Network of Australian Regulators Convenes in Brisbane
By: Donna Campbell, Executive Director, New South Wales Department of Environment and Conservation, Email: campbelld@epa.nsw.gov.au

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More than 200 government practitioners, from local, state and federal environment agencies from around Australia and New Zealand, attended the second annual conference of the Australian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators Network (AELERT) in Brisbane from the 26th to 28th October 2005.

The conference included plenary sessions covering topics of general interest and a series of 30-minute breakout sessions on more specialised topics. The specialised breakout sessions were very successful and provided excellent networking opportunities by bringing together participants with common interests. The sessions on regulatory practice proved to be the most popular. Topics in these sessions included: Training – a common standard for environmental investigators; Prioritisation Systems – sorting the wheat from the chaff; and Making the Most of the Tools Available.

A particularly valuable plenary session was entitled “The view from industry –getting the balance right” and featured three speakers representing the agriculture industry. They noted that regulators could improve their effectiveness if they acknowledged and rewarded those industries that go beyond compliance and adopt environmental best practice. Significantly, they emphasised that industry supports, and indeed expects, that regulators will take strong enforcement action against “free riders” to ensure a level playing field for all. A good example is an irrigator who expects strong enforcement action if a neighbour extracts more water from a river than the neighbour is entitled to, or has paid for, under a water extraction licence.

Other plenary sessions covered international trends and the work of INECE. The next conference will be held in Sydney at the same time next year. It is hoped that participants from the Asia Pacific region will also be able to join the network and share their experience.

More information about the conference, including the agenda and background papers, is available through the Conference Web page at http://inece.org/region_asia.html.

ASEAN Countries Pave Way for Wildlife Law Enforcement Network

In a strategic move to address the persistent criminal activity targeting Southeast Asia ’s unique biological diversity, representatives from the ten member countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to form a regional law enforcement network to combat the illegal trade in animals and plants.

Southeast Asia has long been targeted as a ‘hotspot’ for the global trade in wildlife, including a variety of animals

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and plants ranging from tigers and elephants, to rare orchids, to endemic reptiles and songbirds. Recognizing that the problem is beyond national boundaries, the 10 countries have detailed their response in a five-year commitment, the ASEAN Regional Action Plan on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora 2005-2010, which was endorsed by the ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry.

A key component under the Regional Action Plan is the need to mobilize a network focused on a co-ordinated law enforcement response against illegal wildlife trade.

An inaugural ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network Workshop, was held at Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. A fter three days of thorough discussion, ASEAN Member Country delegates, along with representatives from the Secretariats of ASEAN and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) , expressed their full support towards formalizing what will be the world’s largest wildlife law enforcement network.

The next steps will involve senior CITES, police, and customs officers from member countries of ASEANWEN meeting to set priorities relating to national and trans-national networking, as identified by delegates to the Khao Yai workshop.

A representative of the People’s Republic of China, which is already part of the existing ASEAN+3 cooperation mechanism and a major destination for Southeast Asia’s wildlife trade, also attended the workshop and indicated interest in linking up with the network’s efforts. Furthermore, officials from the United States , another major consumer country, expressed their interest in working with the new network to help reduce the global illegal trade in wildlife.

For more information contact James Compton, Regional Director, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia at james.compton@po.jaring.my.

Workshop Builds Indonesian Environmental Law Enforcement Capacity

In October, a select group of 18 Indonesian judges, prosecutors, and environmental law enforcement officers participated in “Environmental Law and Enforcement,” a training workshop that focused on the criminal and civil aspects of environmental law and good governance principles as they relate to law enforcement. The workshop also included several visits to courts, government departments and agencies. The course is part of a wider “Indonesia Australia Specialized Project” supported by the Asia Pacific Training Centre of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), AusAID, and the Government of Indonesia. The second part of the training was held at the University of South Australia.

More information is available from International Development Law Organization's Web site.

African and Asian Alliance Created to Address Forest Governance

An alliance of independent agencies working in Africa and Asia recently formed the Forest Governance Learning Group to develop, exchange, and implement ideas on forest governance. A shared belief motivates the group: that forestry can contribute to the eradication of poverty and sustainability, but only with good forest governance – the right leadership, institutions, policy decisions and practical systems.

In recent years much progress in forest governance has been made in many countries: national policy has opened up to more stakeholders; rights of forest-dependent people have strengthened; and good forestry has shown potential to trigger wider governance reform. Yet while lists of prescriptions for governance are getting longer by the day, practical approaches and real preparedness to implement them are in short supply – the challenge is not what to do, but how to do it.

In this work the Group aims to contribute to the African and Asian Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) processes and to the European FLEG and Trade (FLEGT) process in its partnerships with African and Asian countries. Planned activities include participatory analysis, learning and training events and network building,

More information is available through the International Institute for Environment and Development's Web site.

Philippines Toughening Air Pollution Standards

Noting the poor air quality in Manila, The Philippines, announced plans to adopt stricter controls on air pollution with the goal of reaching a national standard, equal to Euro 4, by 2010. As part of the effort, automobile manufacturers will be encouraged to produce cars that pass the stringent Euro 2 to Euro 4 standards by 2006. The country has been using Euro 1 standards since a new clean air law was passed in 2000.

A full article is available from Reuters.