Contenu du sommaire : L'environnement : protections nationales et enjeux internationaux.

French Environmental Law : Achievements and Shortcomings. French environmental law is improving but progress is much too slow. What is needed is a set of broad guiding principles that can be used as benchmarks by judges and lawmakers. A permanent ministry with proper funding has yet to be set up, as if the authorities do not realize the gravity of the situation. Fragmented and dispersed, the regulations ail too often prevent a comprehensive approach from being adopted and dilute responsibility. Although the law provides for severe penalties, its application is marred by laxity, underlining the need for reform. The setting up of an independent administrative body such as the Environment Board would be a step in the right direction.

Towards a Law on Biological Diversity. Owing to the total ineffectiveness of environmental law, we must devise a law on biological diversity. The task is a difficult one. Treating the environment (land, sea and air) as a subject of law flies in the face of ail recent legal thinking, according to which man is the only possible subject of law. The regulations stemming from the biological diversity charter need to cover four basic areas in order to be coherent : the environment, living things, and the space as well as the time of biological evolution which would provide a basis for establishing much longer periods of responsibility. The drafting of this law, far from being a matter for experts alone, raises issues of political responsibility that must be faced in the open in accordance with traditional democratic procedures.

Management of Natural Spaces. Nature is not made up of closed, independent Systems, but of a variety of specific natural entities linked to each other in space and time. One must move beyond a System of management that revolves around the protection and conservation of natural spaces towards one that involves forward planning. Man should no longer be considered the center of nature when he is only a tiny part of it. The relationship between nature conservation and economic growth should be redefined, as should the allocation of responsibilities, in order to integrate nature conservation into a comprehensive approach, which alone would provide a genuine basis for altering management practices.

Agriculture and Environmental Management. The rural environment is a bone of contention between the different occupants of the countryside and its proper management calls for greater congruity between agricultural policies and environmental protection. Certain policies, like the abandonment of land that is under cultivation and the granting of subsidies for the most polluting forms of agriculture, should be re-examined. Tax and labour regulations should be revised not only to avoid penalizing environment-friendly extensive farming but also to encourage farmers to carry out farm improvements and environmental maintenance works and develop tourist activities on their farms. Finally, the problem of thinly scattered communes could be solved by taking decisions at district level.

The Cost of Nature : Assessing the Natural Environment Martine. Should the natural environment be assessed and if so how ? There is no dearth of objections. Any attempt to assess ecological damage risks being arbitrary, as the renewal of nature does not follow accounting rules, and useless because nature does renew itself. And how would one translate an assessment, which has a global frame of reference, into individual compensation and penalties ? From a methodological standpoint, theoretical and abstract approaches do not find favour with legal experts even though they are simple and relatively fair. But these difficulties may be overcome if society really does decide to repair the damage inflicted on one of its assets.

The International Aspects of the Prevention and Control of Major Technological and Natural Risks. The concept of major risk (whether natural or technological) excludes the very idea of liability. Nevertheless, a body of international law on compensation for disaster-related damage has gradually been developed. Risk prevention, affecting as it does the sovereignty of States, is making slower headway and is not sufficiently effective. The author recommends that a full-fledged environmental law, which goes beyond statements of co-operation and solidarity and provides for the setting up of an integrated international System for the prevention and management of major risks and the provision of compensation, be established at international level.

The Prospects for a Common Environmental Policy in the EEC. Since the Single Act came into force, the legitimacy and powers of a common environmental policy have been greatly strengthened. Stiffer measures have been adopted and the scope of community intervention widened in response to the emergence of new concerns and the need to ensure that the opening of frontiers does not produce any ill-effects. Called upon to assert its presence in international negotiations, the community saw its powers boosted with the setting up of an agency responsible for information gathering, the promotion of incentive schemes, etc.

African Big Game as a Factor of Development. Big game, which is a vital resource in development, is threatened with extinction. Balanced and durable traditional hunting methods are giving way to intensive hunting. National parks and game reserves are not enough. We need to introduce a System of Controls on the hunting of these species based on a network of protected areas lying alongside those where shooting and hunting would be organized by specialized services and the local village community. Development agencies should demonstrate their interest and seize the opportunity of using wild life in this way.

Environmental Protection and International Co-operation : the Example of the Tropical Forest Action Plan The Tropical Forest Action Plan is a coordinated approach to solving the current crisis hitting tropical forests. This mechanism is designed on the one hand to help tropical countries plan their forestry development and on the other to bring ail the development partners together. 68 tropical countries have so far joined the scheme, which is backed by the vast majority of bilateral and multilateral aid agencies whose support strengthens coordination between the countries.

Environmental Protection in French-speaking Africa : the Case of Forests. The various policies implemented in French-speaking Africa for protecting forests and putting an end to the irrational use being made of them have not produced the expected results. There is a need for reform of existing legislation and for the adoption of more pragmatic forestry practices. The aim should be to promote public participation in the decision-making process and take greater account of peoples' interests without destroying the ecological balance in the bargain.