THE LOUD CRY OF NATURE: IS IT AN
ISSUE OF FAILED ENVIRONMENTAL
GOVERNANCE OR A NATURAL LOSS OF
BIODIVERSITY
By: Patrick Byakagaba
OUTLINE
• Definition of concepts
• Link between Environmental Ethics and Governance
• Ethical approaches dominating valuation of the natural
environment
• Principles of Good Environmental Governance
• Requirements for Effective Environmental Governance
• Environmental Governance in Uganda
• Other causes of Biodiversity Loss in Uganda
• Conclusion
ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE
• Environmental Governance comprises the rules, practices,
policies and institutions that shape how humans interact with
the environment
• It concerns how the decisions are made, with a particular
emphasis on the need for citizens, interest groups, and
communities generally, to participate and have their voices
heard in making environmental decisions
Link between Environmental Ethics and
Governance
• Environmental ethics is about how we ought to act
towards the environment
• There are many different perspectives on what
represents "right"
• It is critical to understand some of these views, in
order to understand the behaviour of various actors
in relation to environment management
• The environmental ethics espoused by a country will
shape her environmental governance principles
Ethical approaches dominating
valuation of the natural environment
Allan Marshal’s views
Libertarian extension
-This approach suggests a commitment to extend equal rights
to all members of a community
-The broader definition of community is applied here i.e. Nonhumans as well as humans
-This approach argues for the recognition of the intrinsic value
of the all organisms in the environment
- Any body who does not appreciate the value of other
organisms would be perceived as not being environmentally
conscious.
Ethical approaches dominating
valuation of the natural environment
Ecologic extension/deep ecology/biocentrism
• Ecologic extension places emphasis on the recognition of the
fundamental interdependence of all biotic (and some abiotic)
entities and their essential diversity
• It is considered to be based on science
• It argues for intrinsic value inherent in collective ecological
entities like ecosystems or the global environment as a whole
entity.
• The planet is characterized as a unified, holistic entity with
ethical worth of which the human race is of no particular
significance in the long run.
Ethical approaches dominating
valuation of the natural environment
Conservation Approach
• It focuses only on the worth of the environment in terms
of its utility or usefulness to humans
• argues for the conservation of the environment on the
basis that it has extrinsic value – critical to the welfare
of human beings
• Most of the Rio- principles were generated based on this
approach
Ethical approaches dominating
valuation of the natural environment
Applied Theology
• Christianity and Islam teach that the earth was
created by God and man is supposed to be
accountable to God in the way earth resources are
used
• The earth is perceived to be valuable to God and
therefore man is expected to use it in a way that
would please God
Ethical approaches dominating
valuation of the natural environment
Anthropocentrism
• Places humans at the centre of the universe
• Humans are the measure of all value
• Therefore, everything else in existence is
evaluated in terms of its utility for humans.
Principles of Good Environmental Governance
Derived from the Rio Conference
• Intergenerational equity
• Sustainable use
• Precaution
• Polluter pays
• Good neighbourliness
• Equity and fairness
Principles Cont’
• Making Decisions at the Appropriate Level
• Integrating the Environment into all Decisions
• Transparency
• Accountability
• Access to Information, Participation, and Redress
Extinction threatened (%age
of global species)
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Birds
Mammals
Fish
Plants
Proportion of the global number of spp of Birds, Mammals,
Fish and lants threatened with extinction
Pimm, S. L., Russell, G. J., Gittleman, J. L. & Brooks, T. M. The future of
biodiversity. 1995. Science 269, 347–350
Requirements for Effective Environmental
Governance
• Environmental laws should be clear, even-handed, implementable and
enforceable
• Environmental information should be shared with the public
• Affected stakeholders should be afforded opportunities to participate in
environmental decision-making
• Environmental decision-makers, both public and private, should be
accountable for their decisions
•
Roles and lines of authority for environmental protection should be clear,
coordinated, and designed to produce efficient and non-duplicative
program delivery
• Affected stakeholders should have access to fair and responsive dispute
resolution procedures
Environmental Governance in Uganda
• Uganda is a signatory to the Rio declaration and therefore it
espouses the Rio Principles of Sustainable development in its
Policy and Legal framework
• In practice environmental governance is shaped by
anthropocentrism
• Responsible agencies and Departments of Government,
CSO’s are driven by Ecologic extension approach of
environmental ethics which usually is not well understood
and appreciated by ordinary people
• There is no shared vision for good environmental governance
among various actors at National level
Environmental Governance in Uganda
- Environmental Governance on paper is predominantly
shaped by global discourses with little or no national
influence and this is often perceived alien hence weakly
implemented
- Environment governance in Uganda is not hinged on any
clear well defined environmental ethics philosophy
- Loss of Biodiversity in Uganda is mainly due to habitat
loss which is related to poor environmental governance
Other causes of Biodiversity Loss in
Uganda
• High Population growth
• Land degradation/habitat fragmentation
• Lack of suitable technology to diversify and have efficient
and effective use of Biodiversity
• International and National Policies
• Poverty and lack of diversified economies
• Market Pressures create incentives for activities that can
lead to biodiversity loss
• Weak and uncoordinated Government Institutions
• Disempowered populace
• Corruption
• Poor funding and lack of prioritization
Conclusion and Way forward
Biodiversity loss in Uganda is:
• mainly due to poor/weak environmental governance
• Lack of a shared Ideological purpose for sustainable
environment management
• Resigned citizenry
• Failure to appreciate the intrinsic value of other non-human
components of the environment
• Human alteration of habitats
Way forward: Improve environmental governance mainly by
eliminating political corruption and building consensus on the
purpose for biodiversity conservation
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR
ATTENTION