Underuse, i.e. the lack of human intervention when it is needed to maintain biological and associated cultural diversity (in the sense of the diversity of place-based agricultural practices, skills and historical heritage) has... [ view full abstract ]
Underuse, i.e. the lack of human intervention when it is needed to maintain biological and associated cultural diversity (in the sense of the diversity of place-based agricultural practices, skills and historical heritage) has been identified as main current global sustainability challenge of social-cultural landscapes (Mauerhofer et al., 2018). This phenomenon is not restricted to single continents but often interrelated among them with regard to its driving forces and pressures (so called “telecoupling”). This contribution intends to shed structured legal light on various situations of problems related to underuse. It applies an inductive and solution-oriented descriptive analysis and thereby provides a structured framework defining appropriated law-based measures addressing different driving forces and pressures on multiple geographic and geopolitical levels. Thereby, a general distinction is made between enhancing and restricting law that in total address behavioral change towards less underuse by implementing framing, enabling, shaping and orienting policies (Schneidewind and Zahrnt, 2014). Wherein enhancing norms are information-focused and/or economic-incentive-focused, while restricting norms are rule-focused (introducing prohibitions or instructions). First results show that with regard to underuse on the national and sub-national geopolitical levels especially enhancing law mainly prevails in order to address its driving forces and pressures. This will be underpinned by different practical examples from various continents. When it comes to the interrelations on the international level (“telecoupling”), restricting law might be better equipped to address the challenges of underuse there, especially the international trade as one driving factor. Implications for and perspectives to related law, in particular of the World Trade Organization, are also discussed in this connection.
Keywords: underuse, regulation, economics, information, strategy
References
Mauerhofer et al., 2018. Underuse of social-ecological systems: A research agenda for addressing its challenges to biocultural diversity, Land Use Policy 72 57-64.
Schneidewind U. and Zahrnt A., 2014. The Politics of Sufficiency. Oekom Publisher, Munich/Germany, pp. 165.
9d. Law and sustainability
