Biodiversity Conservation Efforts Among Muslim Countries: Evidence from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Countries
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32890/jis2024.20.1.4Keywords:
OIC, Muslim countries, biodiversity, conservation, environmental sustainability, SDGAbstract
According to mainstream literature, Muslim countries often lag behind in terms of environmental sustainability despite their being
fully compliant with global environmental regulations. This raises the question of whether this applies to all aspects of environmental
conservation. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation efforts in countries that are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and determine whether a consistent growth trend in biodiversity conservation can be identified. The study employs semi-quantitative and policy-science methods, analysing data from Yale University’s Biodiversity and Habitat Protection Index from 2010 to 2020. The findings show a significant increase in biodiversity conservation performance over the ten-year study period. Interestingly, low-income countries outperformed their wealthier OIC counterparts in terms of biodiversity conservation, despite having the lowest economic development status. This positive trend highlights the effectiveness of essential biodiversity policies and measures adopted in these Muslim countries. Furthermore, these results align with Stern’s approach, which argues that economic expansion can have diverse impacts on environmental quality, leading to the rejection of the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis in the context of biodiversity conservation in Muslim countries. The study emphasises the need for further research into the nature of biodiversity policies among low-income nations. The policy ideas and solutions from these countries can provide valuable insights for combating biodiversity loss within OIC countries and globally, contributing to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Additionally, it has the potential to enhance the capacity of OIC countries in biodiversity conservation and their role in supporting fellow Muslim nations in achieving the SDGs.
References
Abor, J. Y. (2023). Sustainable and responsible investment in developing markets: A companion. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Agrawal, A., & Gibson, C. C. (1999). Enchantment and disenchantment: The role of community in natural resource conservation. World Development, 27(4), 629–649.
Akbarzadeh, S., & Ahmed, Z. S. (2018). Impacts of Saudi hegemony on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, 31, 297–311.
Alam, H., Khattak, J. Z. K., Ppoyil, S. B. T., Kurup, S., & Ksiksi, T. S. (2017). Landscaping with native plants in the UAE: A review. Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture, 29(10), 729–741.
Ammari, M., Chentouf, M., Ammari, M., & Ben Allal, L. (2022). Assessing national progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: A case study of Morocco. Sustainability, 14(23), 15582.
Andersen, I., & Golitzen, K. G. (2005). The Niger River Basin: A vision for sustainable management. Washington: World Bank Publications.
Ardalan, N. (2014). Towards sustainable urbanism in the Persian Gulf: Analysis of the past. International Journal of Islamic Architecture, 3(1), 171–186.
Berkes, F. (2004). Rethinking Community-Based Conservation. Conservation Biology, 18(3), 621–630.
Blackman, A., Epanchin-Niell, R., Siikamäki, J., & Velez-Lopez, D. (2014). Biodiversity Conservation in Latin America and the Caribbean: Prioritising Policies. Routledge.
Bliese, J. (2020). The Greening of Conservative America. Routledge.
Bragdon, S., Jarvis, D. I., Gaucham, D., Mar, I., Hue, N. N., Balma, D., Collado, L., Latournerie, L., Sthapit, B. R., Sadiki, M., Fadda, C., & Ndungu-Skilton, J. (2009). The agricultural biodiversity policy development process: Exploring means of policy development to support the on-farm management of crop genetic diversity. International Journal of Biodiversity Science and Management, 5(1), 10–20.
Butt, M. S., & Салим, Б. М. (2020). State of environmental protection in the OIC countries: Genesis, ongoing initiatives and recommendations from a human rights perspective. RUDN Journal of Law, 24(3), 780–800.
Chape, S., Spalding, M., & Jenkins, M. (2008). The world’s protected areas. Prepared by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Chiu, A. S. F., Aviso, K. B., & Tan, R. R. (2020). On general principles at the sustainability science-policy interface. Resour Conserv Recycl, 158(2020), 104828.
Couvet, D., & Prevot, A.-C. (2015). Citizen-science programs: Towards transformative biodiversity governance. Environmental Development, 13(2015), 39–45.
Craig, C. (2019). How does the government listen to scientists? Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Daoui, K., & Fatemi, Z. E. A. (2014). Agroforestry Systems in Morocco: The Case of Olive Tree and Annual Crops Association in Saïs Region. In B. Shahid & Mintz-Habib (Eds.), Science, policy and politics of modern agricultural system (pp. 281–289). Springer Nature.
Downie, D., & Chasek, P. (2020). Global environmental politics (8th ed.). Routledge.
Dipak K, G. (2011). Analysing public policy: Concepts, tools, and techniques. (2nd ed.). CQ Press.
Ehrlich, P. R., & Wilson, E. 0. (1991). Biodiversity studies: Science and policy. Science, 253(2051), 758–762.
Elfaki, H., & Embi, N. A. C. (2023). Islamic cooperatives: Operations and evidence from Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries. International Journal of Islamic Business, 8(1), 1–14.
FAO. (2017). “Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel initiative: The African Wall. https://web.archive.org/ web/20170221031142/http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/ap603e/ ap603e.pdf
Febriyanti, A. R., Ratnasari, R. T., & Wardhana, A. K. (2022). The effect of economic growth, agricultural land, and trade openness moderated by population density on deforestation in OIC countries. Quantitative Economics and Management Studies, 3(2), 221–234.
Fleming, L. E., Maycock, B., White, M. P., & Depledge, M. H. (2019). Fostering human health through ocean sustainability in the 21st century. People and Nature, 1(3), 276–283.
Foltz, R. (2020). Muslim environmentalisms: Religious and social foundations. Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 8(1), 296–298.
Forester, D. J., & Machlist, G. E. (1996). Modelling human factors that affect the loss of biodiversity. Conservation Biology, 10(4), 1253–1263.
Friedlander, A. M., Ballesteros, E., Fay, M., & Sala, E. (2014). Marine communities on oil platforms in Gabon, West Africa: High biodiversity oases in a low biodiversity environment. PLOS ONE, 9, e103709.
Goffner, D., Sinare, H., & Gordon, L. J. (2019). The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative as an opportunity to enhance resilience in Sahelian landscapes and livelihoods. Regional Environmental Change, 19(5), 1417–1428.
Groves, C. R., Game, E. T., Anderson, M. G., Cross, M., Enquist, C., Ferdaña, Z., Girvetz, E., Gondor, A., Hall, K. R., Higgins, J., Marshall, R., Popper, K., Schill, S., & Shafer, S. L. (2012). Incorporating climate change into systematic conservation planning. Biodiversity and Conservation, 21(7), 1651–1671.
Gruppetta, M., Mercieca, C., & Vassallo, J. (2013). Prevalence and incidence of pituitary adenomas: A population-based study in Malta. Pituitary, 16(4), 545–553.
Huang, Y., Zhao, W., Ding, L., Bao, X., Wang, J., Lin, Y., Ran, J., Yang, D., Zou, H., & Liu, J. (2019). Habitat selection and genetic structure of the endangered frog species Odorrana Wuchuanensis (Anura: Ranidae). Zoological Science, 36(5), 402–409.
Ismail, R., Saputra, J., & Aziz, A. A. (2019). Improving environmental performance of the Muslim World: Evidence from affluent countries. International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, 9(3), 301–312.
UNEP-WCMC (2023). Protected Area Profile for Morocco from the World Database on Protected Areas, September 2023. https://www.protectedplanet.net
Jenkins, M., Scherr, S. J., & Inbar, M. (2012). Markets for biodiversity services: Potential roles and challenges. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 46(6), 32–42.
Johnson, A. R. (2019). Biodiversity requirements for self-sustaining space colonies. Futures, 110, 24–27.
Joppa, L. N., & Pfaff, A. (2009). High and far: Biases in the location of protected areas. PLOS ONE, 4(12), e8273.
Jowkar, H., Ostrowski, S., Tahbaz, M., & Zahler, P. (2016). The conservation of biodiversity in Iran: Threats, challenges and hopes. Iranian Studies, 49(6), 1065–1077.
Kablan, Y. A., Diarrassouba, A., Mundry, R., Campbell, G., Normand, E., Kühl, H. S., Koné, I., & Boesch, C. (2019). Effects of anti-poaching patrols on the distribution of large mammals in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire. Oryx, 53(3), 469–478.
Kaminski, J. J. (2019). The OIC and the Paris 2015 climate change agreement: Islam and the environment. In L. Pal A. & E. Tok (Eds.), Global Governance and Muslim Organizations (pp. 171–195). Palgrave Macmillan.
Krzymowski, A. (2022). Energy transformation and the UAE green economy: Trade exchange and relations with three seas initiative countries. Energies 2022, 15(22), 8410.
Kula, E. (2001). Islam and environmental conservation. Environmental Conservation, 28(1) 1–9.
Lahsen, M. (2009). A science–policy interface in the global south: The politics of carbon sinks and science in Brazil. Climatic Change, 97(3), 339–372.
Lamine, E. B., Mateos-Molina, D., Antonopoulou, M., Burt, J. A., Das, H. S., Javed, S., Muzaffar, S., & Giakoumi, S. (2020). Identifying coastal and marine priority areas for conservation in the United Arab Emirates. Biodiversity and Conservation, 29(9), 2967–2983.
Lau, L.-S., Yii, K.-J., Ng, C.-F., Tan, Y.-L., & Yiew, T.-H. (2023). Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis: A bibliometric review of the last three decades. Energy & Environment, 0(0), https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305X231177734
Lawton, R. N., & Rudd, M. A. (2014). A Narrative policy approach to environmental conservation. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment, 43(7), 849–857.
Lepofsky, D. (2009). The Past, present, and future of traditional resource and environmental management. Journal of Ethnobiology, 29(2), 161–166.
Lindenmayer, D., & Gibbons, P. (2012). Biodiversity monitoring in Australia. Collingwood: Csiro Publishing.
M. El-Awaisi & A. al-F. (2012). A Muslim contribution to international relations theory: Aman (Peaceful Co-Existence and Mutual Respect) theory. Journal of International Studies, 8, 115–131.
Mair, L. (1984). What is Development? In L. Mair (Ed.), Anthropology and Development (pp. 1–14). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Maestro, M., Pérez-Cayeiro, M. L., Chica-Ruiz, J. A., & Reyes, H. (2019). Marine protected areas in the 21st century: Current situation and trends. Ocean & Coastal Management, 171, 28–36.
Mamun, A. A., Brook, R. K., & Dyck, T. (2016). Multiple governance and fisheries commons: Investigating the performance of local capacities in rural Bangladesh. International Journal of the Commons, 10(1), 45–70.
Mangunjaya, F. M. (2011). Developing environmental awareness and conservation through Islamic teaching. Journal of Islamic Studies, 22(1), 36–49.
Médail, F. (2017). The specific vulnerability of plant biodiversity and vegetation on Mediterranean islands in the face of global change. Regional Environmental Change, 17(6), 1775–1790.
Mehring, M., Bernard, B., Hummel, D., Liehr, S., & Lux, A. (2017). Halting biodiversity loss: How social–ecological biodiversity research makes a difference. International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services and Management, 13(1), 172–180.
Metcalfe, K., White, L., Lee, M. E., Fay, J. M., Abitsi, G., Parnell, R. J., Smith, R. J., Agamboue, P. D., Bayet, J. P., Mve Beh, J. H., Bongo, S., Boussamba, F., De Bruyne, G., Cardiec, F., Chartrain, E., Collins, T., Doherty, P. D., Formia, A., Gately, M.,Godley, B. J. (2022). Fulfilling global marine commitments; lessons learned from Gabon. Conservation Letters, 15(3), e12872.
Miller, S. G. (2013). A history of modern Morocco. Cambridge University Press.
Miller, M. A. L. (1992). Balancing development and environment: The Third World in global environmental politics. Society & Natural Resources, 5(3), 297–305.
Mohamed, N. (2014). Islamic Education, Eco-ethics and Community. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 33(3), 315–328.
Nassif, F., & Tanji, A. (2017). Conserving plant diversity: An opportunity for the 21st century for Morocco. In Environmental, social and economic issues of the 21st century. Nova Science Publisher.
Nigel, G., & Paul, S. (2015). Researching Social Life. Sage.
Osborne, J. W., & Overbay, A. (2004). The power of outliers (and why researchers should ALWAYS check for them). Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 9(1), Article 6. Özler, Ş. İ., & Obach, B. K. (2019). Cultural barriers to environmental mobilisation in the Republic of Turkey. Sociological Perspectives, 62(5), 773–793.
Palmer, C., & Di Falco, S. (2012). Biodiversity, poverty, and development. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 28(1), 48–68.
Ouis, P. (2002). ‘Greening the Emirates’: The modern construction of nature in the United Arab Emirates. Cultural Geographies, 9(3), 334–347.
Reyers, B., & Selig, E. R. (2020). Global targets that reveal the social– ecological interdependencies of sustainable development. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 4(8). 1011–1019.
Richardson, B. J., Bouthillier, Y. L., McLeod-Kilmurray, H., & Wood, S. (2009). Climate Law and Developing Countries. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Richardson, K. S., & Funk, V. A. (1999). An approach to designing a systematic protected area system in Guyana. Parks, 9(1), 7-16.
Rifaie, F., Sugardjito, J., & Fitriana, Y. S. (2015). Spatial point pattern analysis of the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) poaching cases in and around Kerinci Seblat National Park, Sumatra. Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity, 16(2). 311–319.
Sala, O. E., Stuart Chapin, F., III, Armesto, J. J., Berlow, E., Bloomfield, J., Dirzo, R., Huber-Sanwald, E., Huenneke, L. F., Jackson, R. B., Kinzig, A., Leemans, R., Lodge, D. M., Mooney, H. A., Oesterheld, M., Poff, N. L., Sykes, M. T., Walker, B. H., Walker, M., & Wall, D. H. (2000). Global Biodiversity Scenarios for the Year 2100. Science, 287(5459), 1770–1774.
Saniotis, A. (2012). Muslims and ecology: Fostering Islamic environmental ethics. Contemporary Islam, 6(2), 155–171.
Saniotis, A., & Nazif, A. H. (2006). Agenda 21: Bioethics, global warming, and the Muslim world. Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics, 16(5), 144–148.
Saxena, R. P., & Kumar, B. R. (2020). Greening for sustainability: Green UAE - a classic example. Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, 20(2), 118–135.
Schmidt, K. P. (1946). Naturalists for the foreign service. The Scientific Monthly, 62(3), 230–232.
Schmidt, S., Busse, S., & Nuriyev, E. (2017). Government and biodiversity governance in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan: An institutional perspective. Environ Dev Sustain, 19, 1953–1980.
Seddon, D. (1987). Morocco and the Western Sahara. Review of African Political Economy, 14(38), 24–47.
Shook, G., & Grantham, C. (1993). A Decision Analysis technique for ranking sources of groundwater pollution. Journal of Environmental Management, 37(3), 201–206.
Smith, H. A., & Miller, M. A. L. (1996). The Third World in global environmental politics. International Journal, 5(2), 364–365.
Spiteri, L., & Stevens, D. T. (2019). Landscape diversity and protection in Malta. In R. Gauci & J. A. Schembri (Eds.), Landscapes and Landforms of the Maltese Islands (pp. 359–372). Springer International Publishing.
Sršen, A. O., Brajković, D., Radović, S., Lenardić, J. M., & Miracle, P. T. (2014). The Avifauna of Southern Istria (Croatia) during the Late Pleistocene: Implications for the palaeoecology and biodiversity of the Northern Adriatic Region. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 24(3), 289–299.
Stern, D. I. (2004). The rise and fall of the Environmental Kuznets Curve. World Development, 32(8), 1419–1439.
The World Bank. (2023). Data for high-income, upper middle income, lower middle income, low income. Data. The World Group. https://datatopics.worldbank.org/world-development-indicators/the-world-by-income-and-region.html
The World Bank. (2023). Sahel and West Africa Program in Support of the Great Green Wall Initiative.https://www.thegef.org/sites/ default/files/publications/SAWAP_English_Final_1.pdf
Thiollay, J.-M. (2006). The decline of raptors in West Africa: Long-term assessment and the role of protected areas. Ibis, 148(2), 240–254.
UNDP. (2023). Government of Uganda United Nations Development Programme Conservation of Biodiversity in the Albertine Rift Forests of Uganda https://info.undp.org/docs/ pdc/Documents/ UGA/00043885_Albertine%20Project%20Document%20 final%20version.pdf
UNDP. (2023). 2023 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): Unstacking global poverty: Data for high impact action. United Nations: New York.
UNEP. (2023). Niger. https://www.ccacoalition.org/partners/niger
UNEP-WCMC (2023a). Protected Area Profile for Guyana from the World Database on Protected Areas, September 2023. https://www.protectedplanet.net
UNEP-WCMC (2023b). Protected Area Profile for Morocco from the World Database on Protected Areas, September 2023. https://www.protectedplanet.net
UNEP-WCMC (2023c). Protected Area Profile for Niger from the World Database on Protected Areas, September 2023. https://www.protectedplanet.net
Usman, O., Elsalih, O., & Koshadh, O. (2019). Environmental performance and tourism development in EU-28 Countries: The role of institutional quality. Current Issues in Tourism, 23(17), 2103–2108.
Van Dyke, F., & Lamb, R. L. (2020). Conservation economics and sustainable development. In F. Van Dyke & R. L. Lamb (Eds.), Conservation Biology: Foundations, Concepts, Applications (pp. 449–487). Springer International Publishing.
Vaus, D. D. (2014). Surveys in social research. 6th Ed. New York: Routledge.
Vincenti, D. (2016). Sustainability Transitions in Arab-Islamic Countries: Egypt as a case study. Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia, 8, 135–140.
Visseren-Hamakers, I. J., Razzaque, J., McElwee, P., Turnhout, E., Kelemen, E., Rusch, G. M., Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Chan, I., Lim, M., Islar, M., Gautam, A. P., Williams, M., Mungatana, E., Karim, M. S., Muradian, R., Gerber, L. R., Lui, G., Liu, J., Spangenberg, J. H., & Zaleski, D. (2021). Transformative governance of biodiversity: Insights for sustainable development. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 53, 20–28.
Vogler, J. (2005). In defence of international environmental cooperation. In John Barry & Robyn Eckersley (Eds.) The state and the global ecological crisis. Cambridge: MIT.
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (2020). Trade facilitation in North Africa for enhanced regional economic integration: Challenges, opportunities and the way forward. Addis Ababa: Publications and Conference Management Section Economic Commission for Africa. Available at: https://archive.uneca.org/sites/default/files/PublicationFiles/trade_ facilitation_in_north_africa_eng.pdf
Wahid, R., Shukri, S., & Ahmad, M. Z. (2023). A bibliometric analysis on trends, directions and major players of international relations studies. Journal of International Studies, 19(1), 201–230.
Waltert, M., Lien, Faber, K., & Mühlenberg, M. (2002). Further declines of threatened primates in the Korup Project Area, south-west Cameroon. Oryx, 36(3), 257–265.
Wang, S. (2020). Agrobiodiversity and agroecosystem stability. In Caldwell, C., Wang, S. (Eds.) Introduction to Agroecology. Singapore: Springer. Pp. 137–154.
Wendling, Z. A., Emerson, J. W., de Sherbinin, A, & Esty, D. C., Hoving, K. (2020). 2020 Environmental Performance Index. Yale University: Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy. (pp. 81–98).
Wersal, L. (1995). Islam and environmental ethics: Tradition responds to contemporary challenges. Zygon, 30(3), 451–459.
Wilder, M. (2017). Comparative public policy: Origins, themes, new directions. Policy Studies Journal, 45 (S1), S47–S66.
Wolf, M. J., Emerson, J. W., Esty, D. C., de Sherbinin, A., Wendling, Z. A., et al. (2022). 2022 Environmental Performance Index. New Haven, CT: Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy.
Wyborn, C., Datta, A., Montana, J., Ryan, M., Leith, P., Chaffin, B., Miller, C., & van Kerkhoff, L. (2019). Co-Producing sustainability: Reordering the governance of science, policy, and practice. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 44(1), 319–346.
Young, J. C., Waylen, K. A., Sarkki, S., Albon, S., Bainbridge, I., Balian, E., Davidson, J., Edwards, D., Fairley, R., Margerison, C., McCracken, D., Owen, R., Quine, C. P., Stewart-Roper, C., Thompson, D., Tinch, R., van den Hove, S., & Watt, A. (2014). Improving the science-policy dialogue to meet the challenges of biodiversity conservation: Having conversations rather than talking at one another. Biodiversity and Conservation, 23, 287–404.
Yusof, F. M., Rosman, A. S., Mahmood, S., Sarip, S. H. M., & Noh, T. U. (2013). Green technology management in the Muslim World. Jurnal Teknologi, 65(1), 107–115
Zagonari, F. (2023). Only religious ethics can help achieve equal burden sharing of global environmental sustainability. International Journal of Environmental Studies, 80(3), 807–830.
Zhang, Q., Luo, H., & Yan, J. (2012). Integrating biodiversity conservation into land consolidation in hilly areas – A case study in Southwest China. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 32(6), 274–278.
