Pilot Program for Judicial Training for the Protection of Biodiversity in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic

The Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) will host the second meeting of the Judicial Training Pilot Program for the Protection of Biodiversity in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The pilot program will be held on April 21 to 23 at the FUNGLODE offices in Santo Domingo.  This program, financed through a donation from the McArthur Foundation, was introduced to the
country by Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and the Environmental Law Institute of Washington, DC in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and local partners in each country, including: the National Judicial College (ENJ in Spanish) in the Dominican Republic, the Konbit Pou Ayiti (KONPAY)  Organization in Haiti, and the Norman Manley School of Law in Jamaica.

The first meeting of this series
was held at FUNGLODE last August 25-28, 2008 when the local partners presented their respective committees, and reached a consensus on topics to be covered by the course curriculum. The team devised a strategy to ensure that the program was adaptive to each one of the legislative bodies, targeted the most pressing environmental problems, and benefited the largest number of judges and magistrates in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The course is designed to train
and strengthen the capacity of the legal community in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic in environmental issues through a curriculum that reinforces the legal bases regarding the protection of biodiversity, conservation management, forestry, land use and pollution control in each country.

Training will be given by a team of experts and will include a dynamic mix of presentations and interactive methodologies using hypothetical examples, problem solving and
discussions. In total, more than 50 judges from Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic (20 from the DR) will participate in the pilot workshop.  The judges assume the training with the commitment that they will take the curriculum back to their respective countries, with the goal of establishing sustained judicial education programs that will allow the judiciary to play a vital role in assuring that existing laws protecting biodiversity be understood, applied and maintained.

As part of their commitment to environmental protection, GFDD and FUNGLODE develop national and international projects and organize conferences and forums designed to promote awareness and improved understanding of environmental issues.

Related links:
www.enj.org

www.eli.org

www.unep.org

www.nmls.edu.jm

http://www.konpay.org/environment