|
Recognizing that
conservation is no longer a luxury, but
rather a necessity, the Vance Center has
been working closely with the Rainforest
Alliance and The Nature Conservancy
(TNC) to develop projects that aim to
preserve the environment.
The Vance Center is
collaborating with the Rainforest
Alliance, an international non-profit
organization that promotes sustainable
land management, to identify and
encourage the use of successful
government incentives that promote
sustainable production in forestry,
agriculture and tourism. This joint
project, which started in October 2007,
involves a team of pro bono lawyers from
Shearman & Sterling and Sive, Paget &
Riesel, P.C., who are completing a study
of government incentives for sustainable
production in the Americas. These
lawyers will first carry out a survey of
such incentives via internet research
and interviews with local counsel, and
then conduct an analysis of the results
to identify opportunities for further
research in countries that already have
effective incentives in place. The
lessons learned from this study will be
used to develop a best practices report.
The project, which
is expected to finish by October 2009,
will use the conclusions from the study
to encourage Latin American countries to
implement successful incentives for
sustainable production and promote legal
reforms that ensure conservation of the
environment and sustainable development.
Another recent
project underway is with The Nature
Conservancy (TNC). It seeks to establish
a legal framework for private land
conservation in Chile. The Center will
be assisting TNC to obtain pro bono
legal assistance from lawyers in eight
countries to help TNC’s efforts in Chile
to amend the Civil Code and tax
legislation, in order to provide tax
benefits to individuals who commit their
private lands for conservation purposes.
  |
