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Datasets, Tools & Reports
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Knowledge for conservation-new technology, new players and a new approach »
How may we improve the quality, accessibility and usefulness of data about the living world? Three examples present themselves: use of new technology to build capacity for biodiversity knowledge management in the developing world; engagement of new sources of data; and harmonization of official data deriving from inter-governmental biodiversity-related treaties.
Resource Type: Journal Papers -
National Reporting: A Tool for Informing the Implementation of the Biodiversity-Related Conventions »
Most multilateral environmental agreements require Parties to report at regular intervals on the measures they have taken to implement the agreement. National reporting not only aims to inform the Convention bodies such as the secretariat or the Conference of the Parties of an improved implementation of the convention in question but also serves a number of other purposes.
Resource Type: Journal Papers -
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 -
The decline of the Bankouale palm in Djibouti: El Niño and changes in architectural fashion »
We made a complete survey of all the extant populations in Djibouti and to collect samples for genetic analysis with a view conserving the palm for the future.
Resource Type: Journal Papers -
Uncertainty in predictions of extinction risk/Effects of changes in climate and land use/Climate change and extinction risk (reply) »
The number of environmental variables used during modelling could affect the outcome, but we found no correlation between these and our estimates of extinction risk in global samples. Although further investigation is needed, it is unlikely to result in substantially reduced estimates of extinction. Anthropogenic climate change seems set to generate very large numbers of species-level extinctions.
Resource Type: Journal Papers -
A horizon scan of global conservation issues for 2010 »
Horizon scanning identifies emerging issues in a given field sufficiently early to conduct research to inform policy and practice. Our group of horizon scanners, including academics and researchers, convened to identify fifteen nascent issues that could affect the conservation of biological diversity. These include the impacts of and potential human responses to climate change, novel biological and digital technologies, novel pollutants and invasive species. We expect to repeat this process and collation annually.
Resource Type: Journal Papers -
Gulf pollution - how bad is it? »
The Gulf War will cause major environmental effects that may be felt well beyond the boundaries of the countries involved. Hostilities could result in an international environmental disaster affecting the land, sea and atmosphere. Throughout the Gulf region and specifically the three countries of Kuwait, Iraq and Saudi Arabia there are a total of more than 3,650 animal species. Of these, some 50 are recognised internationally as being threatened with extinction. These include 20 species of bird, 20 mammal species, three reptiles, two fishes, four molluscs and one insect.
Resource Type: Journal Papers -
Progress towards the Convention on Biological Diversity terrestrial 2010 and marine 2012 targets for protected area coverage »
In the past few years, a number of analyses have been undertaken to measure progress towards the 2010 and 2012 CBD targets. This report demonstrates how the measurement of progress is influenced by decisions on which protected areas are included (for instance, whether internationally designated sites, or sites without an assigned IUCN category are included) and which biogeographic datasets used (for instance which mountain dataset is chosen), and highlights the need for standardised methods and datasets.
Resource Type: Journal Papers -
Economic Reasons for Conserving Wild Nature »
On the eve of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, it is timely to assess progress over the 10 years since its predecessor in Rio de Janeiro. Loss and degradation of remaining natural habitats has continued largely unabated. However, evidence has been accumulating that such systems generate marked economic benefits, which the available data suggest exceed those obtained from continued habitat conversion. We estimate that the overall benefit:cost ratio of an effective global program for the conservation of remaining wild nature is at least 100:1.
Resource Type: Journal Papers -
Prospects for Biodiversity »
Assuming no radical transformation in human behavior, we can expect important changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services by 2050. A considerable number of species extinctions will have taken place. Existing large blocks of tropical forest will be much reduced and fragmented, but temperate forests and some tropical forests will be stable or increasing in area, although the latter will be biotically impoverished. Marine ecosystems will be very different from today's, with few large marine predators, and freshwater biodiversity will be severely reduced almost everywhere. These changes will not, in themselves, threaten the survival of humans as a species.
Resource Type: Journal Papers
