Datasets Available from UNEP-WCMC: Excluding WDPA
Access to UNEP-WCMC datasets is provided on the understanding that you read and consent to be bound by the Terms and Conditions attached. For the purposes of this Agreement the “Data” comprise any of the spatial data and associated attribute data downloadable from the UNEP-WCMC website, excluding the World Database on Protected Areas.
This dataset shows the global distribution of wetlands. It was produced at UNEP-WCMC from various sources alongside the publication 'Wetlands in Danger", Dugan, P ed. (1993).
This synthesis focuses on estimates of biodiversity change as projected for the 21st century by models or extrapolations based on experiments and observed trends. The term “biodiversity” is used in a broad sense as it is defined in the Convention on Biological Diversity to mean the abundance and distributions of and interactions between genotypes, species, communities, ecosystems and biomes. This synthesis pays particular attention to the interactions between biodiversity and ecosystem services and to critical “tipping points” that could lead to large, rapid and potentially irreversible changes. Comparisons between models are used to estimate the range of projections and to identify sources of uncertainty. Experiments and observed trends are used to check the plausibility of these projections. In addition we have identified possible actions at the local, national and international levels that can be taken to conserve biodiversity. We have called on a wide range of scientists to participate in this synthesis, with the objective to provide decision makers with messages that reflect the consensus of the scientific community and that will aid in the development of policy and management strategies that are ambitious, forward looking and proactive.
Resource Type: ReportsDatasets Available from UNEP-WCMC: Excluding WDPA
Access to UNEP-WCMC datasets is provided on the understanding that you read and consent to be bound by the Terms and Conditions attached. For the purposes of this Agreement the “Data” comprise any of the spatial data and associated attribute data downloadable from the UNEP-WCMC website, excluding the World Database on Protected Areas.
This dataset shows the location of tropical montane cloud forest sites as recorded in a worldwide inventory compiled by UNEP-WCMC and published in "A Global Directory of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests", Aldrich et al., 1997. This inventory was compiled from literature searches and correspondence with regional experts, and contains a total of 529 sites. The central location for each site is recorded but does not identify the great variability in their size, which ranges from 50 hectares to hundreds of square kilometres.
The Critical Site Network (CSN) Tool is a new online resource for the conservation of 294 species of waterbirds and the important sites upon which they depend in Africa and Western Eurasia. Leading global conservation organisations working for the protection of waterbirds and their habitats have joined forces to develop this tool, strengthening the implementation of the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
Resource Type: Tools / ApplicationsThis collaborative project, sponsored by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and others, developed biodiversity indicators to support planning and decision-making at the national level in four participating countries. In each country national partners developed and tested several indicators for a single focal ecosystem, using an iterative process of consultation, inventory and synthesis of existing data.
The BINU project has launched this 20-page booklet on its experience and lessons learned in developing biodiversity indicators for national use.
Resource Type: ReportsThese posters display the growing depth of the collaboration between UNEP-WCMC and the CITES Secretariat from 1979 to 2004.
Resource Type: PostersDatasets Available from UNEP-WCMC: Excluding WDPA
Access to UNEP-WCMC datasets is provided on the understanding that you read and consent to be bound by the Terms and Conditions attached. For the purposes of this Agreement the “Data” comprise any of the spatial data and associated attribute data downloadable from the UNEP-WCMC website, excluding the World Database on Protected Areas.
To provide a global context for a discussion of mountain forests, it is first necessary to define the locations and types of mountain forests, and this in turn requires a definition of mountains or mountain areas. Altitude and slope and the environmental gradients they generate are key components of such a definition, but their combination is problematic. Simple altitude thresholds both exclude older and lower mountain systems and include areas of relatively high elevation that have little topographic relief and few environmental gradients. Using slope as a criterion on its own or in combination with altitude can resolve the latter problem, but not the former. As a first step to evaluating global mountain forest resources and the threats to them, UNEP-WCMC (in collaboration with the Environmental Change Institute and kindly supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation - SDC) in 2000 made a first attempt to map the mountain forests of the world.
This poster series was designed in 2003 to highlight some key work areas of UNEP-WCMC, including:
1. About UNEP-WCMC
2. Biodiversity Information Services
3. Assessment and Early Warning
4. Conventions and Policy Support
5. The UNEP Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities
6. World Atlas of Biodiversity
Chapter from Biodiversity Loss & Conservation in Fragmented Forest Landscapes. The Forests of Montane Mexico and South America.
Resource Type: ReportsThis poster series was created to show some of the many topics UNEP-WCMC is involved with in relation to the Convention on Biological Diversity, including the following:
1. Achieving multiple benefits through a UNFCCC mechanism on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation
2. A Global Network of Protected Areas: On target for 2010 and 2012?
3. Protecting the Future: Carbon, forests, protected areas and local livelihoods
4. Progress towards the 30% Management Effectiveness target
5. Mapping the World's Protected Areas: the role of the WDPA
6. Forest Certification: How do Latin American standards address biodiversity?
7. Restoration of tropical dry forests
Resource Type: Posters
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