Protecting Those Unheard: Better Defending Threatened Natural Landmarks
The world is full of magnificent natural landmarks that have immense environmental and cultural importance to millions. The Great Barrier Reef, The Amazon Rainforest, Victoria Falls, and the Grand Canyon are some notable examples of the many prominent wonders of the natural world. It goes without saying that preserving these natural landmarks is of paramount importance for human society, but unfortunately, many of these places are threatened by a variety of illegal activity.
The protection of iconic natural landmarks is primarily entrusted to the national government of the country where the landmark is located. For example, Australia, Brazil, Zimbabwe, and the USA protect the Great Barrier Reef, the Amazon, Victoria Falls, and the Grand Canyon, respectively. Many national governments do an admirable job of protecting natural landmarks whose importance extends far beyond the borders that separate different countries. For example, the Australian Government annually invests over 200 million U.S Dollars into protecting the Great Barrier Reef. This is important because the Great Barrier Reef is not only a cultural symbol of Australia that contributes billions to the country’s economy, but a vital ocean ecosystem that helps mitigate climate change (by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere) and is home to thousands of species of marine life.
While there are many examples of national governments protecting natural landmarks, some countries have let important environmental ecosystems suffer. Brazil, which governs a majority of the Amazon Forest, has been the recipient of international outcry for the country’s inability to contain forest fires resulting from illegal farming in the Amazon. President Jair Bolsonaro has weakened federal forest protections and illegal logging enforcement, as he has repeatedly encouraged farming and logging of the Amazon. The horrific negligence of the Brazilian government was on full display as 7,000 square miles of the Amazon, or roughly the size of New Jersey, was set on fire mainly to clear land for illegal farming in 2019 alone.
Natural landmarks cannot defend themselves from illegal activity and when national governments enable the destruction of these vital world resources, who can restore order? The short answer is that the United Nations, the intergovernmental organization responsible for maintaining worldwide peace and security, can step in to protect these natural landmarks. The long answer is that the process for United Nations intervention specifically regarding environmental matters is unclear and far from straightforward. While the United Nations does have some stellar environmental policy protocols, there are opportunities to improve their environmental protection guidelines, specifically in regards to intervention when national governments fail to protect their own resources.
In the Charter of the United Nations, Articles 39 through 41 allow the United Nations to take measures against threats to peace to maintain worldwide security. The failure of a nation to protect natural resources, such as Brazil’s disregard of the Amazon, may be considered a “threat to peace”, however it may be difficult to establish a direct connection, which could lead to political disputes. For example, when a terrorist organization bombs a city, it is a clear threat to peace and there is no way to dispute that the United Nations should take action to restore peace. Threats to natural landmarks, such as illegal natural resource exploitation and urbanization, have negative repercussions that may include conflict. Since conflict resulting from environmental degradation can be considered a secondary or tangential repercussion, many political opponents may challenge that it is not a direct “threat to peace”. This may make it difficult for the United Nations to step in and help save a natural landmark.
Analysis: The United Nations needs to establish a more direct and comprehensive policy to protect invaluable world resources when national governments fail to do so.
As previously mentioned, while the United Nations has some important environmental policy procedures, there is no clear way for the United Nations to take action against illegal threats to natural landmarks when national governments falter. There needs to be a clear framework for identifying negligence or exploitation of a significant environmental resource by a national government.
Fortunately, there is precedent policy that the United Nations has previously implemented to protect invaluable parts of human society. The United Nations Resolution 2347 condemns the unlawful destruction of cultural artifacts by terrorists. The Resolution encourages “Member States to provide funds to support preventive and emergency operations” and designates that “such attacks might constitute a war crime and must be brought to justice”. While this is a phenomenal policy to protect famous artifacts and religious sites during wartime, there is no mention of culturally significant natural landmarks, which underscores the need to have a better policy to protect historic environmental areas from illegal threats.
Below I have outlined three key considerations for a more direct and comprehensive United Nations policy where the United Nations can better intervene to protect natural landmarks when they come under threat and national governments do not act.
1. Give authority to members of the United Nations to intervene in environmental crimes.
Any policy should give the United Nations the ability to intervene when a natural landmark is under threat and the national government in charge of protecting the landmark is refusing or failing to address the problem. For example, the United Nations should be able to go fight the Amazon fires if the Brazil government refuses to address the problem in the future. The policy should outline a set of conditions that detail key indicators of national government negligence in regard to environmental degradation and if enough of these conditions are met, the United Nations can step in and intervene in as peaceful a manner as possible to stop the threat on the natural resource.
2. Build on Resolution 2347 to provide remediation funds for the environment and bring illegal prosecutors to justice.
Resolution 2347 has great precedent for any United Nations policy that aims to protect natural landmarks from threats. The Resolution focuses on using funds to support operations and bringing those who commit crimes to justice. The United Nations should build off this Resolution and develop ways for countries affiliated with the United Nations to send money to the people and organizations that help remediate the environment. Using the Brazil example, any policy should help other countries and organizations streamline funds directly to efforts that are fighting the Amazon Fires. Additionally, any United Nations environmental protection policy should include protocols that prosecute and bring those who commit environmental atrocities to justice. Punishing those who illegally destroy precious natural landmarks for personal benefit will help stop the immediate threat and discourage others from committing environmental atrocities in the future.
3. Outline a plan for future protection.
Finally, any policy needs to account for the aftermath. Once a threat is quelled, the United Nations needs to develop an actionable plan in conjunction with the national government to protect the natural landmark going forward. Forming a long-term protection plan is the best way to defend natural landmarks and eliminate threats before they happen, such as identifying and arresting illegal loggers in the Amazon before they can destroy the rainforest.
Conclusion
Environmental degradation is a human rights issue, as natural landmarks such as the Amazon Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef provide essential natural resources, climate change protections, and cultural significance to people across the world. Protecting human rights is one of the guiding principles of the United Nations and the organization must implement better policy to better protect natural landmarks from a variety of illegal threats. Natural landmarks are vitally important to the world today, and they need to be better protected so the world can enjoy them tomorrow.
How You Can Help
Voting for candidates who recognize the importance of protecting natural resources is an important step action anyone can take to ensure the continued survival of important natural landmarks.
Additionally, there are many independently verified non-profits and nongovernmental organizations fighting to protect the Amazon Rainforest. Click on any of the hyperlinks below to go straight to that organization’s donation page.
Worldwide Wildlife Federation, Rainforest Alliance, The Amazon Conservation Team, Amazon Conservation, Amazon Watch
Bibliography
Image Credit NBC News
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“Chapter VII.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/en/sections/un-charter/chapter-vii/index.html.
“Managing and Protecting the Great Barrier Reef.” Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/protecting-the-reef.
“Security Council Condemns Destruction, Smuggling of Cultural Heritage by Terrorist Groups, Unanimously Adopting Resolution 2347 (2017) | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/press/en/2017/sc12764.doc.htm.
Wong, Henry. “Why Is the Great Barrier Reef so Important?” Great Barrier Reef Tours, Sightseeing Tours Australia, 27 Apr. 2020, greatbarrierreeftourscairns.com.au/blog/why-is-the-great-barrier-reef-so-important/.
