A comparative study of wildlife law in the UK and Japan and the differences in a cultural context

The thesis examines the implementation and the enforcement of CITES in the UK and Japan, in order to ascertain whether different cultural traditions influence attitudes to conservation. In international wildlife law, the implementation of the primary conservation concept of sustainable use is subject to varying interpretations, with anthropocentrists emphasising the utilitarian and ecocentrists the precautionary approach. Japan belongs to the ‘sustainable user’ group, and the UK and many other Western countries to the ‘protectionist’ group. The examination of national implementation and enforcement of CITES in the UK and Japan reveals that the UK's approach is more effective and protective than that of Japan. Japan’s implementation of CITES is a fulfilment of the minimum obligations required by CITES, and its approach is less effective and more utilitarian than the UK’s. The realities of conservation in the UK and Japan contradict the image of the ‘East’ and the ‘West’ held by many, including some ecocentrists, who consider Eastern cultural traditions to be ‘ecological’ whilst the Western traditions provide for ‘exploitative’ attitudes toward nature. The examination of Christianity and rationalism reveals that although these factors may provide a basis for inherently anthropocentric and therefore ‘exploitative’ attitudes toward nature, current conservation principles, including ecocentric concerns, also arose from them. On the other hand, although Shinto and Buddhist views of nature can provide an ‘ecocentric' basis for conservation, they are not inherently ‘ecological’ or animal-friendly, and the Japanese view of nature has aspects that are not compatible with ‘science’ as developed in the West and currently accepted internationally. The thesis concludes that the conservation approach taken by the UK and Japan differ, and that each approach reflects different cultural traditions. The thesis suggests that these cultural factors should be taken into consideration by both Japan and the ‘West’, in order to seek a way forward in reconciling different views of conservation.