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  Website - Carbon, biodiversity & ecosystem services: exploring co-benefits »

  UNEP-WCMC, with support from the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), has launched a new website highlighting the potential for actions on reducing emissions from land use change to secure additional important benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem services (co-benefits). The website demonstrates the utility of spatial analyses to assist decision makers in identifying areas where high carbon, high biodiversity priority, and ecosystem service values overlap, which represent opportunities for securing co-benefits. It showcases UNEP-WCMC’s recent work with in-country partners on developing such analyses and includes an interactive mapping tool that allows users to explore the spatial relationships between carbon and co-benefits.

  Resource Type: Tools / Applications
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  Carbon, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services: Exploring Co-benefits Tanzania »

  Co‐benefits, often called multiple benefits, are the positive impacts of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) that are additional to emissions reductions. These include ecosystem and social benefits such as biodiversity and non‐timber forest products. Potential co‐benefits from REDD are widely relevant in Tanzania, where forests and woodlands support the livelihoods of 87% of the rural poor (Milledge et al. 2007). Conserving biodiversity also promotes the continued provision of these benefits under environmental change (Campbell et al. 2009), thus increasing resilience to climate change. Depending on where REDD action is taken, the co‐benefits delivered will vary. Simple mapping tools can help identify how carbon, other services and pressures such as fire are distributed and relate to each other.

  Here, we map the distribution of carbon stocks in relation to the possible co‐benefits of REDD, alongside other relevant factors. A new map of carbon in Tanzania’s ecosystems has been produced for this analysis.

  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
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  Posters - Carbon, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services: exploring co-benefits »

  Emissions from land use change mainly forest loss contribute 17 4% of total change, loss, 17.4% anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC 2007). The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is currently discussing incentives for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in developing countries (REDD). In addition to securing carbon, REDD can deliver co‐benefits, including conservation of forest biodiversity and maintenance of ecosystem services. To help secure co‐benefits, it is useful to find out where high carbon, high biodiversity priority and ecosystem service values overlap.

  Resource Type: Posters
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  Forests in Flux. Climate change: the threats to world forests »

  Consideration of predictions for global climate change and the general scientific principles underlying the interaction between vegetation and climate, and examination of likely scenarios for different forest regions.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Carbon, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services: Exploring Co-Benefits (Interactive Maps) »

  This tool provides interactive maps that allow users to explore the distribution of carbon density relative to areas high in biodiversity and areas which are nationally protected for different countries around the world. Users can view layers, show or hide layer content, as well as see how the distribution of carbon and biodiversity relates to other geographical features such as rivers, coastlines, and international boundaries.

  Resource Type: Spatial Data / Maps
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  Mapping vulnerability of tropical forest to conversion, and resulting potential CO2 emissions. A rapid assessment for the Eliasch Review (2008) »

  Using global scale maps and statistics, we estimate that the conversion of all vulnerable tropical forests to the most valuable other land use at each location could lead to emissions of 670 Gt carbon dioxide (CO2). We then evaluate the role of the global protected area network in preventing emissions from tropical deforestation.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Impacts of Climate Change on Wildlife »

  The impacts of "human-induced" climate change are now being observed in every aspect of life, and it is the most significant and far-reaching current environmental threat. This book introduces a series of case-studies highlighting the observed current changes in a number of species and habitats, ranging from the tropics through to the polar regions, and in some cases predictions for future impacts.

  Resource Type: Reports

• Terms of Reference. Legal and policy frameworks analysis »

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  Carbon Calculator »

  This innovative tool provides users with initial estimates of embedded carbon within an identified spatial area such as a protected area or any user-defined polygon drawn on a global map.

  Resource Type: Tools / Applications