UNEP-WCMC: Latest News

Job Vacancy - Projects Administrator

Fri, 4 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

WCMC is a UK charity, based in Cambridge, which supports the United Nations Environment Programme. We work in collaboration with UNEP, under the banner of UNEP-WCMC. Our mission is to evaluate and highlight the many values of biodiversity and put authoritative biodiversity knowledge at the centre of decision-making. Since our establishment in the 1970s, the Centre has been at the forefront of the compilation, management, analysis and dissemination of global biodiversity information, and has an outstanding record of achievement.

WCMC are now seeking a permanent Projects Administrator to work with us. This is a great opportunity to use your exceptional accuracy and organisational skills whilst working for an organisation with a vision to make a ‘world where biodiversity counts’.

The BIP chosen as one of the “20 Best’ UNEP/GEF projects of the last 20 years!

Fri, 4 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

To celebrate 20 years of the Global Environmental Facility in 2011, which also coincides with the 40th Anniversary of UNEP in 2012, UNEP will showcase the ’20 Best’ UNEP/GEF projects of the last 20 years. The Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (BIP) Project, for which UNEP-WCMC was the executing agency, has been selected as one of the 20 projects due to its achievements in fostering a coordinated international partnership that provided data, analysis and expertise needed to assess the state of biodiversity worldwide.

A.P.E.S. Portal and Dashboard Now Online

Thu, 3 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Max Planck Institute, the IUCN SSC Section on Great Apes and UNEP-WCMC, with generous funding from the Arcus Foundation and the World We Want Foundation, have collaborated to develop the A.P.E.S. Portal and Dashboard. These tools bring together a wealth of information and analyses to aid decision-makers in identifying areas for conservation action for great apes.

Job Vacancy - Front-end Developer (AD719)

Wed, 2 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Front-end Developer – Two year fixed term contract (AD719)
Informatics Programme
Salary depending on skills and competencies

WCMC are now seeking a front-end web developer to join our team to work on high profile projects that make the natural world better.

Analysis of National Reports to AEWA completed

Tue, 1 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

UNEP-WCMC completed an analysis of the National Reports submitted to the fifth Meeting of the Parties to AEWA (the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement), due to be held in La Rochelle, France, in May. For the first time, National Reports were compiled and submitted through the CMS Family Online Reporting System, a tool developed by UNEP-WCMC in close collaboration with the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat. The National Report submission rate for MOP5 was the highest to date.

The report is available on the AEWA website here.

Job Vacancy - Ruby on Rails Developer (AD718)

Tue, 1 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Ruby on Rails Developer – Two year fixed-term position (AD718)
Informatics Programme
Salary depending on skills and competencies

WCMC are now seeking a full time Ruby on Rails Developer to join our team to work on high profile web projects that make the natural world better.

UNEP Issue Paper No.7 - Bioenergy and REDD+ :Opportunities and Challenges

Tue, 1 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

How do bioenergy policies relate to the REDD+ mechanism, is the subject of this new Bioenergy Issue Paper jointly authored by UNEP and UNEP-WCMC.
The potential contribution of bioenergy in reducing global emissions of greenhouse gases has been widely debated, both in terms of climate change mitigation potential and potential risk of increases in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from land use change. This has raised the question of how bioenergy policies relate to the REDD+ mechanism developed under the UNFCCC. This issue paper examines the complexity of this relationship and stresses the importance of ensuring policy coherence across the relevant sectors.

For a look at the UNEP Issue Paper Series, please visit:
http://www.unep.org/bioenergy/Issues/UNEPIssuePaperSeries/tabid/79387/Default.aspx

New report by UNEP-WCMC on 'Promoting synergies within the cluster of biodiversity-related multilateral environmental agreements

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

UNEP-WCMC has recently completed a report for the Finnish Ministry of Environment on 'Promoting synergies within the cluster of biodiversity-related multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs)'. This report builds on previous initiatives relevant to the issue, and looks at current coordination and collaboration between the biodiversity-related MEAs with respect to four issues: the science-policy interface; strategic planning; national reporting; and capacity building.

The full report and a summary of the full report are now available here.

UNEP-WCMC devises UNEP programme document in support to the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

UNEP-WCMC, with the guidance of regional partners, stakeholders and a dedicated UNEP inter-departmental task team, recently completed the preparation of UNEP’s programme document for a 12 year intervention in support of the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative. This long-term programmatic proposal includes a subset of priority activities for a 3-year inception phase (2012-2015) aiming at establishing an enabling environment to enhance ecosystem management and environmental governance in the Great Green Wall region.

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Environment Secretary launches new UK NEA follow-on phase

Tue, 3 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for Environment, announced the Follow-on Phase of the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) in her speech at the Planet Under Pressure conference (26-29 March 2012) in London.

UNEP-WCMC is once again providing the Secretariat for the new phase of the UK NEA, which has recently commenced. The two-year long follow-on project aims to further develop and communicate the evidence base of the UK NEA and make it relevant to decision and policy making at different spatial scales across the UK.