254 • Technologies To Maintain Biological Diversity 



initiatives to link conservation activities of zoos 

 and botanic gardens with onsite conservation 

 programs highlight these potentials. 



The diversity of international institutions and 

 programs dealing with conservation defies 

 complete enumeration or simple categoriza- 

 tion. In general, however, their principal func- 

 tions encompass one or more of the following: 

 problem identification, monitoring and evalu- 

 ation, data gathering, risk estimation and im- 

 pact assessment, information exchange and dis- 

 semination, national and international program 

 coordination, standard setting and rulemaking, 



standards and rules supervision, and opera- 

 tional activities (62). 



This chapter outlines the major international 

 laws and programs with particular bearing on 

 maintaining biological diversity. International 

 laws are described by the breadth of diversity 

 they cover, ranging from global conventions 

 on ecosystems to treaties concerned with par- 

 ticular species. International conservation pro- 

 grams and institutional networks are also high- 

 lighted. Onsite and offsite program activities 

 are addressed separately because of the distinct- 

 ness of their operations. 



INTERNATIONAL LAW 



Public international law governs relations be- 

 tween countries, compared with private inter- 

 national law, which governs relations between 

 individuals. Public international law provides 

 a variety of direct and indirect tools for main- 

 taining onsite biological diversity. Most are part 

 of broader conservation objectives, commonly 

 focused on protection of single species, groups 

 of species, or habitats. 



The instruments of international law dealing 

 with conservation have varying levels of bind- 

 ing obligation. The terms "hard" and "soft" law 

 are used to distinguish levels of legal signifi- 

 cance (52). "Hard" law refers to binding obli- 

 gations reflected either in treaties or custom- 

 ary international law. "Soft" law refers to 

 instruments that have little legally binding force 

 but may carry persuasive influence and policy 

 guidance for state conduct (e.g., international 

 declarations and resolutions from international 

 conferences or intergovernmental organi- 

 zations). 



The effectiveness of international law de- 

 pends on the support, implementation, and en- 

 forcement at the national level. The uneven dis- 

 tribution of diversity creates major complexities 

 in promulgating binding international law in 

 this area. The difficulty is compounded because 

 regions with the greatest diversity are often 

 those with the most limited financial and tech- 

 nical capacities to devote to these efforts. 



In international law, a state has authority over 

 all natural resources within its territory. When 

 a state ratifies a treaty, however, it voluntarily 

 restricts some of its rights and assumes certain 

 obligations. The early development of interna- 

 tional conservation law was inspired by inter- 

 ests in protecting large game mammals and 

 birds. Less attention has been paid to onsite con- 

 servation of wild plants, unless they are in- 

 directly protected by international traffic con- 

 trols to protect commercial and agricultural 

 plants from pests or pathogens. An exception 

 is the convention to control trade in endangered 

 wild species of fauna and flora (discussed later 

 in this chapter). 



The extensive array of international laws that 

 deal with various aspects of biological diver- 

 sity maintenance should not be interpreted as 

 evidence that concerns for diversity loss have 

 been adequately addressed. As noted previ- 

 ously, many laws deal with specific species or 

 habitat types. Comprehensive coverage is lack- 

 ing. Further, it is important to consider the de- 

 gree of obligation (e.g., hard v. soft law) and 

 effectiveness of legal instruments (e.g., exis- 

 tence or adequacy of a secretariat or other oper- 

 ational support). 



The following discussion of international law 

 examines onsite and offsite maintenance, the 

 former being the focus of the majority of legal 

 instruments. The onsite discussion examines 



