FAO hosts key meeting to enhance sustainable wildlife management laws
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is set to host a Legal Diagnostic Tool Validation meeting from June 17-19, 2024. This event, which is part of the Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme, will bring together in-house and external experts to refine and validate the legal diagnostic tools aimed at promoting sustainable wildlife management, under the auspices of the FAO Legal Office.
The SWM Programme is an international initiative that aims to enhance wildlife conservation and food security across forest, savannah and wetland ecosystems. Innovative field projects are being piloted and tested in collaboration with governments and 81 communities in 16 countries.
The initiative is being jointly implemented by a consortium of four partners, namely FAO, the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Funding is provided by the European Union with co-funding from the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) and the French Development Agency (AFD).
A significant milestone in the first phase of the initiative (2018-2023) was the launch of the SWM Programme Legal Hub, a comprehensive online platform that compiles relevant legal texts and analyses using the programme’s legal diagnostic tools. The Legal Hub, developed under the technical guidance of the Development Law Service of the FAO Legal Office, has been instrumental in triggering and facilitating participatory law reform processes in participating countries.
Throughout 2024, the SWM Programme legal diagnostic tools have been reviewed and improved to better incorporate One Health and community rights-based approaches, alongside key principles from Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs).
The upcoming meeting will focus on validating these improved tools. The goal is to use them in the coming years to undertake country-specific legal analyses, which will be shared on the Legal Hub and will continue informing law reform processes. This initiative aims to create a supportive environment for sustainable wildlife management and is part of the Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management (CPW) work plan for 2023-2025.
"The Legal Diagnostic Tool Validation meeting marks a crucial step in FAO’s efforts to enhance sustainable wildlife management in all its aspects through legislation. The tool simultaneously embeds the One Health approach while advancing the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the objectives of relevant Multilateral Environmental Agreements. Bringing together experts to refine the tool is a reflection of our commitment to drive meaningful law reform processes that promote wildlife conservation and food security across diverse ecosystems. This initiative exemplifies our belief that creating a supportive environment for sustainable wildlife management globally requires effective collaboration."
Donata Rugarabamu, Legal Counsel of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
For more information, please contact Eugenio Sartoretto, SWM Programme Legal Coordinator at [email protected].