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  Biodiversity Conservation in the Tropics - Gaps in Habitat Protection and Funding Priorities »

  This study makes use of extensive spatial datasets, previously unavailable, to provide a comprehensive assessment of the conservation status of biodiversity throughout the tropics. The extent to which potential habitats and closed moist forests are represented in protected areas is assessed. Priorities for conservation action are identified on the basis of a country's relative importance for a given habitat and the extent to which it is protected. National importance for biodiversity is also examined in relation to natural and foreign investments in protected areas.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Reducing Emissions from Deforestation: A Key Opportunity for Attaining Multiple Benefits »

  This paper reviews the potential for multiple benefits that might be attained by reducing emissions from deforestation (RED) through a mechanism developed under the UNFCCC. These benefits are relevant to national commitments under several environmental and sustainable development conventions and instruments, and may not be directly correlated with reduced carbon emissions. The design of the mechanism and its implementation will affect the degree to which these other benefits, such as biodiversity conservation, livelihoods, watershed protection and other ecosystem goods and services, are obtained.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Multiple Benefits – Issues and Options for REDD »

  This paper provides an overview of the issues surrounding and opportunities for achieving ‘multiple benefits’ from Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in developing countries (REDD). The UN‐REDD Programme understands the term ‘multiple benefits’ to include both the ecosystem and social benefits of REDD.

  It is an output of the International Support Functions component of the UN‐REDD Programme, relating specifically to the development of output 3.2: ‘Tools to encourage the capture of ecosystem service co‐benefits developed’,focussing on the ecosystem aspects of multiple benefits.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Mangroves of East Africa »

  This publication provides a concise account of the available information and current issues facing mangroves in East African countries. It comprises a regional summary of the factors and activities that affect mangroves across East Africa, and a series of reports that focus on South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, the Seychelles, Kenya and Somalia. These country summaries include details of mangrove-related legislation, industries associated with and involving mangroves, and details of how mangroves are utilized by local human communities. Information on marine protected areas that cover mangroves is also provided as are regional and national scale maps.

  Resource Type: Reports

• The climate relevance of ecosystems beyond forests and peatlands - A review of current knowledge and recommendations for action »

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  Industrial Reliance on Biodiversity »

  While developed countries control most of the world's financial resources, it is the developing world that is home to most of its biological resources. This study provides an overview of the extent to which industry in the developed world relies on the biodiversity of the developing world. The first section of the report reviews the direct consumptive use, with fisheries and forestry the largest components. The remaining chapters examine two specific industrial inputs where biodiversity serves as an information source: the use of wild genetic resources in plant breeding and the use of substances derived from the wild in the pharmaceutical industry. The project was funded under the UK Government Darwin Initiative.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  In the front line: Shoreline protection and other ecosystem services from mangroves and coral reefs »

  This report has gathered lessons that have been learned since these events that will be relevant to future management of the coasts in the context of severe weather events and other potential consequences of global warming. More than ever it is essential to consider the full value of ecosystem services - that is the benefits that people derive from ecosystems - when making decisions about coastal development.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Do increases in agricultural yield spare land for nature? »

  Feeding a rapidly expanding human population will require a large increase in the supply of agricultural products during the coming decades. This may lead to the transformation of many landscapes from natural vegetation cover to agricultural land use, unless increases in crop yields reduce the need for new farmland. Here, we assess the evidence that past increases in agricultural yield have spared land for wild nature. We investigated the relationship between the change in the combined energy yield of the 23 most energetically important food crops over the period 1979–1999 and the change in per capita cropland area for 124 countries over the same period.

  Our results show that land-sparing is a weak process that occurs under a limited set of circumstances, but that it can have positive outcomes for the conservation of wild nature.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
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  Towards a Global Tree Conservation Atlas: mapping the status and distribution of the world's threatened tree species »

  This summary document outlines the need for spatial data on tree species as a tool for conservation action. It introduces plans for a tree species mapping programme that will build on the forest mapping information management expertise of UNEP-WCMC. A Global Tree Conservation Atlas will be one of the main outputs of the Global Trees Campaign. The Campaign focuses on trees as flagship species for conservation of ecosystems and landscapes, and enables local people to carry out rescue and sustainable use operations. Working in partnership with organizations around the globe, the Global Trees Campaign aims to save the world's most threatened tree species and their habitats through information, conservation and wise use.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Potential links between monitoring for multiple benefits of REDD+ and the monitoring requirements of the Rio Conventions »