Introduction

Summary

OVERVIEW

This compendium collects land use laws from countries on each continent that attempt to achieve sustainable development; it accompanies the publication of Comparative Land Use Laws: Achieving Sustainable Development, which contains the papers delivered at the Second Annual Colloquium of the Academy of International Environmental Law, sponsored by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and conducted in Nairobi, Kenya. These books provide evidence that laws and law reform are being used to create strategies that address a worldwide priority: the clear need to effectively use and preserve the land and its natural resources.

The Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development set the stage for these books:

Thirty years ago, in Stockholm, we agreed on the urgent need to respond to the problem of environmental deterioration. Ten years ago, at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, we agreed that the protection of the environment and social and economic development are fundamental to sustainable development, based on the Rio Principles. To achieve such development, we adopted the global programme entitled Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, to which we reaffirm our commitment. The Rio Conference was a significant milestone that set a new agenda for sustainable development.

The global environment continues to suffer. Loss of biodiversity continues, fish stocks continue to be depleted, desertification claims more and more fertile land, the adverse effects of climate change are already evident, natural disasters are more frequent and more devastating, and developing countries more vulnerable, and air, water and marine pollution continue to rob millions of a decent life. […]