The need for unique international legal protection of pond habitats

Abstract

Ponds, the most numerous freshwater habitats globally, are becoming increasingly recognized as being important for rare, endemic and endangered species, owing to the high levels of biodiversity they support and their role in ecosystem services. However, they remain largely overlooked and widely excluded from policies that might protect them. Even though their size and permanence are highly important for their legal protection, these two characteristics are not precisely and universally defined in theory and in international legal documents. International legislative frameworks do not seem to provide global, comprehensive, or detailed protection of ponds as significant and widespread habitats. On the contrary, they safeguard only fragmentary small water bodies – either by protecting certain types or only those that are parts of larger protected areas. Also, pondscapes are not specifically recognized as forms in need of legal protection. In this paper, the complexity of the legal protection of ponds is presented, followed by recommendations. These should be transformed into legal norms, and given their number and complexity be presented within a single, unique convention that would specifically address the protection of ponds globally. This type of protection would be the most effective legal tool.