There is a vision in the EU for a transition to a low carbon society, including a carbon-neutral energy system, containing a high share of renewable energy. However, this vision is not isolated from other political goals, such as halting the loss of biodiversity by 2020. Both of these goals are accompanied by EU legislation promoting their respective aims. One of the central challenges, in light of this transition, is the very nature of the legal system – that it is rather fragmented – both regarding the substantive law applicable to renewable energy activities and the legal processes that renewable energy activities face. The aim is therefore to discuss certain challenges arising from the fragmented legal system applicable to renewable energy activities. The dissertation is based on EU and Swedish law. First, I investigate the EU’s competence in the field of renewable energy and address how such policy may better reflect the protection of biodiversity. Thereafter, in a Swedish context, I analyse the relationship between protection of biodiversity and promotion of renewable energy. Finally, I address the problems arising from the fragmented legal procedures of renewable energy activities, with the main example of wind power installations and new transmission lines. In general, this study suggests that the current system lacks consistency between renewable energy and nature protection legislation and there is a coordination problem with regards to the permit processes of the development of renewable energy activities. These conclusions point towards a need for a broader perspective on the development of renewable energy activities, which could include: a more integrated planning system for renewable energy activities; exploring the use of derogation rules from the Water Framework Directive; and a more integrated EU renewable energy policy with specific sustainability criteria.

The purpose of the thesis is to describe international, EU and Czech wildlife trade laws by identifying the regulatory measures established at these levels of law and examining them from the perspective of each. It further seeks to analyze how CITES obligations governing these measures are incorporated into the EU and Czech legislation and investigate whether they are likely implemented inadequately or, conversely, more strictly. Additionally, it points out some of the potential problems of the current legal framework as well. The thesis is composed of six chapters. Chapter one explains the goals of environmental policy in the area of nature conservation and biodiversity protection related to wildlife trade and reasons for the very existence of its regulation. Chapter two is concerned with general aspects of wildlife trade law such as its objective, purpose, principles and role within environmental law. Chapter three outlines the main and also some other relevant sources of law. Chapter four determines the principal regulatory measures which are contained within the legal regime in order to enable it to achieve its objectives. The fifth chapter then focuses on two groups of legal means designed to ensure the compliance of CITES parties and to enforce the provisions of EU and Czech wildlife trade legislation...

Submitted by Maike Costa (maiksebas@gmail.com) on 2017-07-14T12:04:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 5228581 bytes, checksum: 43e5e6328ec74650c52cdc0947e77429 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-14T12:04:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 5228581 bytes, checksum: 43e5e6328ec74650c52cdc0947e77429 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This work aimed to investigate the experiences of environmental change from the protective actions of native seeds, that serve as a strategic model to guarantee food sovereignty and biodiversity protection. In which, for the development of research, some actions were observed from three organizations and movements: Navdanya, Kokopelli and Sementes da Paixão, operating in countries with different cultural and socioeconomic - India, France and Brazil, respectively. However, they have the same intent with respect to policy and sustainable actions for the protection and cultivation of varieties of food crops. These practices are conducte in a safe way that respects the environment and their own cultural diversities while the development of creating genetically modified seeds alter the natural cycles of development and regeneration of nature, breaking bonds required for its maintenance, as well as autonomy, freedom of choice to feed and produce of farmers and consumers. The cultivation and protection of native seeds is a way of narrowing and return to a harmonious relationship, a period in which the man was part of nature. It is an act of liberation and a right to life. / Este trabalho tem como proposta investigar as experiências de transformações socioambientais a partir das ações de proteção das sementes crioulas/nativas que atuam como um modelo estratégico de garantia à soberania alimentar e proteção da biodiversidade. Para a elaboração da pesquisa, foram observadas algumas ações de três organizações e movimentos: Navdanya, Kokopelli e Sementes da Paixão, atuantes em países com diferentes contextos culturais e socioeconômicos – Índia, França e Brasil, respectivamente. Apesar disso, elas possuem uma mesma intenção com relação à definição de políticas e ações sustentáveis, para o cultivo e a proteção das variedades das culturas alimentares. Essas práticas são realizadas de forma segura, que respeita o meio ambiente e suas próprias diversidades culturais, posto que o desenvolvimento da criação das sementes geneticamente modificadas altera os ciclos naturais de desenvolvimento e regeneração da natureza, quebrando elos necessários para a sua manutenção, bem como a autonomia, o direito de escolha ao se alimentar e produzir dos agricultores e consumidores. O cultivo e proteção de sementes crioulas/nativas é uma forma de estreitamento e retorno a uma relação harmônica, a um período no qual o homem era parte da natureza. É um ato de libertação e um direito à vida.

Protection of large carnivorans in the EU legislation and national legislations of Europe Abstract Large carnivorans, including the brown bear (Ursus arctos), the lynx (Lynx lynx) and the wolf (Canis lupus), have become nearly extinct in Central Europe in the past and have only returned to our wilderness in recent decades. The return of large carnivorans is therefore responded to by the legal systems of the countries concerned, as well as public international law and European Union law. The reasons for the special protection and legal regime of large carnivorans stem mainly from their biological differences, way of life, potential conflict with humans and higher levels of endangerment. The aim of this work is to conduct a thorough analysis of the legal protection of large carnivorans on an international, European and national scale. The protection of large carnivorans cannot be effectively addressed within the territory of a single European state, as carnivorans, especially in Central Europe, normally cross national borders. Great attention is therefore paid to EU law, which provides the basis for the legal protection of large carnivorans in most European countries. From the national legal systems of Europe, the legal systems of the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany...

Whale species face numerous man-made threats, such as pollution, whaling, climate change and whale-watching, that threaten their survival. International environmental law has several regulations in place that aim, either directly or indirectly, at conserving whales. To manage the dynamic and uncertain conditions in which whales live, it is important for the law to adopt a social-ecological resilience perspective. Whales can function in different social-ecological systems as exemplified by the system of whale-watching in Iceland. This thesis examines various legal regimes related to whale conservation and the extent to which they support or provide for resilience thinking. While the selected regimes demonstrate resilience features to varying degrees, direct references to resilience in international environmental law are rare. However, supplementary materials from a convention can also acknowledge the importance of embracing a resilience perspective. Legal regimes that promote social-ecological resilience may enhance the law's ability to protect and manage whale species in a more sustainable manner.

Loss of biodiversity and interest in the promises of the bioeconomy creates pressure on forests and implications for their governance. In Sweden, forest policy for the protection of biodiversity is known as “freedom with responsibility”, which puts an onus on the many private forest owners in the country to reverse the critical loss of biodiversity. In this thesis, I explore Swedish forest governance through the narratives of private forest owners and highlight possible tensions between the design and implementation of policy for biodiversity. I use concepts from feminist political ecology and environmental justice to form a lens to highlight the experience of forest owners. I combine semi-structured interviews with transect walks to explore the views of private forest owners from Central and Southern Sweden. In doing so, I seek to highlight the partial knowledges and the personal narrative of persons involved in Swedish forestry. I find that current forest governance does not attend to the multilayered and complex emotions and attachments that forest owners have for their forests, which leads to a discrepancy between the design and implementation of policy for biodiversity protection. In accordance with previous research, this thesis highlights how the deregulated Swedish forest policy instead strengthens the narrative of forestry for production. With increasing pressure from both inside and outside Swedish forestry for more close-to-nature forestry management and alignment of multiple values, a remaining question is whether Swedish forest policy will attend to the pressure or continue following the narrative of the bioeconomy.

The main goal of the thesis is to analyze and compare the degree of protection of the large-scale nature conservation areas in the legal orders of the Czech Republic, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and, in the conclusion of the thesis, to answer the question of whether these countries' regulation provides a sufficiently effective protection to these areas. Legal orders of the examined countries are analyzed with regard to the scope and effectiveness of the large-scale nature conservation legal instruments. Administrative instruments are examined and compared, including the degree of proprietary rights restrictions and related compensations of property loss. Furthermore, the conceptual and economic instruments (both positive and negative stimulation) are also examined. The analysis also focuses on the regulation of legal liability in regard to the large-scale nature conservation. Next, the thesis focuses on the institutional framework of the large-scale nature conservation in the examined countries and on the evaluation of the scope of the nature protection authorities' competence. Another point of interest is the degree to which the rights of the relevant subjects (owners, municipalities, environmental NGOs) are affected by the designation of a...

Background The foundation for life on our planet are all the resources we can draw upon: sunlight, clean water, fresh air and many more. But one existential resource a lot of people are not aware of, is the rich variety of life forms on earth. Biodiversity surrounds us every day: It is in the clothes we wear, the food we eat and the medicine we take. It is also an important driver for tourism, economy and technology: Various technological innovations are directly inspired by nature.But biodiversity is degrading rapidly caused by the rising land consumption in many countries. In Germany, this pressure is exceedingly high: 70% of natural habitats are endangered, 40% of animal species are on the IUCN red list and every second bird species is threatened.Using scientific methods and inventive technology, SPAN helps to monitor bird protection areas in Germany and to collect data as a basis to enforce conservation supported by European legislation. / Methods Involving all important stakeholders was inevitable to make sure the result will fit their needs. In meetings with coordinators of different existing caretaker networks in Berlin I learned about the organizational aspects and got an holistic perspective on the topic. The creation of blueprint drafts and stakeholder maps in an early phase was an effective way to figure out what kind of touchpoints are needed by which users.Voluntary caretakers who monitor protection areas are the primary users, so I conducted interviews with caretakers of other networks to learn everything about their monitoring work, their needs and experiences.An in-depth analysis and synthesis of my research findings led to the ideation phase where I explored in which ways I could involve, educate, bond and assist caretakers with diverse profiles. Getting their feedback on the ideas helped me to select the most promising concepts and consolidate the final result. / Result SPAN consists of a web-application and a smartphone app performing a wide range of functions for caretakers of protection areas. With their help they can retrieve information, network with other caretakers, conduct monitoring activities and submit reports about the condition of protection areas.With SPAN, caretakers can learn about habitats, species, and other caretakers who help with monitoring them. Together they can plan their activities and exchange information with the shared schedule and annotation tools.With the smartphone app, caretakers can take notes or retrieve location based information while being out in the field. Another mobile feature are customizable print-out forms making the caretakers independent from access to power or signal-coverage.Filled-in forms are digitalized and put into the database with the help of an image recognition scanning tool.With SPAN, caretakers can also lend unmanned photogrammetry vehicles to conduct aerial monitoring in a feasible and easy-to-use way. / SPAN - A platform to monitor bird protection areas.

The diploma thesis identifies the motivation of the land trusts in the Czech Republic and analyses the institutional environment, in which they work. Furthermore, it defines the factors influencing the activity and efficiency of the private land conservation and explores its relationship with the biodiversity conservation provided by the public sector. The method used is an analytical narrative consisting of the combination of oral narration and socio-economic analytical methods. Interviews with selected land trusts managers were carried out and original case studies were created. As emerged from the analysis, land trusts are created in order to complete the state biodiversity conservation, upon which they are dependent mainly as far as money is concerned. The land trusts have most of the areas in a long-term tenancy. They do not have enough money to buy the areas. This is also proved by the shortage in business activities in comparison with foreign countries. The situation of private conservation abroad was examined as well and compared with the situation in this country. The main contribution of this diploma thesis is the fact that it creates the overview of private biodiversity conservation in the Czech Republic and abroad as one of the first thesis.

The subject of the master thesis is the assessment of the compliance of nature conservation in the Czech Republic with international strategic objectives, analysing the mainstreaming of biodiversity across government and society and analysing the fulfilment of the commitments rising for the Czech Republic as a member of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The thesis is focused on an assessment of strategic goal A of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its 4 Aichi targets related to the mainstreaming of biodiversity and ecosystem services in society and policy. The methodology used is a systematic search of available relevant documents and other related sources, especially the national reports from the Ministry of the Environment to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and other associated analysis and reports. Another aim of the thesis is summarizing the current state of the mainstreaming of biodiversity to governance and decision making and identifying the areas which are not included in the national strategic documents or are not included sufficiently. In addition to the theoretical analysis, the thesis suggests specific actions and indicators for reaching the targets included in the international strategic documents, particularly the Strategic plan of...