Research in Action Invasives Work in the Bahamas

• Pages: 52-52

Page 52 ❧ THE ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM Copyright © 2011, Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, D.C. www.eli.org.

Reprinted by permission from The Environmental Forum®, May/June 2011

ELI Report

e conference brought

together law students and

professors; professionals

from private practice and

non-prof‌its; and the general

public. As Schempp noted,

“In terms of environmental

law conferences, it is re-

spected as one of the most

important for unveiling and

discussing new ef‌forts in

environmental protection

through law. e individuals

In March, ELI attorneys

Sandra Nichols and Read

Porter led a workshop on

invasive species in Nassau,

Bahamas, to identify gaps

and potential improvements

in invasive species policies in

f‌ive Caribbean countries.

e workshop was part

of a larger project, Mitigat-

ing the reats of Invasive

Alien Species in the Insular

Caribbean, funded by the

Global Environment Facil-

ity and included resource

managers and legal profes-

sionals from the Bahamas,

Dominican Republic,

Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and

Trinidad and Tobago.

During the workshop,

ELI presented model policy

approaches to address specif-

ic invasive species issues and

engaged participants in dis-

Looking ahead, the re-

sults of the workshop will be

integrated into the ongoing

development of a Caribbean

Invasive Alien Species Strat-

egy. Nichols emphasized

that “ELI has been assisting

Caribbean nations with

marine management, im-

proving biological conserva-

tion in protected areas, and

environmental governance.

Ef‌fectively addressing inva-

sive species is critical if these

governments are to meet

these objectives.”

Whether through col-

laborations for the reform

of protected area laws or by

building capacity for inva-

sive species management,

ELI stands ready to work

with our Caribbean partners

as they address key chal-

lenges in biodiversity.

cussions about whether and

how well current laws in

each country address these

issues. e goal of the work-

shop was to identify where

participating countries have

created policies that enable

successful invasive species

management as well as areas

where additional policy

development could be ben-

ef‌icial. According to Porter,

Director of ELI’s Invasive

Species Program, “While

the legal frameworks in the

participating countries dif‌fer

substantially, the issues they

face are shared. e partici-

pants identif‌ied where their

specif‌ic countries’ laws are

weak as well as where Carib-

bean countries can work

together to better address

invasive species threats.”

Research in Action Invasives Work in the Bahamas

ELI’s Read Porter leads a workshop discussion on invasive species

in the Bahamas

Research In Action Public Interest Environmental Law Conference

ELI attorneys served as

panelists at the 29th annual

Public Interest Environmen-

tal Law Conference, held at

the University of Oregon

Law School in Eugene, Or-

egon, March 3-6.

Bruce Myers and Jay

Austin, Director of ELI’s

Endangered Environmental

Laws Program, spoke on a

panel that looked back over

the 10 years since the Su-

preme Court case SWANCC

v. U.S. Army Corps of Engi-

neers f‌irst cast doubt on the

scope of Clean Water Act

protections and discussed

what the implications have

been on litigation. Myers

also served on a panel that

explored the legal avenues

for addressing the harmful

environmental consequenc-

that it attracts and diversity

of topics that it covers make

it a valuable event for ELI’s

participation.”

Myers agreed: “e con-

ference is a very important

opportunity for ELI staf‌f

to speak to interested law

students around the country

about developments and

trends in environmental law

and policy and to engage

other practitioners.”

es of modern industrial

agriculture.

Adam Schempp, Direc-

tor of ELI’s Western Water

Program, organized and

spoke on a panel that dis-

cussed state water laws in

utilizing conserved water

for instream purposes and

presented examples of inno-

vative and successful models

for making the connection

in practice.

Myers Austin Schempp