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Nancy Nelson, Sustainable Development, 8 Colo. J. Int'l
Envtl. L. & Pol'y 59 (1997)

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1996] Land and Resource Management

III. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

If we meet all these challenges,we can make 1997 a milestoneyear in
protectingthe globalenvironment. We can do it in a way that encourages
sustainabledevelopment.'

A. Introduction
Five years after a global action plan for sustainable development
emerged from the UN Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED), domestic legal legislation remains the primary impetus for
sustainable development in the world. Although the goal of sustainable
development has been included in many international treaties since the
UNCED, the primary impetus for real change in sustainably managing
resources of primarily developing nations remains the enactment and
enforcement of domestic law and regional agreements, with the political
encouragement and financial support of developed nations, multilateral
lending institutions, and international nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs).
Various countries, regions, and states have incorporated the principles
of sustainable development into their legal systems and planning regimes.3
The Philippine government, for example, this year issued Philippine Agenda
21: A National Agenda for Sustainable Development, a "common
covenant" among Philippine NGOs, government, and businesses." China
has also established an Agenda 21 plan at the national level.' A working
group of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation organization will meet
in Hong Kong in 1997 to discuss strategies to address the sustainability of

1. Remarks on the International Coral Reef Initiative in Port Douglas, Australia, 32

WKLY. COMP. PRES. DOC. 2423 (Nov. 22, 1996), available in LEXIS, News Library,
Allnewsplus File [hereinafter Remarks on the International Coral Reef Initiative].
2. See U.N. Conference on Environment and Development, Agenda 21, U.N. Doc.
A/CONF.151/4 (1992), reprinted in THE EARTH SUMMIT: THE UNITED NATIONS
CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT (UNCED) 125-508 (Stanley P.
Johnson ed., 1993) [hereinafter THE EARTH SUMMIT]; see also Rebecca A. Hoelting,
After Rio: The SustainableDevelopment ConceptFollowingthe UnitedNationsConference
on Environment and Development, 24 GA. J. INT'L & COMP. L. 117, 129 n.53 (1994).
3. See, e.g., France Bequette, Palawan, the Philippines' Last Frontier,UNESCO
COURIER, Oct. 1, 1996, available in WESTLAW, Allnewsplus Database.
4. See Johanna Son, Philippines-Environment:East Asia's First "Green Tiger",
Inter Press Serv., Sept. 30, 1996, available in WESTLAW, Allnewsplus Database.
5. See id.
 Colo. J. Int'l Envtl. L. & Pol'y [YB

the marine environment.' Although the state initiatives toward resource

conservation are promising, international assistance and support are
necessary to sustainably develop the world's natural resources.
The UN Commission on Sustainable Development issued several
recommendations in May 1996 for consideration by the June 1997 special
session of the General Assembly. The special session was called to review
the progress in achieving the goals of Agenda 21.1 Commission Chairman
Rumen Gechev diplomatically asserted that political inertia and a lack of
concrete international action in implementing international sustainable
development programs have led to much discussion but little international
law Despite its emphasis on the urgency of some problems, such as the
threats to the world's marine environments, the Commission decided to
table the issue of identifying generally recognized principles of international
law that pertain to sustainable development until the special General
Assembly session.9
The world's attention to sustainable development has been focused
on the areas where biodiversity is most pronounced, such as rain forests
and coral reefs." Some nations are experiencing degradation of their coral
reefs as a result of deforestation." Regional coalitions are increasingly
viewed as the best way to launch resource management programs, which
solve the problem of providing a sustainable living for the people of
developing nations while also protecting the planet's ability to sustain future
generations. 2 Regional organizations are advantageous because the primary
causes of environmental degradation, and thus unsustainable use, vary with
local factors. The primary cause of coral reef degradation may be
overfishing in one part of the world, but pollution from land-based sources

6. See Romulo T. Luib, APEC Working Group to Tackle MarineResource Conservation,

Business World (Manila), Nov. 28, 1996, available in WESTLAW, Allnewsplus Data-
base. Environmentalists, however, are fearful that trade and investment liberalization under
the APEC will hasten environmental degradation. See id.
7. See Nancy Seufert-Barr, 1997 Special General Assembly Review ofAgenda 21
Should 'Revitalize'InternationalCommitment to SustainableDevelopment, U.N. CHRON.,
Spring 1996, at 72, 72.
8. See id. "The Assembly's special session should 'work to revitalize the international
commitment to the concept of sustainable development and boost the momentum for
concrete proposals of action'... [and] should recognize the 'unmet objectives' of Agenda
21 ..... Id.
9. See id.
10. See, e.g., id. at 72-73; see also Rita Ariyoshi, Halting a Coral Catastrophe,
NATURE CONSERVANCY, Jan.-Feb. 1997, at 20, 22.
11. See, e.g., Bequette, supra note 3.
12. See, e.g., Lack of Technical, FinancialSupport Stymying Region's Progress
on Agenda 21, Int'l Env't Daily (BNA), Oct. 16, 1996, available in WESTLAW, BNA-
lED Database.
1996] Land and Resource Management

in another. 3 Deforestation is caused by clearing forests for cattle grazing

in one region, but by clear-cutting for agriculture or the production of
4
tropical timber in another.
Many discussions of "sustainable development" evaluate which word
public policy should emphasize-whether the conservation or development
part of the equation will reign supreme when push comes to shove.'" Most
commentators agree that whether the issue is ecotourism, the sustainable
use of marine resources, or wildlife conservation, the input and interests
of local populations must be considered when formulating policy or
regulations.' Because nations with developing economies and vast natural
resources often do not possess the financial resources or technology to
protect these resources, capacity-building 7 and multilateral lending remain
critical components of sustainable development programs."
Funding for monitoring and enforcing both international and domestic
regulations and policies remains a contentious issue between the northern
and the southern hemispheres, 9 as do issues of national sovereignty.
However, promising programs creating local, regional, and international
frameworks for sustainable development ofthe planet's natural resources-
incorporating local input, international financial support, technological
solutions, and an ever-increasing public awareness of the necessity of
preserving the planet's health-are encouraging signs of the possibility of
finding international solutions to international environmental problems.

B. 1997 ProclaimedYear of the CoralReef

Critical to the legal, international, and real protection of natural
commodity-producing resources is establishing a perception among local
and world communities that there is a need for conserving resources. This
includes not only defining how the resources are threatened, but also making
the public aware of how the resources are vital to its interests." In an effort
to raise the world's consciousness about the threats to coral reefs, more

13. See Ariyoshi, supra note 10, at 20.

14. See infra, Land and Resource Management, Part IV.
15. See, e.g., Son, supra note 4.
16. See, e.g., Ariyoshi, supra note 10, at 24.
17. See, e.g., Seufert-Barr, supra note 7, at 73.
18. See United Nations, Commission on Sustainable Development Opens Fourth
Session, (press release ENV/DEV/346 Apr. 18, 1996) <http:www.un.org> (document found
using United Nations search engine) [hereinafter Commission on SustainableDevelopment
Opens FourthSession]; see also Lack of Technical,FinancialSupport Stymying Region's
Progresson Agenda 21, supra note 12.
19. See, e.g., Commission on SustainableDevelopment Opens FourthSession, supra
note 18; see also Rio Pledges Need Push From Government, Business, Public, Earth
Summit Official Says, Int'l Env't Daily (BNA), Oct. 11, 1996, available in WESTLAW,
BNA-IED Database.
20. Ariyoshi, supra note 10, at 25.
 Colo. J. Int'l Envtl. L. & Pol'y [YB

than 100 governments, NGOs, multilateral lending institutions, regional

organizations, and UN affiliates have declared 1997 the Year of the Coral
Reef.2 The world's coral reefs offer numerous benefits to mankind,
including food production, shoreline protection, recreational opportunity,
and immense biodiversity"2 that includes discovered and potential medical
products. 3 Reefs provide about ten percent of global fisheries,24 feeding
hundreds of thousands of people in developing countries. Mature reefs
can be thousands of years old, extend for hundreds of miles, and provide a
26
home for thousands of species.
Marine ecosystems, including coral reefs, were accorded prominent
status in Agenda 21, the blueprint for sustainable development adopted at
the 1992 UNCED in Rio de Janeiro.21 Chapter 17, Section 17.86 of Agenda
21 calls on states to identify and protect marine ecosystems, including
coral reefs, which have a high level of biodiversity.' Major international
agreements spawned by the UNCED express concern over the state of the
29
world's coral reefs.
As exhibited by the composition of the International Coral Reef
Initiative (ICRI), ° a primary sponsor of the declaration, threats to the
world's reefs are being recognized by a rapidly expanding percentage of

21. See Jon R. Luoma, Reef Madness, AUDUBON, Nov.-Dec. 1996, at 24, 24.
22. See Ariyoshi, supranote 10, at 22; see also Don Hinrichsen, ReefRevival, AMICUS
J., Summer 1996, at 22, 23-24.
23. See Luoma, supra note 21, at 26. Some of the highly bioactive chemicals found
in coral reefs include anticancer agents and painkillers. See id. See also J. Madeleine
Nash, Wrecking the Reefs, TIME, Sept. 30, 1996, at 60, 60.
24. See Luoma, supra note 21, at 26.
25. See Jon Mitchell, Jewels of the Sea Fightfor Survival in FragileEcosystems,
CHRISTIAN SCI. MONITOR, Sept. 27, 1996, at 10, 10.
26. See Nash, supra note 23, at 61.
27. See THE EARTH SUMMIT, supra note 2, at 307.
28. See Agenda 21, Chapter 17 (last visited Jan. 7, 1997) <http://www.igc.apc.org/
habitat/agenda2l/ch-17.html>. See also THE EARTH SUMMIT, supra note 2, at 322;
Ariyoshi, supra note 10, at 22; International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), Report to the
United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, Introduction (visited Jan. 2,
1997) <http://www.mbnet.mb.ca/vps/icri/csd-intro.html> [hereinafter Report to the UN
Commission on SustainableDevelopment].
29. See generally Christopher C. Joyner, Biodiversity in the Marine Environment:
Resource Implicationsfor the Law of the Sea, 28 VAND. J. TRANSNAT'L L. 635, 643-69
(1995) (discussing how international treaties address the protection of marine ecosystems).
30. See, e.g., Report to the UN Commission on SustainableDevelopment, supra
note 28. The founders of the ICRI include the governments of Australia, France, Jamaica,
Japan, the Philippines, Sweden, the UK, and the United States. UN organizational founders
are the UN Development Programme, the UN Environment Programme, and the UN
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. Regional organizational bodies that
are founding members of the ICRI are the South Pacific Regional Environmental Program,
the Coordinating Body for the Seas of East Asia, and the Caribbean Environment Program.
The World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank are founding members of
the ICRI, as is the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. See id.
1996] Land and Resource Management

international and domestic environmental control agencies, multilateral

lending agencies, and NGOs. Many governments, NGOs, international
deliberative and scientific bodies, and US President Clinton' have drawn
attention to the plight of the world's threatened coral reef ecosystems.
President Clinton called the ICRI a "shining example of what we can
achieve."32 The UN Commission on Sustainable Development has urged
UN organizations to facilitate the launching of local and national coral
reef initiatives. 3
Although treaties such as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
and the Convention on Biological Diversity call on nations to protect their
marine environments,3' the primary impetus for states to preserve their
coral reefs is increasing public and governmental recognition of the need
to protect reefs before they are damaged beyond recovery.

C. The Threats to the World's CoralReefs

"You can hammer them with cyclones, andthey'll bounce rightback.
What they can't bounce backfrom is chronic, constant stress. " The kind
of stress, in other words, that is being appliedby humans."
Many experts agree that ten percent of the Earth's coral reefs have
sustained irreversible harm." The threats to the health of the planet's coral
reefs are both anthropogenic and natural. It is generally accepted that the
human causes of harm are the primary agents of coral reef ecosystem
degradation. 7 This harm includes sedimentation from deforestation and
development,38 overfishing, destructive fishing techniques (including
cyanide fishing and the dynamiting of coral reefs),39 land-based pollution
such as agricultural runoff and domestic sewage effluent,4" marine-based
pollution such as the dumping of oil or other materials from boats," harm
from tourism activities, 42 and the rapid increase in developing nations'

31. See Remarks on the International Coral Reef Initiative, supra note 1.
32. Id.
33. See Seufert-Barr, supra note 7, at 72.
34. See Joyner, supra note 29, at 643-69.
35. See Nash, supra note 23, at 60 (quoting Clive Wilkinson, a biologist with the
Australian Institute of Marine Science).
36. See id. See also International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), Callto Action (posted
June 2, 1995) <http://www.mbnet.mb.ca/vps/icri/cail.html> [hereinafter Call to Action];
Luoma, supra note 21, at 24; Hinrichsen, supra note 22, at 23.
37. See Call to Action, supra note 36; see also Joyner, supra note 29, at 640-41.
38. See Report to the UN Commission on SustainableDevelopment, supra note 28.
39. See, e.g., id.
40. See, e.g., id.
41. See, e.g., id.
42. See Nash, supranote 23, at 60; see also Hinrichsen, supra note 22, at 25; Mitchell,
supra note 25, at 11.
 Colo. J. Int'l Envtl. L. & Pol'y [YB

population. 3 The reefs exist in a delicate biological balance, and the

warming of ocean waters," the overfishing of species necessary to keep
algae at bay, 5 or the invasion of starfish"6 can cause serious damage to a
coral reef ecosystem.
The coral reefs of more than ninety countries, of the 109 with
significant coral reefs,"' are damaged or destroyed. The reefs of South and
Southeast Asia, East Africa, and the Caribbean have endured the most
harm.48 Scientists predict that forty-eight percent of the Southeast Asian
reefs will be harmed in the next ten to twenty years if measures are not
taken to preserve the ecosystem.4 9 Jamaica's live coral cover has decreased
ninety percent, 0 and reefs in the Caribbean have witnessed a fifty to seventy-
five percent decline.'
The overfishing of reefs is not only caused by the consumptive fish
industry but also by the aquarium fish industry." The international market
in fish captured live for consumption in restaurants, primarily in Hong
Kong and China, is valued at more than $1 billion a year. 3 In Hong Kong,
a coral reef dweller, the humphead wrasse, sells for $100 a pound.54 The
United States, which has ratified neither the UN Convention on Biological
Diversity nor the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, accounts for
almost half of the world trade in aquarium fish.55

D. Solutions to the Problem of CoralReef Destruction

Preserving the integrity of the planet's coral reefs and providing a
sustainable lifestyle for the people they support requires regional
cooperation, international expertise, increased public awareness, and
funding for scientific research and monitoring. Past political inertia and
the lack of funding to address reef degradation spurred a public awareness
campaign by those alarmed at the continuing loss of tens of thousands of
square miles of coral reefs. 6

43. Steven Butler, Rod? Reel? Dynamite?:A Tough-Love Aid Program Takes Aim
at the Devastationof the CoralReefs, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REP., Nov. 25, 1996, at 56,
56; see also Hinrichsen, supra note 22, at 24.
44. See Report to the UN Commission on SustainableDevelopment, supra note 28.
45. See id.
46. See id.
47. See Hinrichsen, supra note 22, at 23.
48. See Report to the UN Commission on SustainableDevelopment, supra note 28.
49. See id.
50. See Mitchell, supra note 25, at 11.
51. See id.; see also Hinrichsen, supra note 22, at 23.
52. See, e.g., Ariyoshi, supra note 10, at 20.
53. See id. at 22.
54. See Luoma, supra note 21, at 27.
55. See Ariyoshi, supra note 10, at 23.
56. See Mitchell, supra note 25, at 10.
1996] Land and Resource Management

The ICRI's" Framework for Action was developed to give

governments and other interested parties a blueprint for instigating
coordinated, effective action to preserve coral reef ecosystems." More than
seventy-five nations and "scores" of organizations have been involved in
ICRI programs since its inception. 9
The ICRI's goal is to reduce the human-related impacts on coral reefs
by increasing political support for the sustainable management of these
ecosystems, initiating improved management practices to guarantee
sustainability, increasing the capacity of both national and local
management and enforcement agencies, and working to build research
and monitoring information networks .6 ° One of the ICRI's primary
accomplishments is the launching, with affiliates, of the Global Coral Reef
Monitoring Network.6 ' The ICRI also supports regional workshops to
disseminate both scientific and policy-oriented information and to catalyze
local, domestic, and regional organizations and governments to protect
62
coral reefs.
The ICRI states also support ICRI programs within a bilateral
framework, including projects between the Swedish International
Development Cooperation Agency and several African nations, a United
Kingdom-South Asia regional project, and US Agency for International
Development (USAID)-funded projects in the Gulf of Aqaba and the South
Pacific.6 ' The Canadian International Development Agency will support
twenty-five marine resources projects in the South Pacific through the
second phase of the Canada-South Pacific Ocean Development Program."
Additionally, the World Bank has funded the creation of oceanic parks in
the Philippines and Indonesia.
The world has approximately 800 oceanic parks; 66 however,
designation as a protected area alone is not enough to ensure protection of
an ecosystem. 67 Only about half of the nations with jurisdiction over coral

57. See ICRI, About the Coral Reef Initiative (visited Jan. 2, 1997) <http://
www.mbnet.mb.ca/vps/icri/about.html> [hereinafter About the Coral ReefInitiative].
58. See Report to the UN Commission on SustainableDevelopment, supranote 28.
59. See Remarks on the International Coral Reef Initiative, supra note 1.
60. See Call to Action, supra note 36.
61. See Nash, supra note 23, at 60.
62. See About the InternationalCoralReef Initiative, supra note 57.
63. See Report to the UN Commission on SustainableDevelopment, supranote 28.
64. See Canada to Help South PacificRegion Manage Its Ocean Resources, Canada
NewsWire, Sept. 5, 1996, available in WESTLAW, Allnewsplus Database. The program
focuses on developing legislation, monitoring surveillance and control procedures, and
providing technical and policy assistance for fishery management. Id.
65. See Mitchell, supra note 25, at 10-11.
66. See id. at 11.
67. See, e.g., id. (describing the phenomena known as "paper parks").
 Colo. J. Int'l Envtl. L. & Pol'y [YB

reef ecosystems have any systems to preserve the reefs." International

environmental organizations believe that a combination of tactics, including
domestic and regional regulations based on sustainable development
strategies and empowering local people with both legal rights and
technological and financial support for enforcement, provide the best hope
for the reefs' recovery."9
The Philippines' coral reefs have been subject to more abuse than
any other reef ecosystem." Environmentalists maintain that from sixty-
six to ninety percent of the archipelago's 13,000 square miles of coral reef
ecosystem is deteriorating or beyond saving." The primary source of harm
is overfishing, with contributions from deforestation and land-based
pollution from factories, farms, and sewers.72 The fishing industry dumps
330,000 pounds of cyanide on the living coral reefs off the Philippine
islands every year. 3 Despite a legal ban on its use, cyanide is the "agent of
choice" in meeting the demands of both gourmet diners and international
aquarium owners.74 The lack of enforcement of the law in the Philippines
is a "direct result of local poverty and local politics." 5 Despite heavy
sentences for violators of the cyanide ban, enforcement is still difficult in
many areas. 6
The problem of enforcing the cyanide ban in the Philippines has been
somewhat alleviated by the government constitutionally recognizing the
rights of local fishermen and by increasing local jurisdiction over the reefs."
In remote areas of the Philippines, such as the Tubbataha Reefs World
Heritage site in the Sulu Sea, preserving reef ecosystems as protected areas
proves effective in saving coral reefs. ' However, some international
projects have gone further and are attempting to actually "remak[e] the
local balance of politics" that has allowed ecosystem degradation.79 The
purpose of a US Agency for International Development (US AID) Coastal
Resources Management Project in the Philippines is to sustainably manage
10,000 miles of coastline. 0 The project worked to empower the local

68. See Hinrichsen, supra note 22, at 23.

69. See Ariyoshi, supra note 10, at 25.
70. See id. at 23-24; see also Nash, supra note 23, at 61.
71. See Ariyoshi, supra note 10, at 24; see also Nash, supra note 23, at 61.
72. See Nash, supra note 23, at 61.
73. See id. at 62.
74. Ariyoshi, supra note 10, at 20.
75. Butler, supra note 43, at 57.
76. See Bequette, supra note 3. In March 1996,21 cyanide fishermen were sentenced
to 10-year prison sentences. Id.
77. See Ariyoshi, supra note 10, at 24-25. But see Bequette, supra note 3 (opining
that the Tubbataha Reefs have "not been spared" from degradation).
78. See Butler, supra note 43, at 57.
79. Id.
80. See id.
1996] Land and Resource Management

community to act in its own self-interest and to protect its resources by

building a local political coalition strong enough to defeat the fishing
industry interests.'
Papua New Guinea, which recognizes community ownership of local
fishing grounds, is also building a system to regulate abuse of the reefs
and to build research and preservation programs." The Nature Conservancy
has encouraged the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group to enact a
regional ban on cyanide uses3 and has worked to reform laws regulating
the importation of cyanide-caught aquarium fish into the United States."4
The governments of the United States, Japan, and Palau have pledged
millions of dollars for a regional center for coral reef conservation in the
Republic of Palau, which contains reefs designated as one of the Seven
Marine Wonders of the World. 5
There is momentum for assessing and preventing the loss of the
world's coral reefs. Innumerable human beings depend on this resource
for their livelihood and their subsistence. The trend is for international
institutions, regional affiliations, and domestic states to use the aid that is
available to enact sustainable management regimes to protect this resource.
Research and monitoring should be funded and promoted by more
developed nations as part of their obligation under the UNCED Agenda
21 and other international agreements and customs to identify and protect
the world's threatened marine resources.

Nancy Nelson

81. See id.

82. See Ariyoshi, supra note 10, at 25.
83. See id.
84. See id.
85. See Regina Perkins, On the Land. InternationalPrograms, Micronesia, NA-
TURE CONSERVANCY, Jan.-Feb. 1997, at 26, 31.