Reform policies that hasten loss of biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems
Freshwater ecosystems are damaged primarily because the potential impacts of industrial, urban, energy, and agricultural policies on these ecosystems are disregarded. To promote local agriculture and urban and industrial development, governments have often subsidized water, thereby encouraging waste. Governments should fully evaluate the environmental impacts of water development projects and strictly control pollutant discharges into freshwater systems. They should also end inappropriate freshwater subsidies and reform the legal regimes governing water rights and allocations so as to encourage better maintenance of fresh water quality and supply.
Objectives : Adopt new public policies and accounting methods that promote conservation and the equitable use of biodiversity
Assert national sovereignty over genetic resources and regulate their collection:
Genetic resources have traditionally been treated as though they were a common heritage of humankind-free to all who could use them. In practice, some restrictions on access have existed for decades-notably, the limited monopoly rights to germplasm granted to plant breeders in many countries. As the value of genetic resources grows, so do incentives to conserve biodiversity. Countries should not necessarily begin to charge for access to these resources, recognize private rights to the country's genetic wealth, or restrict flows of genetic resources. But national governments should assert their right to control the genetic resources that they hold, consider establishing property rights regimes, and carefully regulate the collection of plants, animals, and microorganisms, particularly those collected for commercial purpose.
Strictly regulate the transfer of species and genetic resources and their release into the wild:
Even introducing the same species can present hazards through the mixing of genetic stocks. In many fish hatcheries, the wild population has been genetically contaminated by interbreeding with the introduced varieties. Furthermore, largely homozygous fish under culture in ponds or in cages at sea can reduce the heterozygosity of the same species in the wild should they escape and interbreed. Fundamentally, regulations must ensure that no organism can be released without first getting the host country government's consent. Introducing genetically engineered organisms presents unique risks since laboratory results alone make a poor guide to their behavior, ecological
impacts, and potential socio-economic effects.
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