O Level Notes : Geography - Environmental Management - Domestication of International Conventions
Most countries like Zimbabwe have adopted international conventions in order to join the international community in fighting Environmental degradation.
Domesticating or implementing international Conventions at local level has benefits and problems.
Pros and Cons of Domesticating International Conventions
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Benefits(Pros) Problems (Cons) |
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Ensures cooperation amongst member states. |
Less economically developed countries are stopped from benefiting from practices that might have led to industrialization of developed countries. |
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Countries gain power to lobby for Environmental protection as a bloc |
Culprit nations in degradation and innocent nations are subjected to same measures |
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Members states access expertise from other members |
Prevents some nations from fully benefiting from their resources. |
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Environmental standards are maintained across the globe. |
Some convention do not consider the needs of the local people |
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It brings efficiency in enforcing resolutions |
The conventions are just blue prints whose frameworks may not be followed by some nations. |
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It helps to avoid conflicts amongst countries. |
May fail to consider conditions of other member countries. |
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Helps to stop Environmental crimes such as poaching and smuggling substances |
Leads to illegal trade in protected resources |
Land use planning as a strategy of environmental management.
Land use planning refers to the process of regulating the use of land to ensure sustainable management of the environment. Land use planning ensures a more responsible and efficient use of resources. It also regulates human activities like physical planning of towns and rural areas, farming and mineral extraction.
Land use planning also encooperates practices and technologies which are used to manage the environments. It guards against misuse of resources like land, water, biodiversity and several other environmental resources utilized by human beings. In most countries land use planning is initiated by environmentalists but several stakeholders are involved in land use planning processes. Town and rural councils, local leadership like chiefs and headman and some civic organizations are also involved in land use planning.
Ways of ensuring land use planning.
Some of the common ways used in land use planning are ;
- Irrigation engineering for example the use of drip irrigation kits which ensures more efficient use of water resource.
- Establishment of Greenbelts to halt the further expansion of urban sttlemeents into rural areas.
- Monitoring and evaluations of various projects to make sure that they are not damaging the the environment.
Challenges faced in land use planning
Enforcement of proper land use planning often faces a lot of challenges some of these includes ;
- Lack of funds to finance projects that ensures effective land use planning.
- Some areas naturally are marginal and dry and have limited resource endowment .In Zimbabwe most areas found in regions 4, 5 and 6 are generally difficult to foster effective land use planning due to their limited resources.
- Apart from human beings environments and their resources are also destroyed by natural disasters like cyclones, floods and earthquakes.
Here is what we have discussed in this topic
- Environmental Issues such as drought, global warming, floods, desertification and ozone depletion have led to increased efforts in International Environmental Management.
- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) isaimed at stopping harmful human interference with climate.
- Under the Kyoto Protocol, nations committed to reduce emission of
Greenhouse Gases.
- The Montreal Protocol was drafted to address the issue of ozone depletion.
- The Basel Convention was drafted to stop the disposal of hazardous wastes in developing countries by developed countries.
- Zimbabwe is signatory to a number of Conventions, protocols and treaties on Environmental Management.
Definitions of terms used in this topic
Climate Change: it refers to a change in the average weather conditions of a given area.
Global warming: it is the process of climate change marked by a rise in the average
Earth's temperatures.
Chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs): these are compounds which contain chlorine, fluorine and carbon such as contained in aerosols, sprays, refrigeration and air conditioning. These deplete the stratospheric ozone layer.
Convention: it involves the meeting of different countries leading to an agreed action plan on discussed issues.
Greenhouse Gasses(GHGs): these are gases that absorb and emit energy within the thermal infrared.
Heat Wave: a period of abnormally high temperatures.
Ozone Depleting Substances(ODS): these are gases which cause the depletion of ozone layer.
Protocol: is an agreement by parties forming the basis for treaties and conventions.
Stratospheric ozone: a layer of gases found in the stratosphere which shields the earth from direct rays of the sun.
Treaty: is an agreement by parties to reach common ground and prevent conflicts.
Wetlands: these are areas or regions which are saturated with water permanently or seasonallysuch as marshes, dams(lakes), vleis and rivers.
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