitats, providing a wide variety of benefits to human beings. Many of these valuable ecosystems are at risk of being irreversibly damaged by human activities and pressures, including pollution, contamination, invasive species, overfishing and climate change. Such pressures threaten the sustainability of these ecosystems, their provision of ecosystem services and ultimately human well-being. Ecosystem-based management (EBM) is now widely considered the most promising paradigm for balancing sustainable development and biodiversity protection, and various international strategies and conventions have championed the EBM cause and the inclusion of ecosystem services in decision-making. This open access book introduces the essential concepts and principles required to implement ecosystem-based management, detailing tools and techniques, and describing the application of these concepts and tools to a broad range of aquatic ecosystems, from the shores of Lough Erne in Northern Ireland to the estuaries of the US Pacific Northwest and the tropical Mekong Delta.

This book systematically and comprehensively analyzes the legal development of the concept of water as a human right; its implications for the national governments, as well as the impact of the implementation of this concept for international and national organizations.

Bringing together leading international scholars in the field, this Research Handbook interrogates, from various angles and positions, the fractious relationship between human rights and the environment and between human rights and environmental law.

This legal paper reflects on the evolution of international law on the interdependence of human rights and the environment. It illustrates their significance for the development and implementation of national laws on agricultural development and the management of renewable natural resources, ranging from land, water, fisheries, plants, and animals, to food, forestry, wildlife, biodiversity and trade laws. It is also relevant for national laws on climate change, gender equality, agribusiness operations, the right to food, the right to water and the prevention of potential conflicts arising from the competition for natural resources. The paper brings together lessons learned through the mandate of the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, John H. Knox, and academic research on international biodiversity law and human rights, by Elisa Morgera. The Paper gives an overview of the increasing cross-fertilization between international environmental law and international human rights law. It looks specifically at nature conservation and the human rights of Indigenous Peoples. It also focuses on other areas of the nexus between human rights and biodiversity that are of particular relevance to national laws on natural resources.