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Datasets, Tools & Reports

The World's Protected Areas: Status, Value and Prospects in the 21st Century »

Based on input from more than 100 experts, this book aims to provide the most detailed assessment ever of the worldwide distribution and conservation status of national parks and reserves. It examines the relationship between people and protected areas, investigates threats and opportunities, cites the history of protected areas, provides expert conservation advice and celebrates the success of protected areas around the world. Edited by Stuart Chape, Mark Spalding and Martin Jenkins, with foreword by Achim Steiner and Julia Marton-Lefèvre.
Resource Type: Books
Protected Planet Report 2012 »

The Protected Planet Report 2012 reviews progress towards the achievement of international protected area targets.
Resource Type: Reports
Cold-water Coral Reefs: Out of Sight - No Longer Out of Mind »

This report presents comprehensive and up-to-date information and data on marine cold-water coral reefs from around the world. Cold Water Coral Reefs: Out of Sight - No Longer Out of Mind aims to provide policy makers with the information required to take concerted action in the conservation, protection and sustainable management of these beautiful, largely unexplored and fragile coral reefs.

Resource Type: Reports
United Nations List of Protected Areas (2003) »

The 2003 UN List of Protected Areas, the thirteenth produced since 1962, records the global community's endeavour to conserve the Earth's natural places. This is the first version to attempt a comprehensive presentation of all the world's known protected areas, listing 102,102 sites covering 18.8 million sq km compared to just over 1,000 protected areas in 1962.
Resource Type: Reports
China Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation Situation Analysis and Research Strategy Final Report »

In 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
World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) Data Standards »

This document provides information about the standards and data held within the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA). The WDPA Data Standards specify a common set of information that data providers are asked to provide when submitting data to the WDPA. These ensure that the most vital information is collected and that the data is supplied in a common format that is globally interoperable. This document also provides detailed information on the type of information and each attribute/field within the WDPA.
Resource Type: Reports
1997 United Nations List of Protected Areas »

The United Nations List of Protected Areas is an essential reference document for all who want to understand the progress made in responding to the challenges of biodiversity loss and other environmental threats around the world. It is a record of extraordinary human achievement over 125 years - a commitment by nations, peoples, groups and individuals to safeguard areas of land and sea from destruction. Protected areas represent human ideals at their best - they express a long term vision and a broad sense of responsibility towards people and nature.
This version of the list is the twelfth in a series, each recording steady expansion in the total area protected. There are now some 12,754 areas in the UN List, covering almost 8% of the land surface of the world (a far smaller proportion of the oceans is protected). Compared to the previous, 1993 edition of the of the UN List, this report includes 2,933 more sites covering 3.9 million more square kilometres. At the end of the century it can be said that practically every country has protected areas; some have a very sophisticated network of sites.
Resource Type: Reports
Letters: Benefits of self-reporting »

This brief note suggests that Laurance and Venter’s proposal to replace developing countries’ role in the process of monitoring forest carbon stocks for the REDD programme may not be in the long-term interests of promoting reduced emissions from forests in developing countries.
Resource Type: Journal Papers
REDD-plus and biodiversity: opportunities and challenges »
Some important birds and forests in Nepal »

A table is provided of 122 bird species with restricted breeding distributions and for which Nepal may hold significant populations. Habitat threats and population changes are detailed for 33 species for which Nepal may be especially important. The vital importance of Nepal's forests to Nepal's avifauna is emphasised.
Resource Type: Journal Papers