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: BooksThis set of thirteen posters have been created to draw attention to the importance of biodiversity, to celebrate humanity's relationship with it and to underline our responsibility in ensuring that future generations can continue to benefit from it.
Resource Type: PostersSince the late 1970s the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) has delivered services that support implementation of international biodiversity-related agreements at global, regional and national levels. These services not only support the work of the agreement secretariats, but also of the advisory and governance bodies, and of governments party to the various agreements. The aim of this paper is to illustrate this work through examples of work we have undertaken.
The support that UNEP-WCMC provides is based on expert understanding of the agreements and how they work, resulting from many years of experience and close relationships with secretariats.
Resource Type: ReportsThis report presents a synthesis and integration of the findings concerning biodiversity contained in the reports of the four Millennium Assessment Working Groups (Condition and Trends, Scenarios, Responses, and Sub-global Assessments).
Resource Type: ReportsThis briefing considers the implications for biodiversity conservation and local people’s livelihoods of the current discussion on reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries (RED-DC, henceforth RED) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The potential for RED to deliver multiple benefits for biodiversity conservation, livelihoods and other ecosystem services is well documented (UNEP-WCMC 2007). But it is important to note that RED could also have negative impacts on biodiversity and local livelihoods, for example as a result of the displacement of deforestation.
Resource Type: ReportsOver recent decades, biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction have both become international societal and political goals. There is recognition of the links between these two goals both within the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Millennium Development Goals. However, the causal relationships are not so simple either that one can say poverty causes biodiversity loss, or improvements in biodiversity reduce poverty. This suggests a need to be more specific in defining what types of poverty and biodiversity issues are being assessed.
Two “state of knowledge” reviews were commissioned to explore the evidence base for two common assumptions about the link between biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction: 1) that the poor depend on biodiversity; and 2) that biodiversity conservation can be a mechanism for poverty reduction. These attempt to tease apart the issues of what type of poverty and what type of biodiversity are being assessed.
Resource Type: ReportsDeforestation and degradation account for around 20% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, widely believed to drive climate change. Growing concerns about the impacts of climate change have fuelled international interest in developing mechanisms to slow deforestation and degradation rates, such as the ‘Reduce Emissions for Deforestation and Degradation’ (REDD) Programme. Its potential contribution to rural poverty reduction could be immense, but REDD mechanisms may also entail new risks. This paper presents a framework for understanding the linkages between REDD and poverty, and conducts an initial analysis of the poverty implications of REDD.
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