Diseases affecting coral reefs have increased in frequency and severity in recent decades. These diseases combine with existing human induced impacts on coral reefs to compromise their health and sustainability. Up to date information on the global abundance and distribution of diseases is critical in order to predict these impacts, to understand how current reef management practices and human impacts affect the spread and severity of diseases, and to inform policy and management decision making.
Resource Type: Tools / ApplicationsThis publication presents the results of an analysis on the economic impact and the potential of five of goods and services provisioned by conservation units for the Brazilian economy and society: forest products, public use, carbon, water and sharing of tax revenue.
Resource Type: Tools / ApplicationsThis report presents comprehensive and up-to-date information and data on marine cold-water coral reefs from around the world. Cold Water Coral Reefs: Out of Sight - No Longer Out of Mind aims to provide policy makers with the information required to take concerted action in the conservation, protection and sustainable management of these beautiful, largely unexplored and fragile coral reefs.
This atlas provides a comprehensive overview of what is currently known about all six species of great apes - chimpanzee, bonobo, Sumatran orangutan, Bornean orangutan, eastern gorilla, and western gorilla. It gives a thorough background on ape behaviour and ecology for each species, including detailed habitat requirements, the apes' ecological role, and the possible consequences of their decline.
Despite the dedicated efforts of many individuals and organizations, the great apes all fall into the Endangered or Critically Endangered category of the IUCN Red List. This atlas offers a full description of the threats, current conservation efforts, and additional protection needed for each species across its entire range.
•Covers all six species of great apes
•Provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive data available
•More than 150 full-colour photos
•More than 40 full-colour maps and diagrams
•References online
Hotspot Ecosystem Research on the Margins of European Seas (HERMES) was one of the 40 most successful projects under the EU's 6th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. Following completion of the project in March 2009, The HERMES Story is published jointly by HERMES and UNEP to inform policy and decision makers from around the world about the lessons learned and the amazing new insights into deep-sea biodiversity, structure, function and dynamics discovered under HERMES. The HERMES Story highlights the need for concerted action to protect the deep sea against the increasing pressures, threats and impacts from human activities and climate change, and provides inspiration for the development of similar deep-sea research projects in other regions.
Resource Type: ReportsThe areas of the ocean that lie beyond national jurisdiction limits, also called the high seas, are vulnerable to human activities and currently underrepresented when compared to terrestrial and nearshore1 marine environments under protection. Thus, there is a growing movement among the conservation community to increase measures, such as marine protected areas, that can ensure protection of the largely undiscovered but important biodiversity of the high seas.
Resource Type: ReportsSouth East Asia contains nearly 100,000 km2 of coral reefs, almost 34% of the world total. With over 600 of the almost 800 reef-building coral species, these reefs have the highest levels of marine biodiversity on earth. Heavy reliance on marine resources across South East Asia has resulted in the overexploitation and degradation of many coral reefs. An estimated 88% of them are threatened by human activity.
Resource Type: ReportsThis report is a contribution to the UN’s International Year of Biodiversity and is a complement to the UNEP-hosted Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) which is bringing visibility to the wealth of the world’s natural capital. It documents over 30 successful case studies referencing thousands of restoration projects ranging from deserts and rainforests to rivers and coasts. The report confirms that restoration is not only possible but can prove highly proftable in terms of public savings; returns and the broad objectives of overcoming poverty and achieving sustainability. It also provides important recommendations on how to avoid pitfalls and how to minimize risks to ensure successful restoration.
Resource Type: ReportsThe ability of coral reefs to survive in a globally-warming world may crucially depend on the levels of pollution to which they are exposed, new findings indicate.
Scientists studying reefs that were bleached in the late 1990s by high surface sea temperatures have found a link between recovery rates and the levels of contamination entering coastal waters from developments on the land.
Resource Type: ReportsCoral reefs are an integral part of the Caribbean fabric, threading along thousands of kilometres of coastline. Unfortunately, these valuable ecosystems are degrading rapidly under the mounting pressure of many human activities. Understanding the nature and extent of these threats and their likely economic impacts on the future productivity of Caribbean coral reefs is of central importance to conservation and planning efforts.
The Reefs at Risk in the Carribean project was launched to help protect and restore these valuable, threatened ecosystems by providing decision-makers and the public with information and tools to manage coastal habitats more effectively.
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