Biodiversity Conservation and the Regime of Protected Areas
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Acta Universitatis George Bacovia. Juridica - Volume 10. Issue 1/2021 - http://juridica.ugb.ro/ - Nelu NIȚĂ, Nicoleta-Elena HEGHEȘ Biodiversity conservation and the regime of protected areas Nelu NIȚĂ, PhD George Bacovia University, Bacau, Romania [email protected] Nicoleta-Elena HEGHEȘ, Ph.D „Dimitrie Cantemir” Christian University of Bucharest Bucharest, Romania [email protected] Abstract: The time has come for us, human beings, intelligent and conscious beings, to understand and remember that no one and nothing can survive without protecting the natural environment in which we live, which has long been not given due "respect". And this, until it is not too late, given that biodiversity is currently under serious threat worldwide, with consequences that are difficult to quantify, including by scientists. Through this study we aimed to raise awareness of the serious consequences of continuous loss of biodiversity worldwide and the need to comply with regulations specific to this area, for our benefit, but especially for future generations, for which we have a great responsibility. In this sense, we consider the synthetic presentation of the international, European and national legislative framework of the broad and complex process that underlies the conservation of biodiversity, aspects that can be useful to all persons interested in protecting the environment around us. Keywords: biodiversity; biodiversity conservation; procedural guidelines; biodiversity strategies; protected areas. Framing subdomain: Internațional Law and EU-Legislation Introduction “Biodiversity” is an increasingly common used term to highlight the richness of the natural environment in which we live and work, consisting of the immense variety of birds, animals and plants, as well as their habitats and genes [1]. Taking into account biodiversity and its interaction with the physical environment, countless ecosystems are created to support all living organisms, of which the human species is a part of. Very important is that of all species, only we humans, intelligent and conscientious beings, must understand and remember, that no one and nothing can survive without the natural environment, but too often, many of us think, totally wrong, that this environment is something that is due to us by itself and we do not have to act in a certain way to protect it [2]. As an important element of the natural environment, biodiversity comprises a variety of genes [3], species and ecosystems, which are the basis of life on earth [4]. Even, humanity itself, is an important part of biodiversity. Basically, our existence, of humans, would be truly impossible without biodiversity, which is essential for the “services” provided by ecosystems. In this respect, we must consider the essential services that nature provides in order to maintain life on earth, which consist in: the existence of water and air, climate regulation and soil fertility, which enable the production of raw materials for food, fuels and medicines, the need of which is constantly increasing, etc. Biodiversity is also essential to maintain the long-term viability of agriculture and fishing, which are the basis of many industrial processes and the production of new medicines useful for ensuring an adequate state of health of the population. But unfortunately, biodiversity is currently under extremely serious threat around the world, with consequences that are hard to quantify, including by scientists. It is no secret that some plants and animals have long since disappeared from the everyday landscape, others are endangered, especially because of human action or inaction. And once lost, biodiversity can no longer be recovered, or with great difficulty this can be achieved, all being to the detriment of future generations, to which we, the present generations, have a great responsibility, which we always forget because of the selfishness specific to human beings. In this respect, the = ISSN 2285-0171 ISSN-L=2285-0171 Acta Universitatis George Bacovia. Juridica - Volume 10. Issue 1/2021 - http://juridica.ugb.ro/ - Nelu NIȚĂ, Nicoleta-Elena HEGHEȘ agricultural and industrial revolutions, based on scientific and technological momentum, which have led to the unprecedented development of humanity, have led to dramatic and accelerated changes in the intensive use of land, in the intensification of agriculture, but also in the abandonment of many lands, as a result of the intensification of the urbanization process. All this led to the collapse of many practices, which related to methods of traditional agriculture, which helped to maintain landscapes as rich in biodiversity as possible, and which made man use nature intelligently, but at the same time “be a brother to nature”. The current consumerist society is characterized by an increasing consumption per capita and by the uncontrolled production of waste, which has led to the expansion of the negative impact of people on ecosystems, far beyond the places where they live and work, even far beyond the internal and external borders of those places. New, more elevated and sophisticated modern styles of human life rely heavily on importing resources and goods from all over the world by encouraging the unsustainable exploitation of all natural resources, which is totally contrary to the principles of protecting biodiversity. As a result, all this is likely to lead to accelerated biodiversity loss, which also harms the natural capital resources on which sustainable economic and social development is based. Moreover, there are now massive and constant losses of biodiversity, with profound consequences for the natural world, as well as for the well-being of people. The main causes of the loss of significant parts of biodiversity are the brutal changes that occur in the natural habitat, which occur due to intensive agricultural production systems, due to work in the creation and development of transport infrastructures, due to the construction and exploitation of underground and surface quarries for the extraction of ores and petroleum products, due to the excessive exploitation of forests, oceans, rivers, lakes and soils, due to invasions of foreign species, due to pollution and, increasingly, due to global climate change due to greenhouse gases produced as a result of human activities. The continued loss of biodiversity and the destructive state of the environment are directly linked to the constant degradation of ecosystem services, which support life on earth [5]. Thus, the loss of biodiversity is not limited to the disappearance of rare plant and animal species, but means the emphasis of many serious existential problems [6]. Under these conditions, whole ecosystems are able to produce less and become even more vulnerable to different shocks from outside them. And as a result, in the food chain, bee populations (pollinators) could suffer significant losses, soil fertility could decrease and stocks of raw materials could be reduced, with the negative consequences of life on earth. In view of the awareness of the serious consequences of the continued loss of biodiversity worldwide, the United Nations proclaimed the year 2010 as the “International Year of Biodiversity”. In doing so, the issue of biodiversity has been brought to the attention of the public globally so that the necessary actions to safeguard the variety of life forms can be identified and intensified throughout the world. To this end, it is considered that the state of biodiversity is one of the main indicators of the state of the environment in general, and the preservation of this global natural treasure is a first step towards securing a sustainable future for mankind. Taking into account the above, the way in which biodiversity is protected and conserved is determined by the knowledge, understanding and observance of the general biodiversity regime, as well as by the European and national strategies in this area, which I will present below. 1. General biodiversity regime As we have seen, biodiversity is made up of an extraordinary variety of ecosystems, species and genes that surround us. It is not only important in itself, but it is important for the existence of life on earth, because it is the one that provides society with a wide range of essential ecosystem services on which we depend, such as food and drinking water, pollination, flood and land sliding protection, etc. The general regime of biodiversity envisages the conservation of biodiversity, a major desiderate of humanity, consisting of a broad and very complex process, which can only be carried out in a well-defined international, European and national legislative framework. In this respect, different international and European regulations, different international organizations and different procedural guidelines, which have been created specifically, are relevant for the purpose of regulating and applying the different biodiversity regimes and preserving it, which we will talk about below. 1.1. International and European regulations aimed at biodiversity conservation. Among the main international and European regulations aimed at preserving biodiversity, we can recall: = ISSN 2285-0171 ISSN-L=2285-0171 Acta Universitatis George Bacovia. Juridica - Volume 10. Issue 1/2021 - http://juridica.ugb.ro/ - Nelu NIȚĂ, Nicoleta-Elena HEGHEȘ - Ramsar Convention. This Convention is an international intergovernmental treaty, under the aegis of UNESCO, on wetlands as a habitat for aquatic birds. The treaty was signed on 2 February 1971