- Legal and institutional framework for
biodiversity conservation
In this chapter we consider the biodiversity protection regimes of China and
Taiwan. By regime we mean the complex of laws, regulations, and policy
statements (as well as the implementing agencies of government) designed for
the purpose of protecting endangered and threatened species and their critical
habitats.
In the first section of the chapter we examine the legal framework, including
constitutional statements, national laws, and regulations. In the case of China,
we review the conventions and international treaties that China has agreed to.
In the case of Taiwan we examine the impact of international conventions
when they can have no binding effect (as Taiwan is not a signatory nation).
The overall question is the extent to which the legal framework provides
comprehensive and systematic protection of species and ecosystems.
The second section reviews the institutional framework responsible for the
implementation of law and regulations. This includes central ministries and a
host of sub-national governments (in the case of China, provinces and special
administrative regions) as well as local governments. Our overall questions in
this section concern the degree of centralization in the implementation of law
and policy, and the amount of policy integration, for example, as provided for
by linkage agencies and behaviors.
THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN CHINA
National Law
It was only in the reform era, beginning with the leadership of Deng Hsiaoping
in 1978, that environmental issues including biodiversity conservation began
to be addressed. An early acknowledgment was revision to the constitution in
- Article 26 reads:
‘The state protects and improves the environment in which people live and
the ecological environment. It prevents and controls pollution and other public
hazards. The state organizes and encourages afforestation and the protection of
forests.’^168