Fifteen Eighty Four

In 2022, at the 5th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, the session adopted a landmark resolution recognising the potential of nature-based solutions (NBS) to contribute significantly to addressing the planetary emergencies of climate change, loss of biodiversity, and pollution, as well as to promote resilience to disaster risks. NBS are “actions to protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use and manage natural resources while simultaneously providing benefits for human well-being.” NBS not only aim to advance environmental protection in a cost effective manner, they also aim to foster economic diversification by advancing citizen-led entrepreneurial solutions that foster habitat rehabilitation and management.

Given the rich and diverse biological, natural and cultural resources of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the region is projected to be a key hub for NBS. The region’s diverse natural ecosystem ranges from semi-arid savanna to mountain upland plateaus, riverine and coastal plains, sand deserts, coastal mangroves (qurm), sea grasses, dry river valleys (wadis), wetlands, swamp forests, coral reefs, and oases. In addition to the vast array of flora and fauna, the MENA region is also known for its rich cultural heritage, being home to several United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated world heritage sites. The diversity and richness of natural and cultural resources across the MENA region has been pivotal in catalysing significant economic, touristic, cultural, social, medicinal and eco-entrepreneurial activity in many parts of the region. Furthermore, given the heightened threats posed by climate change to water, food and energy security in the region, NBS provides an important tool for advancing resilience to climate and other disaster risks.

However, as indicated in the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-Based Solutions, the effective deployment of NBS requires a supportive framework of laws, policies and governance strategies aimed at ensuring that NBS approaches reflect local priorities and context. The IUCN also underscores the importance of integrating indigenous wisdom, local customs, and lived experiences of small and medium scale eco-entreprenuers (SMEEs), conservationists, and national authorities into the design of NBS to ensure acceptance and effectiveness. Despite the rise in public awareness and policy formulation on biodiversity and nature conservation across the region, only a few MENA countries have developed clear and comprehensive legal and institutional frameworks that coherently and comprehensively address threats to biodiversity, as well as provide a supportive framework for the design, financing and implementation of NBS in local contexts. 

Practical challenges such as lack of comprehensive data on the potential NBS and habitat recovery opportunities across the region; limited financing and support for SMEEs to advance NBS;  as well as unclear legal framework on implementing NBS activities in key marine and biodiversity hotspots, must be overcome if MENA countries are to maximise the full value of NBS to advance environmental protection and economic diversification.

Developing supportive laws that enhance NBS implementation will also require a comprehensive understanding of the scope and status of NBS in existing environmental legislation and policies, in order to determine the extent to which existing biodiversity laws and policies support, enable or hinder the deployment of NBS in identified biodiversity hotspots in MENA countries. Dynamic legal innovation is required to understand and address the various legal, policy and governance challenges that hinder a nexus and integrated implementation of biodiversity and nature conservation treaties at national and municipal levels in the MENA region.

MENA countries will also need to design supportive strategies to facilitate the holistic integration of NBS in development strategies. This will include providing support for SMEEs to develop and implement initiatives and programs that enhance habitat recovery, reforestation, as well as the restoration and protection of wetlands and marine ecosystems. Higher education institutions across the region also have key roles to play in designing courses, programs and conference that accelerate knowledge on biodiversity, NBS and ecosystem conservation. The Association of Environmental Law Lecturers in MENA Universiites (ASSELLMU), in collaboration with the Law Division of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the UNESCO Chair on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development at Hamad Bin Khalifa University,  is already speaheading innovation in this regard through its publications, annual conferences and workshops that enhance knowledge exchange and awareness on biodiversity, NBS and environmental protection. It is important for international organizations, private sector actors, as well as governments across the region, to continue to provide technical and financial support to sustain such important knowledge dissemination efforts.

Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Law and Policy in the Middle East and North Africa Region equips educators, policymakers, SMEEs, and other readers with an authoritative account of the laws, policies and institutions relating to biodiversity, nature conservation and the protection of cultural heritage in the MENA region. It presents comprehensive geographical case studies that explore how MENA countries can achieve greater coordination and coherence in the management of nature and biodiversity. By implementing the guiding principles of a sustainable and rights-based approach to the design, approval, financing and implementation of NBS, as outlined in the book, the growing interest in NBS can act as a catalyst for socio-economic development and ongoing economic diversification efforts across the MENA region.

Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Law and Policy in the Middle East and North Africa Region by Damilola S. Olawuyi, Riyad Fakhri