Economic and legal regulation of ecosystem biodiversity protection and conservation: theory and practice

Conservation of ecosystem biodiversity is one of the main problems of economic and legal regulations. It is proved that the depletion and loss of ecosystem biodiversity will inevitably affect the human populations’ quality of life and health. The reason is that biodiversity is the basis for both spiritual and physical health. In this regard, the conservation and restoration of ecosystem biodiversity should be considered as essential conditions for the survival of mankind, improving its quality of life and well-being. The conservation and restoration of ecosystem biodiversity are also important for the sustainable development concept implementation, as the sustainability of Earth’s ecosystems and the quality of people’s lives depend on the number of living organism’s species. Attention is paid to the definition of the term «biodiversity» in national and international legal acts. For over fifty years about 85 definitions of the term «biodiversity» has been used. The main causes and consequences of biodiversity loss and ecosystem destruction in Ukraine and the world were analyzed in the article. It has been determined that biodiversity is a national wealth of every state. Conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are considered as priorities in the field of environmental safety and also in the spheres of protection, use, and reproduction of natural resources. The conservation of ecosystem biodiversity is a global problem, that can be solved by wide and active international cooperation of all countries in this field. Due to the processes of European integration of Ukraine and the need for legal acts adaptation to international treaties that Ukraine has signed and ratified, international conventions and agreements in the field of protection and conservation of ecosystem biodiversity were analysed. In particular, Convention on the Conservation of Biological Diversity (1992), the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2000), the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (2014), and Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (1979) were analysed. Practical guidance on the effective economic and legal regulation of ecosystem biodiversity protection was provided. The ways of implementing international conventions and agreements into national legislation are proposed. It was suggested the adoption of the Law of Ukraine "On the Protection and Preservation of Ecosystems Biodiversity", monitoring of biodiversity, monetization of ecosystem services, integration of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Forest, Water, Land and Tax Codes of Ukraine, development of an effective mechanism to control and monitor the implementation of international legal agreements at the national level, introduction of payments for ecosystem services such as provisioning, regulating, cultural, supporting services, etc. The Law on the Protection and Conservation of Ecosystem Biodiversity would provide a mechanism for protecting and conserving ecosystem biodiversity, including the possibility of applying ecosystem service payment schemes.