CIEL Sponsors 4th All Asia Public Interest Environmental Law Conference while Launching Two Publications on Community Based Property Rights

 

March 2004

CIEL's Law & Communities Program and its Philippine partners launched two publications during the 4th All Asia Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (AAPIELC), held in Tiaong, Quezon, Philippines from March 22 - 26, 2004:

1. Rural Communities and Philippine Forests: Cases and Insights on Law and Natural Resources, 189 pp. Contains six case studies and three abstracts written by Filipino public interest lawyers on local communities participating in government sponsored CBNRM (community based natural resource management) programs. Concludes with an integrated analysis of problems encountered, lessons learned and recommendations.
2. Marine and Coastal Resources and Community Based Property Rights (CBPRs): Proceedings of a Workshop, 151 pp. Explores connections between CBPR concepts and government programs and their potential application to marine and coastal resources. Experiences and analysis from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and the Philippines are included.

CIEL Senior Attorney, Owen J. Lynch also gave the keynote address on March 25 to the AAPIELC. His talk was titled One Species, One Planet: Environmental Law as a Tool for Promoting Environmental Justice in Asia. It highlighted ongoing and prospective challenges for promoting environmental justice, sustainable development and public interest environmental law in Asia.

Fifty public interest lawyers participated in the AAPIELC. CIEL's longtime Philippine public interest law partner Tanggol Kalikasan, which Lynch helped establish in 1987, organized the conference. The objectives were to:
" Consolidate and expand the network of public interest environmental lawyers in Asia;
" Explore fresh avenues of litigations and policy to uphold environmental and human rights; and,
" Build better understanding of new environmental problems in a globalizing world and create the networks, partnerships, frameworks and strategies to address them.

Immediately prior to the AAPIELC, the first Philippine Public Interest Environmental Law Conference was held.

For copies of the publications please contact Tanggol Kalikasan, 106 Kamias Road, Quezon City, Philippines. Telephone: (632)434-8734, 925-5611 to 12. Telefax: (632)434-9141.

For more information, please contact Kristen Genovese