Research Program UNU-UP: The Menorca Case
One of the aspects of the present program is to promote the realization and publication of scientific about the governance and environment matter.In the original proposal we planned to start a legal research,during the 1995-96 academic year,about the implementation of the environmental rules and regulations, with special emphasis in the relationship between the international and national arrangements and from this point in the action and position of the different administrative levels.

To prevent to fall into excessively generic studies,and looking at the program's characteristics, it seems appropriate to focus in a specific case that, because of its characteristics, will let us make a suggestive reflection and with a scientific protection above the program's subject.

With this goal, we are working in the case of the Island of MENORCA, declared as a Reserve of the Biosphere in the Man and Biosphere Program promoted by UNESCO.The characteristics of the Island of MENORCA seem especially adequate to carry out a work as the one we propose.We are talking about an island with a high environmental value, as it is reflected in the declaration as a Reserve of the Biosphere, but that also present the characteristics to be extended with integral character to the set of the insular territory.This is due to the scarce of the island, that it would make almost impossible an action of environmental preservation isolated of its surroundings.According with it, the whole island is included in some of the zones in which the territory affected by a declaration of Reserve of the Biosphere is normally structured; central zone, zone of deadening and zone of transition;to emphasize also that the 41% of the territory of the island it's found between the central or of the deadening, that are considered normally subjected to some regime of protection.

On the other hand, the peculiar administration structure of the island constitutes as well from this point of view an example, especially appropriate, to analyze the relationship of the different levels of government in the process of production and implementation of the environmental regulations. Regarding this, we observe that it assembles at least the following levels of administration:a)the local governments, integrated by the seven municipalities of the island; b)the insular council, that disposes of substantial powers in the territorial and environmental proceedings; c) the Regional Government of Balearic Island;and d) the Spanish Government.

In this context we will center the study in the analysis of the implementation process of the different environmental regulations that apply in this territory. It deal to determine the legal effects attributable to the agreement of declaration of the Reserve of the Biosphere, and the international and communal levels of administration, which dispose at the same time of its own regulations.

In this context we propose to carry out during the course 95-96 a work of diagnosis centered in the following aspects:

  1. Nature and scope of the Reserve of the Biosphere declaration. International Regulations applicable to the mentioned declaration. Applicability of the European rules and regulations in environmental matter in the specific context of the declaration as a Reserve of the Biosphere and the environmental values that we can find in the island of MENORCA.
  2. Legal proceeding carried out by the diverse levels of administration from the indicated declaration. Administrative organization formulas ad-hoc. Incidence of the declaration in the regulations and policies out in an environmental matter, determining the implication on this processes of the different administrative levels.
From this diagnosis we will start a second level of research focused in the determination of the more appropriate measures for the better effectiveness of the necessary preservation that is deduced from the declaration of the Reserve of the Biosphere, in several subjects such as models of administrative organization, instruments of action and planification to obtain the objectives of preservation, powers, attributable to each one of the administrative levels.


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