s.3National Conservation Council
3
Section 3Part 2 — ADMINISTRATION

National Conservation Council

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There is established a National Conservation Council which shall exercise the powers and carry out the duties imposed on it by this Law.
The Council shall consist of the thirteen voting members specified in Schedule 2 and such additional persons as may be co-opted in accordance with subsection (6).
Seven voting members of the Council constitute a quorum.
The decisions of the Council shall be by simple majority and the chairman shall have a casting vote only.
The Council may co-opt such persons as it considers necessary to be additional members of the Council, but such persons shall not have the right to vote at meetings of the Council or any of its committees or subcommittees.
The Council shall meet in a place open to the public and cause to be prepared and published the agendas and minutes of all meetings of the Council.
Subject to the provisions of this Law, the Council may regulate its own procedure.
Schedule 2 shall apply for the purposes of this section and the Cabinet may amend Schedule 2 by Order.
The Council has the following functions —
subject to this Law, managing and making recommendations on the use of the Fund;
promoting the biological diversity and the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in the Islands;
co-ordinating the establishment and adoption by the public and private sectors of national policies for the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, including —
the use of wetlands and wetland resources; and
the excavation of aggregate and fill materials;
recommending and maintaining protected areas and conservation areas and conserving, maintaining and restoring their natural resources in accordance with Part 3;
conserving, maintaining and restoring populations and critical habitats of protected species in accordance with Part 4;
promoting the training of professional and voluntary personnel in the fields of research, management and wardening of protected areas and species and the other natural resources of the Islands;
promoting wider understanding and awareness of the significance of the ecological systems of the Islands, the benefits of conserving natural resources and of the provisions of this Law and the Conventions;
publicising the establishment of protected areas and the designation of protected species and raise public awareness, through educational programmes and other means, of the significance and value of protected areas and species and of the benefits that may be gained from them;
encouraging public involvement, particularly by local communities, in the planning and management of protected areas and the conservation of protected species;
promoting the adoption of guidelines by entities for the integration of conservation issues into their decision making processes and for the achievement of the sustainable use of natural resources;
promoting district, national and regional initiatives, including co-operative enforcement measures and mutual assistance in the enforcement of national laws, in order to further the objectives of the Conventions;
promoting national plans for emergency responses to activities or events, whether caused naturally or not, that present a grave and imminent danger to biological diversity and encouraging international co-operation to supplement such national plans;
promoting national plans for the sustainable management, conservation and enhancement, as appropriate, of sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases; and
carrying out such other functions and duties as are specified under this Law and the regulations.
In carrying out its powers and duties the Council may, subject to any directions of the Cabinet, enter into agreements and other co-operative arrangements with regional agencies, interstate agencies, voluntary organisations and other persons for the purpose of this Law and the Conventions.
Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (10), arrangements pursuant to the subsection may provide for —
the regulation, promotion and co-ordination of surveys and research relating to natural resources;
the conservation of particular species pursuant to Articles IV and V of the Migratory Species Convention;
the establishment and operation of joint or regional conservation plans or management bodies for protected species;
the taking of joint or harmonised enforcement measures in respect of any laws relating to protected species or their critical habitats; and
the establishment of contingency plans for emergency responses to activities or events that present or may present a danger to biological diversity in the Wider Caribbean.
The Council, subject to any directions of the Cabinet, may make orders and guidance notes and issue directives for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of this Law and such orders, guidance notes and directives may include —
criteria for identifying endangered or threatened species or other species needing protection under this Law;
criteria for evaluating proposals for the establishment and management of protected areas and for the measures required to protect and conserve protected species and their critical habitat;
criteria for the application for, and grant of, monies from the Fund;
criteria for the review, assessment and reporting of activities funded in whole or in part by monies from the Fund;
the form and content of a petition under section 16(3);
procedures for determining the circumstances under which permits and licences may be granted under Part 5;
measures governing the methods and conditions under which the captive breeding or artificial propagation of protected species may be allowed;
procedures for regulating and controlling wild populations and the import, introduction, possession, transportation and release of alien or genetically altered specimens;
procedures for consultation by entities pursuant to section 41(3); and
the carrying out of environmental impact assessments under section 43.
The Council may delegate any of its functions, other than the making of orders and the issuing of directives, to the Director or to any committee or sub-committee of its members.

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