October 7, 2004

Summary of research regarding the establishment of an international biopreserve:

        The objective of creating a World Scientific Preservethat is managed by an international commission and funded by a multinational trustwill be difficult task for the reason that no such organization or setting has ever existed. Hence there is no established protocol for the creation of such an entity, nor does the United Nations have any existing committee to deal with such a goal. The most effective method of creating such a system will be to base it in part on the existing systems of current existing multinational organizations and situations such as the United Nations, Antarctica, and international waters.
      
        Currently there are numerous international NGOs (non-governmental organizations) concerned with the environment (for an incomplete list visit the Ecological Society of America website at www.esa.org). Many of them appear to be funded through international bodies. The United Nations alone contains four such programs: UNESCO, WMO, UNEP, and ICSU. However, the majority of these programs do not appear to have physical headquarters, instead, they are simply a web of international members.
      
        One situation involving international jurisdiction over land is the current status of Antarctica. The land mass is governed through the Antarctic Treaty System. According to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), the Antarctic Treaty System is the whole complex of arrangements made for the purpose of regulating relations among states in the Antarctic(www.scar.org/treaty). Originally the members consisted of the twelve nations active in the region during the formation of the treaty, today the number of signatories has expanded to 44 nations. While the Antarctic Treaty System maintains a peaceful status quo in the Antarctic region, it does little to resolve problems regarding sovereignty of the area. The treaty states that No acts or activities taking place while the present Treaty is in force shall constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica or create any rights of sovereignty in Antarctica. No new claim, or enlargement of an existing claim, to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica shall be asserted while the present Treaty is in force(For text of the treaty see www.scar.org/treaty/at_text.html).