Environmental ministers at the "Environment for Europe" Conference in Sofia in 1995 recognised the need for a European initiative to support the implementation of the Convention on Biodiversity by endorsing the Pan European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS). The Strategy, established by 55 European countries, intends to provide a consistent approach towards protecting nature and landscape in Europe. It highlights ten principles which will support the PEBLDS philosophy of integrating conservation measures into a number of social and economic sectors. Among the principles is the Polluter Pays Principle which asserts that the costs of measures to prevent, control and reduce damage to biological and landscape diversity shall be born by the responsible party.
In 1996, the European Centre for Nature Conservation (ECNC), recognising that biodiversity and nature protection concerns often lack a market-based financial mechanism and compete with a host of other environmental concerns for subsidised support, hosted an international conference on Innovative Financing Opportunities in support of PEBLDS. The Conference was co-organised by UNEP and supported by the Dutch Government and Swiss Federal Agency for Environment, Forest and Landscapes. The Conference was attended by 130 participants from 33 countries representing 85 organisations: commercial enterprises, banks, private and commercial sponsorship, lotteries, nature conservation organisations and charities, investment and aid programmes of national governments, and multilateral donors. The outcome of the conference, The Brabant Declaration, called on European institutions and countries to address the need for financing biodiversity protection and the private sector to pursue sustainable use policies regarding natural resource exploitation. The nine recommendations comprising the Brabant Declaration in 1996 continue to hold meaning in the context of financing biological diversity (see Supplement 1).
"Realizing that Central, Eastern and Southern European countries involved in the UN-ECE process should be given special attention within the priorities of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy;" the Declaration called on specific assistance providers such as the EU Phare and Tacis Programs and facilitators such as the Project Preparation Committee (PPC) to further explore the possibilities to support activities in the field of biological diversity preservation.
Phare provides support for a wide range of commercial, public, and private organisations. In 1996, 6 out of 75 assignments directly supported biodiversity projects, such as the biodiversity protection and management project of the Karavasta Lagoon and the Dijvaka National Park in Albania, organisation of the workshop to develop a management strategy for Polish National Parks, and projects in sustainable agriculture and multi-country forestry. Tacis programs focus on Newly Independent States of former Soviet Union and Mongolia. Two out of 24 projects supported biodiversity in 1996. These projects focused on the implementation of the Black Sea Wetlands Conservation Plan and organisation of International Conference on the Integration of Environmental Consideration into Strategies for Economic Reform. By 1998, the PPC had 5 projects in the area of biological diversity and nature protection matched or under implementation. Additional PPC selected projects in the forestry, transport, and waste management sectors will also have significance for the protection of biodiversity.
In addition to these initiatives on the European level, bi- and multi-lateral assistance has also targeted the biodiversity sector. One of the more successful initiatives in this area is the Polish ECOFund, which will manage a total of USD 474 million by the year 2010. Revenues for the fund is made available through "debt-for-environment swaps" wherein creditor nations forgive a percentage of Polish debt which is to be earmarked for environmental protection purposes. Biological diversity/nature protection is one of the four target spending areas for the ECOFund, so far accounting for approximately USD 60 million, or 13% of in total expenditures. Analysts from OECD who reviewed the ECOFund recommended that the fund managers further concentrate on, among other areas, nature protection which often lacks more market-based financing mechanisms.
"The Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy." Council of Europe, UNEP, European Centre for Nature Conservation, 1996.
"The Brabant Declaration" (see supplement for complete text) and further information available from www.ecnc.nl/ or European Centre for Nature Conservation, 1998. PO Box 1352/5004 BJ Tilburg, The Netherlands.
OECD. "Swapping Debt for Environment The Polish ECOFund." 1998.