Legal Framework for Pontocaspian Biodiversity Conservation in the Danube Delta (Romania and Ukraine)
The declining biodiversity has upsetting consequences for social and economic development and represents a major concern for humanity. Legal and political framework plays an important role in biodiversity conservation planning, implementation, and coordination of actions. Legal provisions are comple...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Conservation Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2022.814781/full |
| _version_ | 1798018708308754432 |
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| author | Aleksandre Gogaladze Aleksandre Gogaladze Jacobus C. Biesmeijer Jacobus C. Biesmeijer Mikhail O. Son Oleksii Marushchak Frank P. Wesselingh Frank P. Wesselingh Matteo Lattuada Matteo Lattuada Cristina Sandu Christian Albrecht Simona Mihailescu Niels Raes Niels Raes |
| author_facet | Aleksandre Gogaladze Aleksandre Gogaladze Jacobus C. Biesmeijer Jacobus C. Biesmeijer Mikhail O. Son Oleksii Marushchak Frank P. Wesselingh Frank P. Wesselingh Matteo Lattuada Matteo Lattuada Cristina Sandu Christian Albrecht Simona Mihailescu Niels Raes Niels Raes |
| author_sort | Aleksandre Gogaladze |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The declining biodiversity has upsetting consequences for social and economic development and represents a major concern for humanity. Legal and political framework plays an important role in biodiversity conservation planning, implementation, and coordination of actions. Legal provisions are complex and operate on different levels of governance (from supranational to national), which means that the status of single species or populations may be governed by a set of interacting or even conflicting regulations, with increasing complexity for species that occur across national borders. Romania (EU member state) and Ukraine (non-EU member state) exemplify neighboring countries with different governance systems, which share the same endemic aquatic communities inhabiting the transitional zones between freshwater and marine ecosystems, known regionally as Pontocaspian (PC) biota. These communities include flagship species such as sturgeons and less-known crustaceans and mollusks and are severely threatened as a result of human activities. We assessed the legal basis for the protection of PC biota in the Danube Delta and the effectiveness of current conservation approaches based on a review of legal documents and literature, expert opinion, and practitioner reflections regarding PC biodiversity conservation. We found that PC invertebrate species are not adequately addressed in the current legal documents and that the surrogate approach (where protection of umbrella species results in protection of background species) does not work as there is little overlap between the habitats of sturgeons and PC invertebrate communities. Furthermore, the habitat definitions currently used in legal documents lack the level of detail needed to protect PC habitats that are characterized by specific salinity (brackish) conditions. We finish by sketching out recommendations toward improved legal and political frameworks for effective and efficient conservation of PC invertebrate biota. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T16:28:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-192afc3002764b3eb74f68530e0c39b7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-611X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T16:28:51Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Conservation Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-192afc3002764b3eb74f68530e0c39b72022-12-22T04:14:05ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Conservation Science2673-611X2022-02-01310.3389/fcosc.2022.814781814781Legal Framework for Pontocaspian Biodiversity Conservation in the Danube Delta (Romania and Ukraine)Aleksandre Gogaladze0Aleksandre Gogaladze1Jacobus C. Biesmeijer2Jacobus C. Biesmeijer3Mikhail O. Son4Oleksii Marushchak5Frank P. Wesselingh6Frank P. Wesselingh7Matteo Lattuada8Matteo Lattuada9Cristina Sandu10Christian Albrecht11Simona Mihailescu12Niels Raes13Niels Raes14Marine Biodiversity Department, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, NetherlandsDepartment of Environmental Biology, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, NetherlandsDepartment of Environmental Biology, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, NetherlandsNL Biodiversity and Society, Leiden, NetherlandsDepartment of Quality of Aquatic Environment, Institute of Marine Biology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Odessa, UkraineDepartment of Animal Monitoring and Conservation, I.I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev, UkraineMarine Biodiversity Department, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, NetherlandsDepartment of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsDepartment Landscape Ecology and Environmental Systems Analysis, Institute of Geoecology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, GermanyDepartment of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, GermanyInternational Association for Danube Research, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany0Department of Ecology, Taxonomy and Nature Conservation, Institute of Biology Bucharest, Romanian Academy, Bucharest, RomaniaMarine Biodiversity Department, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands1Netherlands Biodiversity Information Facility, Leiden, NetherlandsThe declining biodiversity has upsetting consequences for social and economic development and represents a major concern for humanity. Legal and political framework plays an important role in biodiversity conservation planning, implementation, and coordination of actions. Legal provisions are complex and operate on different levels of governance (from supranational to national), which means that the status of single species or populations may be governed by a set of interacting or even conflicting regulations, with increasing complexity for species that occur across national borders. Romania (EU member state) and Ukraine (non-EU member state) exemplify neighboring countries with different governance systems, which share the same endemic aquatic communities inhabiting the transitional zones between freshwater and marine ecosystems, known regionally as Pontocaspian (PC) biota. These communities include flagship species such as sturgeons and less-known crustaceans and mollusks and are severely threatened as a result of human activities. We assessed the legal basis for the protection of PC biota in the Danube Delta and the effectiveness of current conservation approaches based on a review of legal documents and literature, expert opinion, and practitioner reflections regarding PC biodiversity conservation. We found that PC invertebrate species are not adequately addressed in the current legal documents and that the surrogate approach (where protection of umbrella species results in protection of background species) does not work as there is little overlap between the habitats of sturgeons and PC invertebrate communities. Furthermore, the habitat definitions currently used in legal documents lack the level of detail needed to protect PC habitats that are characterized by specific salinity (brackish) conditions. We finish by sketching out recommendations toward improved legal and political frameworks for effective and efficient conservation of PC invertebrate biota.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2022.814781/fullbiodiversityconservationgovernancelegal arrangementsPontocaspian regionenvironmental policy |
| spellingShingle | Aleksandre Gogaladze Aleksandre Gogaladze Jacobus C. Biesmeijer Jacobus C. Biesmeijer Mikhail O. Son Oleksii Marushchak Frank P. Wesselingh Frank P. Wesselingh Matteo Lattuada Matteo Lattuada Cristina Sandu Christian Albrecht Simona Mihailescu Niels Raes Niels Raes Legal Framework for Pontocaspian Biodiversity Conservation in the Danube Delta (Romania and Ukraine) Frontiers in Conservation Science biodiversity conservation governance legal arrangements Pontocaspian region environmental policy |
| title | Legal Framework for Pontocaspian Biodiversity Conservation in the Danube Delta (Romania and Ukraine) |
| title_full | Legal Framework for Pontocaspian Biodiversity Conservation in the Danube Delta (Romania and Ukraine) |
| title_fullStr | Legal Framework for Pontocaspian Biodiversity Conservation in the Danube Delta (Romania and Ukraine) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Legal Framework for Pontocaspian Biodiversity Conservation in the Danube Delta (Romania and Ukraine) |
| title_short | Legal Framework for Pontocaspian Biodiversity Conservation in the Danube Delta (Romania and Ukraine) |
| title_sort | legal framework for pontocaspian biodiversity conservation in the danube delta romania and ukraine |
| topic | biodiversity conservation governance legal arrangements Pontocaspian region environmental policy |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2022.814781/full |
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