POST
TRAUMATIC CONVENTION DISORDER: CONSERVING HIGH SEAS BIODIVERSITY
IN THE WAKE OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
CHRIS LACEY
ABSTRACT:
The conservation
of biological diversity has become an international imperative.
Whilst the biodiversity debate has been largely focussed on the
terrestrial landscape, increasing scientific and legal attention
is being paid to the marine environment - the Ôocean-scapeÕ. The
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea clearly envisions
the conservation of marine biodiversity but its provisions have
been usurped in recent times by novel policy benchmarks and now
seem dated and out of touch compared with contemporary ideas in
conservation biology and natural resource practice. In particular,
the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (ÔCBDÕ) has
been instrumental in re-orienting international legal responses
to environmental subject matter treaties. This article will examine
the impact of these novel benchmarks, many of which are contained
within the CBD, in the context of the use and management of high
seas biodiversity.
