ELPA programme aims basically to prepare the ground for formulation enabling legal regime for conservation of natural resources and ecosystems and pave the way for efficient environmental planning and assessment. Recently emphasis has been put on environmental economics to use it as a tool to influence the legal and policy regime towards efficient environmental planning and assessment. ELPA aims to facilitate and enable the development of appropriate legal regime for conservation of natural resources, biodiversity and ecosystems and pave the way for efficient environmental planning and assessment. Of late, ELPA has been contemplating using environmental economics as a tool to influence and pursue the legal and policy regimes with a view to ensuring more efficient environmental planning and assessment. Advocacy and raising public awareness with regard to the impacts of climate change and the IPCC/ UNFCCC processes will also be on the ELPA agenda through the ISP period. ELPA focuses on: Economics, Law, Policy, Assessment, Networking, International Instruments, etc.

GOAL

Adequate legislation for natural resource management in place and environmental planning and assessment institutionalised.

OBJECTIVES

1. To lay the foundations of a process for formulating an effective legal system for the conservation of natural resources and ecosystems
2. To pave the way for instituting the processes of environmental planning and assessment.

KEY AREAS OF INTERVENTION

1. Environmental law
2. Assessment, planning and related issues
3. Access and Benefit Sharing
4. ICTPs
5. IPR and WTO

1. Provided external monitoring and technical support to the National Conservation Strategy Implementation Project-1 (NCSIP-1)
2. Developed a proposal for supporting the formulation of an omnibus law for natural resource management
3. An assessment of the implementation of Agenda 21
4. Established the Bangladesh Wetlands Network
5. Conducted a case study on the Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) Barriers to Trade and Its Impact on the Environment of Shrimp Farming in Bangladesh
6. An International Dialogue on Water and Climate
7. Completed a project design for Integrating Economic Values into Protected Area Management in South Asia—Bangladesh Country Component in collaboration with the Ecosystems and Livelihood Group (ELG).
8. Executing another regional project titled ‘Sustainable Livelihood, Environmental Security and Conflict Management’,
9. Developed National Conservation Strategy with GoB
10. RIO+10 Assessment
11. National wetland policy and rules drafted

1. Environmental consideration in national economic planning process
2. Intellectual property right and traditional knowledge in the policies and laws
3. Institutional capacity of GoB to fulfill obligations of signed ICTPs
4. Participatory management of natural resources in the policies and laws
5. WTO and its implications on natural resources
6. Guideline and procedure to cope with climate change