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Access to UNEP-WCMC datasets is provided on the understanding that you read and consent to be bound by the Terms and Conditions set out in the policies below.

Datasets, Tools & Reports

Biodiversity information on the Internet: cornucopia or confusion? »

The range of information on biodiversity currently available via the Internet is reviewed and its accessibility, usefulness and relevance to biodiversity research and to policy decision making assessed. Commercial and non-commercial databases are reviewed. The future of information via the net is also reviewed, in particular the role of the `Clearing House Mechanism' of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Biodiversity Conservation Information System.
Resource Type: Journal Papers
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
BIP Website »

The CBD-mandated Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (BIP) is a global initiative that has operated since 2007, promoting and coordinating development and delivery of biodiversity indicators in support of the CBD and related Conventions, national and regional governments and a range of other sectors. UNEP-WCMC is the official Secretariat of the BIP.
Resource Type: Tools / Applications
In Dead Water - Merging of Climate Change with Pollution, Over-harvest, and Infestations in the World's Fishing Grounds (2008) »

The World's oceans play a crucial role for life on the planet. Healthy seas and the services they provide are key to the future development of mankind. Our seas are highly dynamic, structured and complex systems. The seafloor consists of vast shelves and plains with huge mountains, canyons and trenches which dwarf similar structures on land. Ocean currents transport water masses many times larger than all rivers on Earth combined.
In this report, the locations of the most productive fishing grounds in the World - from shallow, coastal waters to the deep and high seas - are compared to projected scenarios of climate change, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, intensity of fisheries, land-based pollution, increase of invasive species infestations and growth in coastal development.
Resource Type: Reports
BIP National Biodiversity Indicators Portal »

The National Biodiversity Indicators Portal is the leading resource for information on national biodiversity indicators. This portal is a companion website to the Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (BIP), which provides indicator information at the global level.
This website provides guidance and examples to support the development and effective use of biodiversity indicators. These capacity building resources are the product of more than five years of experience by UNEP-WCMC and the BIP. It is designed principally to support biodiversity indicators at the national level, but it is relevant for working from the local to global scales.

Resource Type: Tools / Applications
Ocean Data Viewer »
UNEP-WCMC has been working closely with partners including the CBD Secretariat to implement COP Decision IX/20, to develop an online interactive map and associated tools to support decision making for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the open ocean and deep seas. Building upon this decision, and incorporating related needs in the Island Biodiversity and Protected Areas Programme of Work, UNEP-WCMC has initiated a collaborative Global Marine Data Partnership, whose aim is to:
- convene a network of partners engaged in marine and coastal biodiversity-related monitoring to build collaboration on data collection and standardisation;
- enhance the quality, integration and interoperability of data sets ;
- increase availability and access to this data through online data repository/ies, including an Ocean Data Viewer developed by UNEP-WCMC.
These activities directly respond to SBSTTA recommendation XIV/3, which will be considered by COP10, through, inter alia, enabling improved assessment activities, supporting the identification of ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs), and promoting better understanding of specific and cumulative human impacts, including those of invasive alien species
Resource Type: Tools / Applications
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
The Convention on Biological Diversity's 2010 target »

Governments are often accused of responding only to short-term and parochial considerations. It is therefore remarkable that representatives of 190 countries recently committed themselves at the Convention on Biological Diversity to reducing biodiversity loss. This presents conservation biologists with perhaps their greatest challenge of the decade. The authors of this Policy Forum describe approaches to identifying more of the earth's biological diversity; understanding how biological, geophysical, and geochemical processes interact; and presenting scientific knowledge in time to contribute to and achieve the 2010 target.
Resource Type: Journal Papers
Biodiversity Targets after 2010 »

In order to build on the momentum created by the 2010 target of the Convention on Biological Diversity, we propose a shift away from a large set of static targets towards a smaller number of specific targets. Specifically, we present three categories of targets (red, green and blue) with examples of each. These relate respectively to (1) those biodiversity outcomes that must be avoided to avert situations that are deleterious for people, (2) the highly valued biodiversity conservation priorities, and (3) an improved scientific understanding necessary for adaptive management now and into the future.
Resource Type: Journal Papers
BIP Brochure: The Partnership in 2010 »

The CBD-mandated Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (BIP) is a global initiative that has operated since 2007, promoting and coordinating development and delivery of biodiversity indicators in support of the CBD and related Conventions, national and regional governments and a range of other sectors. UNEP-WCMC is the official Secretariat of the BIP.
Resource Type: Reports