The World Atlas of Biodiversity is the first map-based view of the world's living resources and so addresses the remarkable growth in concern at all levels for living things and the environment. It provides a wealth of facts and figures on the importance of forests, wetlands, marine and coastal environments and other key ecosystems.
Resource Type: BooksThe Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forest series was produced under the Tropical Forest Conservation Programme of IUCN, with much of the research, editing and map preparation done at WCMC. The Atlases provide an overview of the status of tropical forests, with discussions on their history, agricultural colonization policies and deforestation, conservation polices for plants and wildlife, protected areas and a country-by-country analysis of status and trends. Although these Atlases were produced in the early 1990s, they still provide a valuable reference source for forest conservationists and researchers.
Resource Type: BooksThe Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forest series was produced under the Tropical Forest Conservation Programme of IUCN, with much of the research, editing and map preparation done at WCMC. The Atlases provide an overview of the status of tropical forests, with discussions on their history, agricultural colonization policies and deforestation, conservation polices for plants and wildlife, protected areas and a country-by-country analysis of status and trends. Although these Atlases were produced in the early 1990s, they still provide a valuable reference source for forest conservationists and researchers.
Resource Type: BooksThe Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forest series was produced under the Tropical Forest Conservation Programme of IUCN, with much of the research, editing and map preparation done at WCMC. The Atlases provide an overview of the status of tropical forests, with discussions on their history, agricultural colonization policies and deforestation, conservation polices for plants and wildlife, protected areas and a country-by-country analysis of status and trends. Although these Atlases were produced in the early 1990s, they still provide a valuable reference source for forest conservationists and researchers.
Resource Type: BooksThe third edition of Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3) summarizes the latest data on status and trends of biodiversity and draws conclusions for the future strategy of the Convention. GBO-3 is based on a range of information sources, including National Reports, biodiversity indicators information, scientific literature, and a study assessing biodiversity scenarios for the future.
Resource Type: Reports“If we are to make our future on this planet sustainable, a strong science-policy interface is critical. It is here that UNEP-WCMC is vital.”
Achim Steiner,
UNEP Executive Director and UN Under-Secretary-General
Coastal and freshwater ecosystems are deteriorating in many areas and at a faster rate than any other ecosystem. Such changes are caused by intertwined factors, making it difficult to identify the problems early on. While progress in integrating these various factors in managing water and ecosystems has been made in some places, the majority of the world and its inhabitants increasingly suffers from a lack of priority given to environmental protection.
Resource Type: ReportsThe Protected Planet Report 2012 reviews progress towards the achievement of international protected area targets.
Resource Type: ReportsThe Checklist of CITES species is produced by UNEP-WCMC following each meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES, taking into account all changes agreed by the Parties.
The 2011 Checklist of CITES species, containing updates from CoP15, is the latest edition of this document.
This edition has been restructured, and now comprises:
Part 1: CITES Species Index (previously called the Checklist of CITES Species):
Part 2: History of CITES Listings (previously called the Annotated Appendices and Reservations):
The 2011 Checklist can be accessed here.
Resource Type: ReportsIn 2008 UNEP-WCMC produced a report with a consortium of Chinese and international partners on research needs for reducing poverty through better ecosystem management in China. This work was for DFID, NERC and ESRC of the UK government, as a contribution to their design of a proposed international research programme on ecosystem services for poverty alleviation (www.nerc.ac.uk/research/programmes/espa/) The China ESPA report identified that China’s great progress in poverty reduction has slowed, as the remaining poor tend to be found in environments of low productivity or high risk of ecosystem degradation, such as mountains, grasslands and deserts. The government of China is investing heavily in poverty reduction and environmental management, with opportunities for improving the synergies between these activities. Research needs include better understanding of ecosystem functioning for multiple services, and development of methods to analyse policies and projects for both poverty reduction and supply of ecosystem services.
Resource Type: Reports©2013 UNEP All rights reserved