Preserving genetic diversity: A legal review

Important as conventional protected areas will continue to be for the conservation of genetic resources, it has become increasingly clear that alone they will never be able to preserve the full range of inter-specific and intra-specific genetic variability.

The industrialization of agricultural practices in many parts of the world has resulted in the disappearance of many natural features in the countryside and in a corresponding impoverishment in species diversity. The farmer has ceased to be the steward of nature. Land-use controls and other means to maintain a minimum degree of naturalness in rural areas are therefore urgently required.

This paper reviews the legal and planning tools available for the preservation of natural and semi-natural habitats outside protected areas. These relate to sites of special biological value, such as wetlands, which are now increasingly coming under regulatory controls, but may also apply to “ordinary nature”, from hedgerows to river banks.

On private lands, compulsory protection can sometimes be imposed under site- specific protection orders. More often, general conservation rules apply to all areas belonging to a particular habitat category, but exemptions can be granted under permits. Certain activities may be totally excepted (this frequently applies to agriculture). Voluntary protection, on the other hand, can be achieved through the conclusion of management agreements, the payment of subsidies, or tax reliefs. Disincentives include the limitation of certain grants-in-aid or of special tax benefits.

On public lands, preservation of genetic resources necessarily involves the imposition, or self-imposition, of restrictions on the discretion of land-management agencies.