Strengthening the implementation of biodiversity treaties through environmental law education

Biodiversity is vital to humanity and its continued existence cuts across rights and duties of states and their obligations pursuant to a plethora of international environmental agreements. There is a plethora of international and regional treaties focusing on biodiversity and conservation issues presently. Several Middle East-North Africa (MENA) countries have signed, ratified and in some instances, domesticated some of these treaties into their national legal systems. However, in many MENA countries, notwithstanding the avalanche of national and international mechanisms on biodiversity, several barriers are militating against the successful implementation of the regime on biodiversity in different parts of the world.This chapter argues that reliance on environmental law education can be one of the strategies to improve the implementation of biodiversity treaties across the MENA region. Drawing salient lessons from emerging best practices on environmental law education across the region, this chapter examines the role of environmental law education in advancing biodiversity and nature conservation. It discusses legal and institutional gaps that hinder the profusion of environmental law education on biodiversity in the MENA region, and key reforms necessary to address such gaps.