viii
actually permitted both considerations, when adding the biota that lived with it.
Zelený proposes both a new methodology and additional considerations, starting
from the scientific research based on land instead.
In the next chapter, Eva Cudlínová discusses how wilderness can be protected in
the Czech Republic, taking into consideration that even the United Nations cited the
protection of Nature as one of its Sustainable Development Goals. She discusses the
situation in Sumava National Park, reflects on the understanding of wilderness in
the USA and the EU, and finds that in most cases the definition of wilderness zones
involves an area with “effective functioning of ecological Processes…It is unmodified or only slightly modified…without intrusive or extractive human activity”
(Wild Europe 2019). Cudlínová cites also the main conflicts that arise in the very
presence of such parks, including zoning and cultural opposition to their presence.
Pavel Cudlin, in the next chapter, even raises the difficult question of whether it
is even possible to maintain the biodiversity required for the establishment of wilderness areas under conditions of increasing landscape exploitation. In the Czech
Republic, there have been many areas of meadows and pasture, but much smaller
areas devoted to forests, as natural and near-natural habitats, but all are in decline
due to landscape exploitation and climate change. His chapter then analyzes land
use and biodiversity changes and concludes that the persistence of natural and nearnatural habitat is now quite low.
In the final chapter in this section, Alicia Epstein discusses the European Union
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which she defines as governed by years of
economic austerity. The continuous yields in agriculture in the EU have been
enabled “by the employment of highly intensive management and production practices.” But the intensive use of pesticides and fertilizers has contributed to the disruption of the Earth’s phosphorus and nitrogen cycles, and these intensive practices
were employed without any consideration of long-term environmental effects.
Although plans of the CAP are said to reflect “strong sustainability principles,” it
will necessitate a complete transformation of the present practices of CAP.
In Part V, Peter Venton discusses the necessity of managing the economy without
growth. He considers the political economy of the Canadian government, as he
argues that both climate change and poverty itself would be significantly reduced if
a policy model based on business as usual were abandoned. He examines the various theories that influence voter participation in a democracy, but adds that present
democratic institutions have abandoned the quest for the common good, whereas
present democracy bears an uncomfortable similarity to oligarchy instead, since
economic growth seems to precede all other goals, whereas there would be significant gains for all if a no-growth system of governance was adopted.
Prue Taylor’s chapter is focused on her recent work on the “responsibility to
protect” (R2P) doctrine. R2P emerged in response to the humanitarian disaster in
Rwanda and has been described as a tectonic shift in state sovereignty. Arguably,
states have a legal obligation to protect people within their jurisdiction and if failing
to do so, the international community has a responsibility to assist. The same rationale, Taylor argues, applies to the legal obligation of states to protect people from
environmental harm. R2P should therefore inform any initiatives to foster
Preface
actually permitted both considerations, when adding the biota that lived with it.
Zelený proposes both a new methodology and additional considerations, starting
from the scientific research based on land instead.
In the next chapter, Eva Cudlínová discusses how wilderness can be protected in
the Czech Republic, taking into consideration that even the United Nations cited the
protection of Nature as one of its Sustainable Development Goals. She discusses the
situation in Sumava National Park, reflects on the understanding of wilderness in
the USA and the EU, and finds that in most cases the definition of wilderness zones
involves an area with “effective functioning of ecological Processes…It is unmodified or only slightly modified…without intrusive or extractive human activity”
(Wild Europe 2019). Cudlínová cites also the main conflicts that arise in the very
presence of such parks, including zoning and cultural opposition to their presence.
Pavel Cudlin, in the next chapter, even raises the difficult question of whether it
is even possible to maintain the biodiversity required for the establishment of wilderness areas under conditions of increasing landscape exploitation. In the Czech
Republic, there have been many areas of meadows and pasture, but much smaller
areas devoted to forests, as natural and near-natural habitats, but all are in decline
due to landscape exploitation and climate change. His chapter then analyzes land
use and biodiversity changes and concludes that the persistence of natural and nearnatural habitat is now quite low.
In the final chapter in this section, Alicia Epstein discusses the European Union
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which she defines as governed by years of
economic austerity. The continuous yields in agriculture in the EU have been
enabled “by the employment of highly intensive management and production practices.” But the intensive use of pesticides and fertilizers has contributed to the disruption of the Earth’s phosphorus and nitrogen cycles, and these intensive practices
were employed without any consideration of long-term environmental effects.
Although plans of the CAP are said to reflect “strong sustainability principles,” it
will necessitate a complete transformation of the present practices of CAP.
In Part V, Peter Venton discusses the necessity of managing the economy without
growth. He considers the political economy of the Canadian government, as he
argues that both climate change and poverty itself would be significantly reduced if
a policy model based on business as usual were abandoned. He examines the various theories that influence voter participation in a democracy, but adds that present
democratic institutions have abandoned the quest for the common good, whereas
present democracy bears an uncomfortable similarity to oligarchy instead, since
economic growth seems to precede all other goals, whereas there would be significant gains for all if a no-growth system of governance was adopted.
Prue Taylor’s chapter is focused on her recent work on the “responsibility to
protect” (R2P) doctrine. R2P emerged in response to the humanitarian disaster in
Rwanda and has been described as a tectonic shift in state sovereignty. Arguably,
states have a legal obligation to protect people within their jurisdiction and if failing
to do so, the international community has a responsibility to assist. The same rationale, Taylor argues, applies to the legal obligation of states to protect people from
environmental harm. R2P should therefore inform any initiatives to foster
Preface