[PASSED] Protecting Native Prairies and Grasslands

[Big Boyz]

Draft #6: added semicolons to preamble, amended definition of land development for clarity, and changed clause starters from capitalized to italics

Environment, All Businesses - Mild

Protecting Native Prairies and Grasslands

The World Assembly,

Recognizing the importance of high-quality habitats in the protection of ecosystems;

Perceiving that tall grass prairies play an important ecological function by filtering pesticides, nutrients, and bacteria from agricultural runoff, as well as preventing soil erosion by establishing deep root systems;

Noticing that tall grass prairies support a wide range of biodiversity, often including plant, insect, large mammal, and prominent keystone species that may not be present in other ecosystems;

Noting that tall grass prairies are often desirable for conversion to agricultural purposes, due to high nutrient levels in the soil, moderate levels of rainfall, and a lack of trees;

Lamenting that only a tiny fraction of tall grass prairies remain today;

Observing that, in many WA member nations, the conversion of land for agriculture has severely decreased the abundance of tall grass prairies, leading to a reduction in biodiversity among pollinators;

Troubled that a lack of biodiversity among pollinators may be detrimental to agriculture by creating, in many cases, an unstable 1 to 1 relationship between crop yield and a single pollinator species, potentially collapsing the agricultural industry of some nations, should the pollinator become extinct; and

Concerned that failing to protect native prairies will lead to the extinction of several currently endangered species, many of which rely heavily on tall grass prairies;

Hereby:

1. Defines for the purposes of this resolution:
   
   1. ‘tall grass prairie’ as a biome featuring the dominance of tall grass species, averaging greater than 1.5 meters in height, moderate levels of annual rainfall, and the presence of periodic wildfires, with period between combustion exceeding 1 year, but not more than 20 years, to prevent the encroachment of saplings and invasive plant species;
      
   2. ‘pollinators’ as species that frequently spread pollen between the male and female components of a plant species, allowing said plants to fertilize the female ovules for reproduction; and
      
   3. ‘land development’ as any sapient activity which alters a landscape from its naturally occurring form and does not allow the landscape to recover to its naturally occurring form within a period of 5 years (e.g. does not include controlled burns);
2. Tasks the World Assembly Science Program (WASP) with the following:
   
   1. researching the historical prevalence of tall grass prairies in all WA member nations;
      
   2. determining the impact that agriculture and land development has had on the decline of tall grass prairies and the loss of pollinators in all WA member nations;
      
   3. performing ecological surveys to assess the feasibility of restoring tall grass prairies in nations with significantly diminished tall grass prairie ranges;
      
   4. researching methods and creating guidelines for maintaining tall grass prairies in areas where periodic controlled burns have the potential to be ecologically damaging;
      
   5. communicating their findings with all WA member nations; and
      
   6. assisting member nations in conducting independent research into native tall grass prairies when adequate resources are lacking;
3. Mandates that all member nations:
   
   1. determine areas where tall grass prairies currently exist within their borders;
      
   2. conduct environmental impact studies to determine the effect of any land development within 5 kilometers of areas recognized as containing tall grass prairies;
      
   3. share raw data on all research pertaining to tall grass prairies with the WASP;
      
   4. maintain current tall grass prairies by:
      
      1. performing periodic controlled burns when it is ecologically in the best interest of the prairie and the surrounding area and unlikely to lead to the development of a wildfire, or else following the guidance set forth by the WASP in clause 2d;
         
      2. preventing land development for any purpose in tall grass prairies;
         
      3. preventing human activities that have been found to be detrimental to the ecosystem, according to clause 3b, in the areas surrounding tall grass prairies; and
   5. record all native multicellular species found to exist within a tall grass prairie, and collect seed samples from all native prairie plants; and
4. Strongly Recommends that member nations:
   
   1. work to restore and maintain tall grass prairies in all ecologically feasible areas, as determined by the findings of the WASP;
      
   2. create economic incentives for private entities to restore and maintain tall grass prairies when direct government action is infeasible; and
      
   3. research methods of reducing land use and pollution associated with agriculture.

Draft 5: made revisions to preamble

Protecting Native Prairies and Grasslands

The World Assembly,

RECOGNIZING the importance of high-quality habitats in the protection of ecosystems,

PERCEIVING that tall grass prairies play an important ecological function by filtering pesticides, nutrients, and bacteria from agricultural runoff, as well as preventing soil erosion by establishing deep root systems,

NOTICING that tall grass prairies support a wide range of biodiversity, often including plant, insect, large mammal, and prominent keystone species that may not be present in other ecosystems,

NOTING that tall grass prairies are often desirable for conversion to agricultural purposes, due to high nutrient levels in the soil, moderate levels of rainfall, and a lack of trees,

LAMENTING that only a tiny fraction of tall grass prairies remain today,

OBSERVING that, in many WA member nations, the conversion of land for agriculture has severely decreased the abundance of tall grass prairies, leading to a reduction in biodiversity among pollinators,

TROUBLED that a lack of biodiversity among pollinators may be detrimental to agriculture by creating, in many cases, an unstable 1 to 1 relationship between crop yield and a single pollinator species, potentially collapsing the agricultural industry of some nations, should the pollinator become extinct,

CONCERNED that failing to protect native prairies will lead to the extinction of several currently endangered species, many of which rely heavily on tall grass prairies,

Hereby:

1. DEFINES for the purposes of this resolution:
   
   1. ‘tall grass prairie’ as a biome featuring the dominance of tall grass species, averaging greater than 1.5 meters in height, moderate levels of annual rainfall, and the presence of periodic wildfires, with period between combustion exceeding 1 year, but not more than 20 years, to prevent the encroachment of saplings and invasive plant species;
      
   2. ‘pollinators’ as species that frequently spread pollen between the male and female components of a plant species, allowing said plants to fertilize the female ovules for reproduction; and
      
   3. ‘land development’ as any sapient activity which permanently alters a landscape from its naturally occurring form;
2. TASKS the World Assembly Science Program (WASP) with the following:
   
   1. researching the historical prevalence of tall grass prairies in all WA member nations;
      
   2. determining the impact that agriculture and land development has had on the decline of tall grass prairies and the loss of pollinators in all WA member nations;
      
   3. performing ecological surveys to assess the feasibility of restoring tall grass prairies in nations with significantly diminished tall grass prairie ranges;
      
   4. researching methods and creating guidelines for maintaining tall grass prairies in areas where periodic controlled burns have the potential to be ecologically damaging;
      
   5. communicating their findings with all WA member nations; and
      
   6. assisting member nations in conducting independent research into native tall grass prairies when adequate resources are lacking;
3. MANDATES that all member nations:
   
   1. determine areas where tall grass prairies currently exist within their borders;
      
   2. conduct environmental impact studies to determine the effect of any land development within 5 kilometers of areas recognized as containing tall grass prairies;
      
   3. share raw data on all research pertaining to tall grass prairies with the WASP;
      
   4. maintain current tall grass prairies by:
      
      1. performing periodic controlled burns when it is ecologically in the best interest of the prairie and the surrounding area and unlikely to lead to the development of a wildfire, or else following the guidance set forth by the WASP in clause 2d;
         
      2. preventing land development for any purpose in tall grass prairies;
         
      3. preventing human activities that have been found to be detrimental to the ecosystem, according to clause 3b, in the areas surrounding tall grass prairies; and
   5. record all native multicellular species found to exist within a tall grass prairie, and collect seed samples from all native prairie plants; and
4. STRONGLY RECOMMENDS that member nations:
   
   1. work to restore and maintain tall grass prairies in all ecologically feasible areas, as determined by the findings of the WASP;
      
   2. create economic incentives for private entities to restore and maintain tall grass prairies when direct government action is infeasible; and
      
   3. research methods of reducing land use and pollution associated with agriculture.

Draft 4: made small cuts to preamble, increased clarity, and changed format

Protecting Native Prairies and Grasslands

The World Assembly,

RECOGNIZING the importance of high-quality habitats in the protection of ecosystems,

PERCEIVING that tall grass prairies play an important ecological function by filtering pesticides, nutrients, and bacteria from agricultural runoff, as well as preventing soil erosion by establishing deep root systems,

NOTICING that tall grass prairies support a wide range of biodiversity, often including hundreds plant species, thousands insect species, several large mammals, and several prominent keystone species,

NOTING that tall grass prairies are often desirable for conversion to agricultural purposes, due to high nutrient levels in the soil, moderate levels of rainfall, and a lack of trees, which would otherwise have to be cut down for land conversion,

LAMENTING that only a tiny fraction of tall grass prairies remain today,

OBSERVING that, in many WA member nations, the conversion of large tracts of land for agricultural purposes has severely decreased the abundance of tall grass prairies, leading to a reduction in biodiversity among pollinators,

TROUBLED that a lack of biodiversity among pollinators may be detrimental, not only to the ecosystem, but also to agriculture by creating, in many cases, an unstable 1 to 1 relationship between crop yield and a single pollinator species, potentially collapsing the agricultural industry of some nations, should the pollinator become extinct due to external factors,

CONCERNED that failing to protect native prairies will lead to the extinction of several currently endangered species, many of which rely heavily on tall grass prairies,

Hereby:

1. DEFINES for the purposes of this resolution:
   
   1. ‘tall grass prairie’ as a biome featuring the dominance of tall grass species, averaging greater than 1.5 meters in height, moderate levels of annual rainfall, and the presence of periodic wildfires, with period between combustion exceeding 1 year, but not more than 20 years, to prevent the encroachment of saplings and invasive plant species;
      
   2. ‘pollinators’ as species that frequently spread pollen between the male and female components of a plant species, allowing said plants to fertilize the female ovules for reproduction; and
      
   3. ‘land development’ as any sapient activity which permanently alters a landscape from its naturally occurring form;
2. TASKS the World Assembly Science Program (WASP) with the following:
   
   1. researching the historical prevalence of tall grass prairies in all WA member nations;
      
   2. determining the impact that agriculture and land development has had on the decline of tall grass prairies and the loss of pollinators in all WA member nations;
      
   3. performing ecological surveys to assess the feasibility of restoring tall grass prairies in nations with significantly diminished tall grass prairie ranges;
      
   4. researching methods and creating guidelines for maintaining tall grass prairies in areas where periodic controlled burns have the potential to be ecologically damaging;
      
   5. communicating their findings with all WA member nations; and
      
   6. assisting member nations in conducting independent research into native tall grass prairies when adequate resources are lacking;
3. MANDATES that all member nations:
   
   1. determine areas where tall grass prairies currently exist within their borders;
      
   2. conduct environmental impact studies to determine the effect of any land development within 5 kilometers of areas recognized as containing tall grass prairies;
      
   3. share raw data on all research pertaining to tall grass prairies with the WASP;
      
   4. maintain current tall grass prairies by:
      
      1. performing periodic controlled burns when it is ecologically in the best interest of the prairie and the surrounding area and unlikely to lead to the development of a wildfire, or else following the guidance set forth by the WASP in clause 2d;
         
      2. preventing land development for any purpose in tall grass prairies;
         
      3. preventing human activities that have been found to be detrimental to the ecosystem, according to clause 3b, in the areas surrounding tall grass prairies; and
   5. record all native multicellular species found to exist within a tall grass prairie, and collect seed samples from all native prairie plants; and
4. STRONGLY RECOMMENDS that member nations:
   
   1. work to restore and maintain tall grass prairies in all ecologically feasible areas, as determined by the findings of the WASP;
      
   2. create economic incentives for private entities to restore and maintain tall grass prairies when direct government action is infeasible; and
      
   3. research methods of reducing land use and pollution associated with agriculture.

Draft 3: amended mandate to create alternatives to controlled burns when potentially ecologically detrimental and added task to WASP to research alternatives to periodic controlled burns.

The World Assembly,

RECOGNIZING the importance of high-quality native habitats in the protection of local ecosystems,

PERCEIVING that tall grass prairies play an important ecological function by filtering pesticides, nutrients, and bacteria from agricultural runoff, as well as preventing soil erosion by establishing deep root systems,

NOTICING that tall grass prairies support a wide range of biodiversity, often including hundreds plant species, thousands insect species, several large mammals, and several prominent keystone species,

NOTING that tall grass prairies are often desirable for conversion to agricultural purposes, due to high nutrient levels in the soil, moderate levels of rainfall, and a lack of trees, which would otherwise have to be cut down for land conversion,

LAMENTING that only a tiny fraction of tall grass prairies remain today, usually in areas which were previously inaccessible to agriculture,

OBSERVING that, in many WA member nations, the conversion of large tracts of land for agricultural purposes has severely decreased the abundance of tall grass prairies, which in turn has led to a reduction in biodiversity among pollinators,

TROUBLED that a lack of biodiversity among pollinators may be detrimental, not only to the ecosystem, but also to agriculture by creating, in many cases, an unstable 1 to 1 relationship between crop yield and a single pollinator species, which has the potential to collapse the agricultural industry of some nations, should said pollinator become extinct due to external factors,

CONCERNED that failing to protect native prairies will lead to the extinction of several currently endangered species, many of which rely heavily on tall grass prairies,

APPLAUDING the efforts of some nations to restore tall grass prairies by replanting native grasses in their historic range and periodically conducting controlled burns to prevent the encroachment of saplings into prairies, which would otherwise lead to the conversion of prairies into forests,

Hereby:

1. DEFINES for the purposes of this resolution:

a. ‘tall grass prairie’ as a biome featuring the dominance of tall grass species, typically averaging from 1.5 - 2 meters in height, moderate levels of annual rainfall, usually between 700 - 900 millimeters each year, and the presence of periodic wildfires, which prevents the encroachment of saplings and invasive plant species,

b. ‘pollinators’ as species that frequently spread pollen between the male and female components of a plant species, allowing said plants to fertilize the female ovules for reproduction,

c. ‘land development’ as any sapient activity which permanently alters the landscape from its naturally occurring form,

2. TASKS the World Assembly Science Program (WASP) to conduct the following:

a. Research the historical prevalence of tall grass prairies in all WA member nations,

b. Determine the impact that agriculture and land development has had on the decline of tall grass prairies and the loss of pollinators in all WA member nations,

c. Perform ecological surveys to assess the feasibility of restoring tall grass prairies in nations with significantly diminished tall grass prairie ranges,

d. Research methods and create guidelines for maintaining tall grass prairies in areas where periodic controlled burns have the potential to be ecologically damaging,

e. Communicate their findings with the WA and the environmental agencies of member nations,

f. Assist member nations in conducting independent research into native tall grass prairies when adequate resources are lacking,

3. MANDATES all member nations:

a. Determine areas where tall grass prairies currently exist within their borders,

b. Conduct environmental impact studies to determine the effect of any land development proposal within 5 kilometers of areas recognized as containing tall grass prairies,

c. Share raw data on all research pertaining to tall grass prairies with the World Assembly Science Program (WASP),

d. Maintain current tall grass prairies by:

i. Performing periodic controlled burns when it is ecologically in the best interest of the prairie and the surrounding area and unlikely to lead to the development of a wildfire, or else following the guidance set forth by the WASP in clause 2d,

ii. Preventing land development for any purpose in tall grass prairies,

iii. Preventing sapient activities that have been found to be detrimental to the ecosystem, according to clause 3b, in the areas surrounding tall grass prairies,

e. Record all native species found to exist within a tall grass prairie, and collect seed samples from all native prairie plants,

4. STRONGLY RECOMMENDS that member nations:

a. Work to restore and maintain tall grass prairies in all ecologically feasible areas, as determined by the findings of the WASP,

b. Create economic incentives for private entities to restore and maintain tall grass prairies when direct government action is infeasible,

c. Research methods of reducing land use and pollution associated with agriculture.

Draft 2: added to preamble and removed RL references

The World Assembly,

RECOGNIZING the importance of high-quality native habitats in the protection of local ecosystems,

PERCEIVING that tall grass prairies play an important ecological function by filtering pesticides, nutrients, and bacteria from agricultural runoff, as well as preventing soil erosion by establishing deep root systems,

NOTICING that tall grass prairies support a wide range of biodiversity, often including hundreds plant species, thousands insect species, several large mammals, and several prominent keystone species,

NOTING that tall grass prairies are often desirable for conversion to agricultural purposes, due to high nutrient levels in the soil, moderate levels of rainfall, and a lack of trees, which would otherwise have to be cut down for land conversion,

LAMENTING that only a tiny fraction of tall grass prairies remain today, usually in areas which were previously inaccessible to agriculture,

OBSERVING that, in many WA member nations, the conversion of large tracts of land for agricultural purposes has severely decreased the abundance of tall grass prairies, which in turn has led to a reduction in biodiversity among pollinators,

TROUBLED that a lack of biodiversity among pollinators may be detrimental, not only to the ecosystem, but also to agriculture by creating, in many cases, an unstable 1 to 1 relationship between crop yield and a single pollinator species, which has the potential to collapse the agricultural industry of some nations, should said pollinator become extinct due to external factors,

CONCERNED that failing to protect native prairies will lead to the extinction of several currently endangered species, many of which rely heavily on tall grass prairies,

APPLAUDING the efforts of some nations to restore tall grass prairies by replanting native grasses in their historic range and periodically conducting controlled burns to prevent the encroachment of saplings into prairies, which would otherwise lead to the conversion of prairies into forests,

Hereby:

1. DEFINES for the purposes of this resolution:

a. ‘tall grass prairie’ as a biome featuring the dominance of tall grass species, typically averaging from 1.5 - 2 meters in height, moderate levels of annual rainfall, usually between 700 - 900 millimeters each year, and the presence of periodic wildfires, which prevents the encroachment of saplings and invasive plant species,

b. ‘pollinators’ as species that frequently spread pollen between the male and female components of a plant species, allowing said plants to fertilize the female ovules for reproduction,

c. ‘land development’ as any sapient activity which permanently alters the landscape from its naturally occurring form,

2. TASKS the World Assembly Science Program (WASP) to conduct the following:

a. Research the historical prevalence of tall grass prairies in all WA member nations,

b. Determine the impact that agriculture and land development has had on the decline of tall grass prairies and the loss of pollinators in all WA member nations,

c. Perform ecological surveys to assess the feasibility of restoring tall grass prairies in nations with significantly diminished tall grass prairie ranges,

d. Communicate their findings with the WA and the environmental agencies of member nations,

e. Assist member nations in conducting independent research into native tall grass prairies when adequate resources are lacking,

3. MANDATES all member nations:

a. Determine areas where tall grass prairies currently exist within their borders,

b. Conduct environmental impact studies to determine the effect of any land development proposal within 5 kilometers of areas recognized as containing tall grass prairies,

c. Share raw data on all research pertaining to tall grass prairies with the World Assembly Science Program (WASP),

d. Maintain current tall grass prairies by performing periodic controlled burns, preventing land development for any purpose in tall grass prairies, and preventing land development that has been found to be detrimental to the ecosystem, in accordance with clause 3b, in the areas surrounding tall grass prairies,

e. Record all native species found to exist within a tall grass prairie, and collect seed samples from all native prairie plants,

4. STRONGLY RECOMMENDS that member nations:

a. Work to restore and maintain tall grass prairies in all ecologically feasible areas, as determined by the findings of the WASP,

b. Create economic incentives for private entities to restore and maintain tall grass prairies when direct government action is infeasible,

c. Research methods of reducing land use and pollution associated with agriculture.

Draft 1:

Protecting Native Prairies and Grasslands

The World Assembly,

RECOGNIZING the importance of high-quality native habitats in the protection of local ecosystems,

PERCEIVING that tall grass prairies play an important ecological function by filtering pesticides, nutrients, and bacteria from agricultural runoff, as well as preventing soil erosion by establishing deep root systems and building organic matter,

NOTICING that tall grass prairies support a wide range of biodiversity, including over 300 plant species, more than 1500 insect species, several large mammals, and several prominent keystone species,

NOTING that tall grass prairies are often desirable for conversion to agricultural purposes, due to high nutrient levels in the soil, moderate levels of rainfall, and a lack of trees, which would otherwise have to be cut down for land conversion,

LAMENTING that only 1% of tall grass prairies remain today, usually in areas which were previously inaccessible to agriculture,

OBSERVING that, in many WA member nations, the conversion of large tracts of land for agricultural purposes has severely decreased the abundance of tall grass prairies, which in turn has led to a reduction in biodiversity among pollinators,

TROUBLED that a lack of biodiversity among pollinators may be detrimental, not only to the ecosystem, but also to agriculture by creating, in many cases, an unstable 1 to 1 relationship between crop yield and a single pollinator species, which has the potential to collapse the agricultural industry of some nations, should said pollinator become extinct due to external factors,

CONCERNED that failing to protect native prairies will lead to the extinction of several currently endangered species, many of which rely heavily on tall grass prairies,

APPLAUDING the efforts of some nations to restore tall grass prairies by replanting native grasses in their historic range and periodically conducting controlled burns to prevent the encroachment of saplings into prairies, which would otherwise lead to the conversion of prairies into forests,

Hereby:

1. DEFINES for the purposes of this resolution:

‘tall grass prairie’ as a biome featuring the dominance of tall grass species, typically averaging from 1.5 - 2 meters in height, moderate levels of annual rainfall, usually between 700 - 900 millimeters each year, and the presence of periodic wildfires, which prevents the encroachment of saplings and invasive plant species,

‘pollinators’ as species that frequently spread pollen between the male and female components of a plant species, allowing said plants to fertilize the female ovules for reproduction,

‘land development’ as any sapient activity which permanently alters the landscape from its naturally occurring form,

2. TASKS the World Assembly Science Program (WASP) to conduct the following:

Research the historical prevalence of tall grass prairies in all WA member nations,

Determine the impact that agriculture and land development has had on the decline of tall grass prairies and the loss of pollinators in all WA member nations,

Perform ecological surveys to assess the feasibility of restoring tall grass prairies in nations with significantly diminished tall grass prairie ranges,

Communicate their findings with the WA and the environmental agencies of member nations,

Assist member nations in conducting independent research into native tall grass prairies when adequate resources are lacking,

3. MANDATES that all member nations:

Determine areas where tall grass prairies exist within their borders,

Conduct environmental impact studies to determine the effect of any land development within 5 kilometers of areas recognized as containing tall grass prairies,

Share raw data on all research pertaining to tall grass prairies with the World Assembly Science Program (WASP),

Maintain current tall grass prairies by performing periodic controlled burns, preventing land development for any purpose in tall grass prairies, and preventing human activities that have been found to be detrimental to the ecosystem, according to clause 3b, in the areas surrounding tall grass prairies,

Record all native species found to exist within a tall grass prairie, and collect seed samples from all native prairie plants,

4. STRONGLY RECOMMENDS that member nations:

Work to restore and maintain tall grass prairies in all ecologically feasible areas, as determined by the findings of the WASP,

Create economic incentives for private entities to restore and maintain tall grass prairies when direct government action is infeasible,

Research methods of reducing land use and pollution associated with agriculture.

[The New California Republic]

99 minutes ago: The Sultanate of Big Boyz submitted a proposal to the General Assembly Environmental Board entitled "Protecting Native Prairies and Grasslands".

It's usually better to draft it here first before submission.

[Big Boyz]

99 minutes ago: The Sultanate of Big Boyz submitted a proposal to the General Assembly Environmental Board entitled "Protecting Native Prairies and Grasslands".

It's usually better to draft it here first before submission.

Yeah, sorry. I'm pretty new to this, so I wasn't sure what the protocol is.

[Calamari Lands]

I see you took my advice about making a thread for this. I'm glad to be of service. I'll bring you some feedback soon.

[Outer Sparta]

99 minutes ago: The Sultanate of Big Boyz submitted a proposal to the General Assembly Environmental Board entitled "Protecting Native Prairies and Grasslands".

It's usually better to draft it here first before submission.

Yeah, sorry. I'm pretty new to this, so I wasn't sure what the protocol is.

Withdraw it and keep on drafting. Even if you think it's good, other people can comment on it to make your draft better and check if you have any potential illegalities or typos.

[Calamari Lands]

Okay, so, as I said, the RL references are the biggest problem here. They can (and probably will) make the resolution illegal. So, I'd remove them if I were you.

[Outer Sparta]

Okay, so, as I said, the RL references are the biggest problem here. They can (and probably will) make the resolution illegal. So, I'd remove them if I were you.

c. ‘land development’ as any human activity which permanently alters the landscape from its naturally occurring form

Wouldn't it be better to use "sapient" activity as I'm not too sure if GA resolutions allow for the word of "human" to describe sentient beings. Also not sure if that's also an illegality.

[South St Maarten]

Usually, the name of this thread would read: [DRAFT] Protecting Native Prairies and Grasslands

Also I'll check back later for comments, but I like the idea

[Jedinsto]

As Sparta said, you should withdraw this for now. It isn't going to pass if you don't draft it, and potentially be illegal. If you go to the proposal, and scroll to the bottom, you will see an option to withdraw the proposal. Come back here and we'll help you out

[Scalizagasti]

Welcome to the World Assembly!

Like everyone else has pointed out, this resolution needs a lot of work, but it definitely has some potential. Here are some basic comments I had while looking through your draft.

1. Read through the existing resolutions (particularly the environmental ones) to make sure you aren't interfering with existing legislation. Responsible Land Management is one that comes to mind that you should pay attention to.

2. I fear your definition in 1a may be too restrictive. While it is accurate in real life, NationStates is not Earth. Some nations exist on totally foreign planets with different environments -- perhaps a tall grass prairie there has a different level of annual rainfall. This is something you should consider.

3. You should explain more why the WA should care about tall grass prairies in particular? What makes this specific biome of interest? Wetland Protection Protocol is an example of a resolution dealing with one biome in particular, and adequately explains why we should care about it.

Good luck and happy writing!

[Outer Sparta]

CONCERNED that failing to protect native prairies will lead to the extinction of several currently endangered species, many of which rely heavily on tall grass prairies,

APPLAUDING the efforts of some nations to restore tall grass prairies by replanting native grasses in their historic range and periodically conducting controlled burns to prevent the encroachment of saplings into prairies, which would otherwise lead to the conversion of prairies into forests,

Why should we care about grasslands and prairies? While my nation's delegation cares about environmental issues, plenty of other delegations may not give as much priority to protecting grasslands and other environments, so you must make your case know to those nations.

NOTICING that tall grass prairies support a wide range of biodiversity, including over 300 plant species, more than 1500 insect species, many large mammals, and several prominent keystone species,

Yes, biodiversity is important, but you have to emphasis why it's important. What makes tall grass prairies vital compared to other ecosystems such as wetlands and rainforests? What value does the biodiversity of grasslands contribute to society? What benefits to the environment do grasslands provide?

Here are a few things I would clarify on. Good concept and a good angle of environmental conservation to focus on, but really make sure to clarify why this should be an issue for nations to care about.

[Separatist Peoples]

"This has the potential to be an excellent proposal. I disagree with many of my colleagues here regarding the policy justification. While you could certainly go further, what you have argued is sufficient.

"I am concerned that member states are required to engage in controlled burns regardless of whether a deliberate and artificial burn is the best management tool available. While controlled burns are adequate in disturbed ecosystems with an extreme buildup of duff, the practice is not always indicated where such prairies either adapt to irregular burning or do not require artificial burning. Otherwise, this delegation lacks any particularly strong objection to the proposed policy.

"I am pleased and excited to see this concept develop, ambassador. Well done."

[Big Boyz]

Welcome to the World Assembly!

Like everyone else has pointed out, this resolution needs a lot of work, but it definitely has some potential. Here are some basic comments I had while looking through your draft.

1. Read through the existing resolutions (particularly the environmental ones) to make sure you aren't interfering with existing legislation. Responsible Land Management is one that comes to mind that you should pay attention to.

2. I fear your definition in 1a may be too restrictive. While it is accurate in real life, NationStates is not Earth. Some nations exist on totally foreign planets with different environments -- perhaps a tall grass prairie there has a different level of annual rainfall. This is something you should consider.

3. You should explain more why the WA should care about tall grass prairies in particular? What makes this specific biome of interest? Wetland Protection Protocol is an example of a resolution dealing with one biome in particular, and adequately explains why we should care about it.

Good luck and happy writing!

Thanks for the feedback! Regarding your second point, I tried to be pretty general by only stating that tall grass prairies have a moderate amount of annual rainfall, which is usually between 700mm and 900mm. The key word being usually. For those nations living on planets with wildly different climates than ours, a moderate amount of rainfall might be much more or much less than this. As far as I'm aware, it's not possible for a tall grass prairie to develop in the extreme absence or abundance of water, but if it can be done for those planets, then it seems likely that the ecology of those planets would still only permit grasslands to persist when rainfall is of a moderate level relative to the rest of the planet, else a different ecosystem would probably emerge. Thank you for pointing this out though, as a lack of generality does get a lot of proposals deemed illegal.

Additionally, I'm considering adding the following two clauses to my proposal in response to your third point, which was also made by Outer Sparta:

PERCEIVING that tall grass prairies play an important ecological function by filtering pesticides, nutrients, and bacteria from agricultural runoff, as well as preventing soil erosion by establishing deep root systems,

TROUBLED that a lack of biodiversity among pollinators may be detrimental, not only to the ecosystem, but also to agriculture by creating, in many cases, an unstable 1 to 1 relationship between crop yield and a single pollinator species, which has the potential to collapse the agricultural industry of some nations, should said pollinator become extinct due to external factors,

Let me know if you think these would be sufficient to present the benefits of protecting tall grass prairies.

[Outer Sparta]

Welcome to the World Assembly!

Like everyone else has pointed out, this resolution needs a lot of work, but it definitely has some potential. Here are some basic comments I had while looking through your draft.

1. Read through the existing resolutions (particularly the environmental ones) to make sure you aren't interfering with existing legislation. Responsible Land Management is one that comes to mind that you should pay attention to.

2. I fear your definition in 1a may be too restrictive. While it is accurate in real life, NationStates is not Earth. Some nations exist on totally foreign planets with different environments -- perhaps a tall grass prairie there has a different level of annual rainfall. This is something you should consider.

3. You should explain more why the WA should care about tall grass prairies in particular? What makes this specific biome of interest? Wetland Protection Protocol is an example of a resolution dealing with one biome in particular, and adequately explains why we should care about it.

Good luck and happy writing!

Thanks for the feedback! Regarding your second point, I tried to be pretty general by only stating that tall grass prairies have a moderate amount of annual rainfall, which is usually between 700mm and 900mm. The key word being usually. For those nations living on planets with wildly different climates than ours, a moderate amount of rainfall might be much more or much less than this. As far as I'm aware, it's not possible for a tall grass prairie to develop in the extreme absence or abundance of water, but if it can be done for those planets, then it seems likely that the ecology of those planets would still only permit grasslands to persist when rainfall is of a moderate level relative to the rest of the planet, else a different ecosystem would probably emerge. Thank you for pointing this out though, as a lack of generality does get a lot of proposals deemed illegal.

Additionally, I'm considering adding the following two clauses to my proposal in response to your third point, which was also made by Outer Sparta:

PERCEIVING that tall grass prairies play an important ecological function by filtering pesticides, nutrients, and bacteria from agricultural runoff, as well as preventing soil erosion by establishing deep root systems,

TROUBLED that a lack of biodiversity among pollinators may be detrimental, not only to the ecosystem, but also to agriculture by creating, in many cases, an unstable 1 to 1 relationship between crop yield and a single pollinator species, which has the potential to collapse the agricultural industry of some nations, should said pollinator become extinct due to external factors,

Let me know if you think these would be sufficient to present the benefits of protecting tall grass prairies.

If you're going to work further on it, I suggest you withdraw your proposal. There's nothing wrong in doing so and it allows you to make further improvements here.

[Imperial Rifta]

I approve of the proposal so far. A lot of edits could be made though...

[Big Boyz]

If you're going to work further on it, I suggest you withdraw your proposal. There's nothing wrong in doing so and it allows you to make further improvements here.

For now, I'm going to refrain from withdrawing. I appreciate the feedback, as I think it will help my future policy proposals a lot, but I have already campaigned for this proposal (which, in hindsight, may have been hasty on my part) and I'm running low on stamps. If the proposal is ruled illegal, then I will withdraw it and implement all of the changes being considered.

Thank you for taking the time to look it over though !

[Araraukar]

NOTICING that tall grass prairies support a wide range of biodiversity, including over 300 plant species, more than 1500 insect species, many large mammals, and several prominent keystone species,

*snip*

LAMENTING that only 1% of tall grass prairies remain today, usually in areas which were previously inaccessible to agriculture,

*snip*

CONCERNED that failing to protect native prairies will lead to the extinction of several currently endangered species, many of which rely heavily on tall grass prairies,

APPLAUDING the efforts of some nations to restore tall grass prairies by replanting native grasses in their historic range and periodically conducting controlled burns to prevent the encroachment of saplings into prairies, which would otherwise lead to the conversion of prairies into forests,

OOC: Remove all these. They're blatantly obvious RL references - not enough to make the proposal illegal, but enough to make it way too specific an interest to many (if not most) WA nations.

You should answer the 3W's in the preamble: WHAT is the problem? WHY is it an international problem? And WHY hasn't it been already addressed by existing resolutions?

I don't think you've really addressed any of those currently. Especially given already existing resolutions. And controlled burns tends to NOT be the way how grasslands remain grasslands, but rather having native grazers (or closest equivalent if the native ones are long since extinct) in abundant enough numbers. At most you might add that suppressing natural fires is part of the problem. But as was already suggested, read the existing resolutions that concern similar issues.

[Outer Sparta]

If you're going to work further on it, I suggest you withdraw your proposal. There's nothing wrong in doing so and it allows you to make further improvements here.

For now, I'm going to refrain from withdrawing. I appreciate the feedback, as I think it will help my future policy proposals a lot, but I have already campaigned for this proposal (which, in hindsight, may have been hasty on my part) and I'm running low on stamps. If the proposal is ruled illegal, then I will withdraw it and implement all of the changes being considered.

Thank you for taking the time to look it over though !

If you draft and resubmit it and made the necessary changes to the draft, you won't need to campaign since they already know your proposal is of good quality.

[Big Boyz]

For now, I'm going to refrain from withdrawing. I appreciate the feedback, as I think it will help my future policy proposals a lot, but I have already campaigned for this proposal (which, in hindsight, may have been hasty on my part) and I'm running low on stamps. If the proposal is ruled illegal, then I will withdraw it and implement all of the changes being considered.

Thank you for taking the time to look it over though !

If you draft and resubmit it and made the necessary changes to the draft, you won't need to campaign since they already know your proposal is of good quality.

But the link to the proposal will have changed.

[Jedinsto]

If you're going to work further on it, I suggest you withdraw your proposal. There's nothing wrong in doing so and it allows you to make further improvements here.

For now, I'm going to refrain from withdrawing. I appreciate the feedback, as I think it will help my future policy proposals a lot, but I have already campaigned for this proposal (which, in hindsight, may have been hasty on my part) and I'm running low on stamps. If the proposal is ruled illegal, then I will withdraw it and implement all of the changes being considered.

Thank you for taking the time to look it over though !

I know what it feels like to waste time/money on a proposal just to withdraw it. I spent 4 hours manually campaigning for my first proposal. I withdrew it because I made the mistake of rushing it and not getting it fleshed out here on the forums. Me and probably a few other people would be happy to run the campaign for you if need be. I have stamps, plenty of them. Others have their own APIs. Please withdraw the proposal, it won't pass without proper drafting.

[Outer Sparta]

If you draft and resubmit it and made the necessary changes to the draft, you won't need to campaign since they already know your proposal is of good quality.

But the link to the proposal will have changed.

Nobody cares if the link is changed. As it is, I have to oppose it in the current state but if you make some changes and go through the drafting process, I will gladly support it.

[Big Boyz]

For now, I'm going to refrain from withdrawing. I appreciate the feedback, as I think it will help my future policy proposals a lot, but I have already campaigned for this proposal (which, in hindsight, may have been hasty on my part) and I'm running low on stamps. If the proposal is ruled illegal, then I will withdraw it and implement all of the changes being considered.

Thank you for taking the time to look it over though !

I know what it feels like to waste time/money on a proposal just to withdraw it. I spent 4 hours manually campaigning for my first proposal. I withdrew it because I made the mistake of rushing it and not getting it fleshed out here on the forums. Me and probably a few other people would be happy to run the campaign for you if need be. I have stamps, plenty of them. Others have their own APIs. Please withdraw the proposal, it won't pass without proper drafting.

Ok, I'll withdraw the proposal.

Although it pains me to do so.

[Honeydewistania]

If you'd like, I'll help you campaign for your resubmission of the proposal if you redraft it well. It is a good concept.

[Big Boyz]

If you'd like, I'll help you campaign for your resubmission of the proposal if you redraft it well. It is a good concept.

Thanks, I would appreciate that!

[Outer Sparta]

I know what it feels like to waste time/money on a proposal just to withdraw it. I spent 4 hours manually campaigning for my first proposal. I withdrew it because I made the mistake of rushing it and not getting it fleshed out here on the forums. Me and probably a few other people would be happy to run the campaign for you if need be. I have stamps, plenty of them. Others have their own APIs. Please withdraw the proposal, it won't pass without proper drafting.

Ok, I'll withdraw the proposal.

Although it pains me to do so.

You're definitely better off by doing so. Drafting in the GA forums helps you get feedback and advice from others on how to make your proposal better.