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  UNEP-WCMC Annual 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

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Management Effectiveness Evaluation in Protected Areas - a global study (1st edition) »

  The Global Study into management effectiveness evaluation was conducted between late 2005 and 2007. In cooperation with many people across the world, we aimed to strengthen the management of protected areas by compiling the existing work on management effectiveness evaluation, reviewing methodologies, finding patterns and common themes in evaluation results, and investigating the most important factors leading to effective management. The project was supported by WWF International, the Nature Conservancy and the University of Queensland, and worked under the auspices of IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas.

  Resource Type: Tools / Applications
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  CITES Species Checklist 2011 »

  The 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):

  • lists all currently CITES-listed species
  • includes scientific and common names, synonyms, and current Appendix listing

  Part 2: History of CITES Listings (previously called the Annotated Appendices and Reservations):

  • provides a historical record of all taxa currently, or previously listed in the Appendices to CITES
  • includes full footnotes clarifying the populations, specimen parts, or specimen origins that are controlled under CITES
  • lists all reservations imposed by parties to CITES.

   

  The 2011 Checklist can be accessed here.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Biodiversity monitoring for REDD+ »

  UNEP-WCMC, with the financial support of the UN-REDD programme, wrote a paper on biodiversity monitoring for REDD+ published in the journal "Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability" as part of ongoing work on REDD+ safeguards. The paper observes the following three challenge to biodiversity monitoring for REDD: choosing which aspects of biodiversity to monitor, the difficulty of attributing particular changes to REDD+ and the likely scarcity of resources for biodiversity monitoring. It proposes three responses which may address these challenges: 1) agreed policy targets that identify what should be monitored; 2) making links to existing biodiversity monitoring and to monitoring to estimate GHG emissions and removals; and 3) developing clear theories of change to assist in determining which changes in biodiversity can be attributed to REDD+. The paper is available on the journal website here.

  Resource Type: Tools / Applications
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  Designing protected areas to conserve natural resources »

  Biologists view Protected Areas (PAs) as natural areas established and managed primarily for the conservation of nature. However, many early Pas were established for aesthetic or socio-economic reasons and received little scientific input to their design. More recently, scientists have identified gaps in PA networks and various contemporary PAs have been established to provide for habitats and species in need of protection.
  Scientists have also modelled minimum areas and population sizes that should be protected to prevent extinctions arising from demographic or chance causes. However, these theoretical ideals are difficult to put into practice, particularly as PAs increasingly face more immediate external threats. If scientists are to influence future PA design, and if PAs are to succeed in the long term, these concepts must be applied in practice. Therefore, sufficient protection must be integrated with human needs and aspirations in the design of future protected areas.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
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  Climate change and coral bleaching »

  Coral reefs are a critical global resource, both biologically, and in socio-economic terms. Coral reefs are also highly sensitive to climatic influences and appear to number among the most sensitive of all ecosystems to temperature changes, exhibiting the phenomenon known as coral bleaching when stressed by higher than normal sea temperatures.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Waterbirds on the Edge: first circumpolar assessment of climate change impact on Arctic Breeding water birds »

  This first analysis of the likely impact of climate change on biodiversity demonstrates the impact on Arctic waterbirds. The Arctic will be the biome most affected by climate change and hence waterbird species, most of which are entirely reliant on Arctic habitats, are particularly vulnerable.

  Resource Type: Reports

• Impacts of climate change and selected renewable energie infrastructures on EU biodiversity and the Natura 2000 network »

  This summary report aims to provide the European Commission with an overview of the likely impact of climate change on biodiversity in the European Union and indications as to how the design and implementation of current policy might need to be adapted in order to ensure that the EU respects its commitment to reduce biodiversity loss by 2010 and beyond.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Protected Area Management Effectiveness Assessments in Europe: A review of application, methods and results (2010) »

  A European Study on protected area management effectiveness assessments was carried out between May 2009 and March 2010, to provide an overview of existing studies, evaluation methods and results. This study was initiated in response to the Global Study’s insufficient coverage of the European sub-region, and as protected area governance in Europe has distinct characteristics that justified a separate analysis. The study was led by the Universities of Greifswald and Queensland, in partnership with UNEP-WCMC, EUROPARC Federation and the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN).

  Resource Type: Reports