Ramsar Convention - Parties face a challenging future

Guidelines for applying the precautionary principle to biodiversity conservation and natural resource management have been developed by the Precautionary Principle Project. While the uncertainty surrounding potential threats to the environment has frequently been used as a reason to avoid taking action to protect the environment, it is not always possible to have clear evidence of such a threat before the damage occurs. There has been much debate about the nature of the concept of precaution, in particular whether it should be accepted as a legal principle in addition to being a sound policy approach. Some have argued against the recognition of precaution as a principle of environmental law, which implies a broad abdication to apply precaution in decision-making, in favour of viewing precaution as merely one particular policy/management approach to dealing with uncertain threats.