A Legal Proposition for a Regional Agreement to Protect Wildlife and Habitats in South Asia

Abstract

South Asian countries are home to many species of wildlife given the different geographical landscapes spreading from the Himalayan mountains in Nepal to the oceans surrounding the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Illegal poaching of wildlife, destruction of habitats, and wildlife trade are only a few of the common threats found in the region. There are domestic legislations which protect the wildlife to a certain extent. However, there is no regional instrument which is capable of establishing a collective responsibility to care for and protect wildlife. As this geographical area of the world comprises mega-diverse ecosystems, the absence of a regional legal framework with the necessary legal protection of wildlife raises serious concerns. Therefore, this article first explores existing legal protection that has been granted to different types of wildlife at the domestic level. Next, to understand the significance of adopting a regional instrument which can establish a collective mechanism for protecting wildlife, it analyzes the regional agreements of the European Union (EU) as a case study. The article further examines the effectiveness of the laws of selected EU agreements with a view to their potential for developing a regional mechanism for South Asia.