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Chapter Six
Conclusion and Recommendations
6.1 General Concluding Remarks
Biological diversity, in its various forms, is the primary capital resource for most African countries. Its conservation, therefore, is essential for the continuity of Africa's socio-economic systems. A general recognition of this fact is evidenced by the active participation of African states in a varied body of biodiversity treaty law, some of it global and some regional or sub-regional.
Beginning with an account of the state of biological diversity in Africa, this Handbook has undertaken a systematic analysis of the existing treaty law, of its essential characteristics, and of the scope for its domestication in the individual countries. A detailed illustration of the participation of African countries in the biodiversity conventions has been given. The level of such participation varies from one treaty to another, but has been quite remarkable in recent times - especially with the convention on Biological Diversity (1992) and the Con-vention to Combat Desertification (1994).
This may partly be explained by the fact that greater awareness on biodiversity issues has been achieved more recently; partly by the background of activity leading to the adoption/ opening for signature of the conventions in question; and partly by the new, attractive elements that have marked the major environmental conventions of the recent past - specifically the prospects for techno-logical and financial assistance for the implementation process. However, far more important as an explanation for Africa's active participation in these treaties is the fact that its precious natural resources are being rapidly depleted but not being substituted by any new basis for socio-economic development.
As the various biodiversity conventions represent constructive
new conservation ideas, they should in principle guide Africa's conservation efforts. On this ac-count, the domestication of the relevant principles in national law is seen as a first step in biodiversity management. The purpose of this Handbook is to facilitate this process of domestication, as an aid to conservation programmes.It is clear from the Handbook that certain specific things have to be done to set the stage for domestication, namely:
(i) identification of the most relevant
biodiversity-related conventions;
(viii) identification of the critical elements in the treaty law;
(ix) determination of the specific conservation theme that each convention addresses;
(x) identification of any factors that favour or limit the progress of the conservation task;
(xi) indication of possible solutions to any obstacles to the conservation initiatives;
(xii) proposition of appropriate
institutional arrangements for the domestication
process;
(xiii) consideration of legal issues pertaining to the domestication process;
(xiv) consideration of the non-legal mechanisms that provide the facilitative context for the domestication process.