<%-- Page Title--%> Law Opinion <%-- End Page Title--%>

June 6, 2004

Preserving the Seas
Role of international and national laws

Mohammad Monirul Azam and Md. Saiful Karim

World Environment Day, which commemorated each year on June 5, is one of the prime vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates awareness of the environment globally and enhances political attention, co-operation and action to save the environment. This year the theme of the World Environment Day is "Wanted! Seas and Oceans Dead or Alive?" It urges each and every human being to keep seas and oceans healthy and alive rather than polluted and dead forever.

Threats to the seas and oceans
The common assumption that living marine resources are inexhaustible has been proven incorrect. Recent technological advances and expanding human activities around the world in the high seas are sequentially depleting fish stocks, destroying ocean biodiversity, productivity and ecosystem processes in a ways that are harmful and sometimes irreversible.

Loss of bio-diversity and the attendant decimation of stocks of living resources, widespread appearance of ecosystem imbalances and impairment of ecological processes may well undermine the adaptive potential of species and ecosystems and their ability to meet future human needs.

However the major direct threats to marine and coastal biodiversity can be divided into five related categories: over-exploitation of marine living resources; introduction of alien species; development and its side effects; and global change, in particular climate change, including ozone depletion.

Furthermore, nitrogen overload from fertilisers is creating a growing number of 'oxygen-starved dead zones' in coastal waters across the globe. Marine litter is killing up to a million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals and turtles each year.

Therefore, seas and oceans are in a state of crisis and how international community responded over the years to save the seas and oceans should be examined and strengthened further to make the regulatory system more effective and thereby save the seas and oceans from pollution and future degradation.

Responses of the international community
International Convention for the protection of Pollution of the Sea by Oil was the first effort to save the seas and oceans from pollution. Thereafter many conventions were adopted. In 1973 the International Convention for the Prevention of pollution from Ships was adopted under the auspices of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and in 1976 United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) established the regional seas program, which has led to over thirty regional treaties.

In 1982 the international community finally adopted the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which addressed pollution of the marine environment comprehensively with a view to establishing rules and standards of global application - a constitution for the oceans. UNCLOS requires states to pay particular attention to two main environmental objectives: to prevent, reduce and control marine pollution and to conserve and mange marine living resource. Chapter XII of the UNCLOS adequately and exclusively deals with the protection and preservation of marine environment. Article 194(3) of the UNCLOS elaborates the obligation to prevent pollution damage by addressing particular sources of pollution from land-based activities; from seabed activities; from activities in the area; from dumping from vessels; from or through the atmosphere. Article 194(5) requires special protection for rare or fragile ecosystems as well as the habitat of depleted, threatened or endangered species and outperforms of marine life. However instead of treating the ocean as "an indivisible ecological whole" the UNCLOS partitioned it--horizontally, vertically, and functionally.

Again in the Jakarta Mandate, a declaration adopted by the Conference of Parties (CoP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at its second meeting in Jakarta in 1995, identified marine and coastal biodiversity as an area for priority action. The Mandate singles out coastal management, marine protected areas, fisheries, mariculture, and the introduction of alien species for special attention. The Jakarta mandate recommended a number of steps to preserve the coastal and marine ecosystems, which are worth noting

1. Parties should institute integrated coastal area management.
2. Parties should establish and maintain marine protected areas for conservation and sustainable use.
3. Parties should use fisheries and other marine living resources in a sustainable manner.
4. Parties should ensure that mariculture operations are sustainable.
5. Parties should prevent introduction of harmful alien species and take measures to control or eradicate such species when they are introduced.
6. Parties should identify priority components of biodiversity, monitor their status and threats, and identify measures for conservation and sustainable use.
7. Parties should build the capacity to use and share equitably the benefits of marine genetic resources and biochemical within national jurisdictions.
8. Parties should take responsibility for trans-boundary harm and global threats to marine biodiversity.

All this steps would be a unique step to save the seas and oceans, if effectively enforced. However, mere commitment is not enough without positive steps.

Bangladesh perspective
Bay of Bengal has provided Bangladesh world's largest beach as well as a rich coastal area filled with unique and diverse biodiversity. The coastal zone of Bangladesh is of 710 km long, which is unique and complex. It has a great natural ecosystem value not only for its multiple renewable resources of direct economic benefit to the nation but also for its outstanding aesthetic value and scientific interest. Burdened with a large population lacking adequate natural resources on land, Bangladesh will have to depend more and more on her sea territories. But increased pollution, destruction of biodiversity and ill management of seaport has become a major threat in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Government enacted the Territorial water and Maritime Zones Act 1974 (Act No XXVI of 1974), which contains some provisions to prevent marine pollution. According to section 6 of this Act the Government may by Gazette notification establish conservation zones in the sea for maintenance of the living resources. Section 8 of the Act empowers government to take such measure, as it deems appropriate for preventing and controlling marine pollution and preserving the quality and ecological balance in the marine environment in high seas adjacent to the territorial waters.

According to the section 26 of the Marine Fisheries Ordinance, 1983 uses or attempts to use of any explosive, poison or other noxious substances in water is an offence. Section 28 empowers government to declare any portion of Bangladesh fisheries water as marine reserve for special protection of aquatic flora and fauna therein.

Again According to section 41A of The Chittagong Port Authority Ordinance, 1976 (Ordinance No. LII of 1976) causing pollution of the water or environment to the port area shall be punishable with fine, which may extent to one lakh taka.

All these provision has a great significance to preserve our sea resources including fish stocks and prevent pollution in marine environment. But all these provisions are not utilised and enforced adequately and effectively.

Concluding Remarks
To save the seas and oceans, prevention mechanism should be considered and adopted. This suggests the need for a cradle-to-grave regulatory approach, which would also require greater use of environmental impact assessment procedures and other prevention mechanisms at source such as pollution from land based activities. Regulating the oceans currently targets the rubbish dump; it would be more effective when it will targets the sources. Nevertheless adoption of the Jakarta Mandate to the Convention on Biological Diversity is a significant step forward to save the seas and oceans. But implementation of this mandate requires greater national action and regional and international co-operation and only then we would be able to preserve our seas and oceans.

Mohammad Monirul Azam is a Lecturer, Department of law, Premier University, Chittagong and Md. Saiful Karim is an Officer of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA).