2nd Asian Judges Symposium on Environment: Natural Capital and the Rule of Law2 – 5 December 2013 l ADB Headquarters, Manila, Philippines
Session 3 Forest EcosystemTrack 2 – Natural Capital: Key Terrestrial Ecosystems in the Asia Pacific
Chair: Atty. Roberto V. Oliva Executive Director, ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity
www.aseanbiodiversity.org
Total Land Area: 44.579 M sq. km. / 4.4579 B ha
Total Population: 3.879 B (60% of earth’s population)
Home to 6 out of 17 megadiverse countries:
China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Philippines
Asia
Deforestation and forest degradation remain as the most serious threats to the forests.
These are caused by logging, whether legal or illegal; and forest land conversion.
Underlying causes of deforestation include:
Poverty; lack of secure land tenure patterns; inadequate recognition within national laws and jurisdiction of the rights and needs of forest-dependent indigenous and local communities; undervaluation of forest products and ecosystem services; absence of a supportive economic climate that facilitates sustainable forest management.
Session 3 has three objectives:
This session has three objectives: (1) to consider the state of Asia’s forest ecosystems as a form of natural capital, its economic value, the threats thereto, and the resulting risks to development; (2) to consider the general framework of forest laws and forest law and enforcement challenges, including (i) administrative law issues of improperly issued timber and logging licenses and permits, (ii) civil law issues relating to disputes between competing rights holders, such as customary land holders verses mining rights resulting in the depletion of natural capital, and (iii) criminal law issues of illegal logging; (3) Judges will share their experience of forest law issues in their courts.
Session 3: Scope
The Forest Ecosystem The State of Asia-Pacific Forests and their Economic Value
Relevant Laws and Law Enforcement Forest Law Frameworks Unsustainable Forest Clearing and Illegal Logging Combating Corruption and Illegal Logging: the Nexus and
the Role of the Indonesian Judiciary
The Judicial Role Farms and Forest Harms: The Role of the Brazilian
Judiciary Concessions, Permits and Administrative Law
