Biodiversity

The Biodiversity programme at CIES is based primarily on the work of two members of Faculty: Profs. Marc Hufty and Tim Swanson. Prof. Hufty has long been active on the issues to do with biodiversity conservation in developing countries, and is active in fieldwork across the world. Please see the projects webpage below. Prof. Swanson has been more active on the theoretical side of biodiversity conservation, considering the issue as a global problem requiring international institutions for a global solution.

The programme builds on the base of the BioEcon Network, which is a Partnership of international and academic institutions interested in research on the issues of biodiversity conservation. BioEcon is based here at CIES and at FEEM (University of Venice) and includes as foundational partners: IUCN, UNEP, Conservation International, and CSIRO (Australia). The BioEcon Network of Scientific Partners includes: Wageningen University, Tilburg University, Cambridge University, LAMETA (Fr), UC Louvain, and many others. A scientific meeting is convened each September at one of the partner institutions. Please refer to the website http://www.bioecon-network.org/ for further details.

CIES also works closely with these institutions and programmes individually. We have worked with IUCN on issues of a Green Development Mechanism for global biodiversity conservation. (Mullan and Swanson, 2009. Financial Mechanisms for Biodiversity). A recent EU FP7 proposal joint with the International Food Policy Research Institute considers the role of biodiversity in the issue of Global Food Security, and examines how institutions may be reformed to address matters of food security.

We have also worked on issues dealing with IPR and traditional knowledge, analysing how different property right systems are conducive to both efficiency and equity. Sarr and Swanson, 2009. N-S Negotiations and the Hold up Problem. This work combines the legal, political and economic perspectives critical to the resolution of international environmental problems.