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  UN-REDD Workshop Identifying and Promoting the Ecosystem Co-Benefits from REDD+ »

  A UN-REDD workshop on ‘Identifying and promoting ecosystem co-benefits from REDD+’ was held from 27th-29th April 2010 in Cambridge, UK, convened by UNEP-WCMC. Forty-four people participated in the workshop, including representatives from five UN-REDD pilot countries, one observer country, and a number of different institutions, agencies and NGOs.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  The Environmental Food Crisis: The Environment's Role in Averting Future Food Crises (2009) »

  A new rapid response assessment report released by UNEP warns that up to 25% of the world's food production may become lost due to environmental breakdown by 2050 unless action is taken. Prepared by the Rapid Response Assessment Team at UNEP/GRID-Arendal and UNEP-WCMC, the report provides the first summary by the UN of how climate change, water stress, invasive pests and land degradation may impact world food security, food prices and life on the planet and how we may be able to feed the world in a more sustainable manner. The report concludes that we need to get smart and more creative about recycling food wastes and fish discards into animal feed. While major efforts have gone into increasing efficiency in the traditional energy sector, food energy efficiency has received too little attention.
   

  Resource Type: Reports
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  1997 United Nations List of Protected Areas »

  The United Nations List of Protected Areas is an essential reference document for all who want to understand the progress made in responding to the challenges of biodiversity loss and other environmental threats around the world. It is a record of extraordinary human achievement over 125 years - a commitment by nations, peoples, groups and individuals to safeguard areas of land and sea from destruction. Protected areas represent human ideals at their best - they express a long term vision and a broad sense of responsibility towards people and nature.

  This version of the list is the twelfth in a series, each recording steady expansion in the total area protected. There are now some 12,754 areas in the UN List, covering almost 8% of the land surface of the world (a far smaller proportion of the oceans is protected). Compared to the previous, 1993 edition of the of the UN List, this report includes 2,933 more sites covering 3.9 million more square kilometres. At the end of the century it can be said that practically every country has protected areas; some have a very sophisticated network of sites.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  UNEP-WCMC 2010-2013 »

  UNEP-WCMC responds to UNEP’s Medium Term Strategy as well as mandates derived from UNEP’s Governing Council and the decisions of biodiversity-related Multilateral Environmental Agreements. UNEP works to a Programme of Work that spans a four year period and this document is designed to give colleagues and partners an insight into the approach that UNEP-WCMC will take through the period 2010 – 2013. This is a seminal period for biodiversity spanning the International Year of Biodiversity, in which our 30th anniversary coincidentally falls, and which is likely to result in the creation of an International Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in which we are ready to play a major supporting role.

  L’UNEP-WCMC répond à la Stratégie à moyen terme du PNUE ainsi qu’aux mandats provenant du Conseil d’Administration du PNUE et des décisions issues des Accords Multilatéraux sur l’Environnement relatives à la biodiversité. Le PNUE travaille selon un Programme de Travail qui s’étend sur quatre ans et ce document est censé donner à nos collègues et à nos partenaires une idée de la procédure que l’UNEP-WCMC suivra durant la période 2010-2013. Cette période est majeure pour la biodiversité puisqu’elle couvre l’Année Internationale de la Biodiversité, coïncidant aussi avec le 30ème anniversaire de notre centre, qui pourrait résulter en la création d’un Comité International sur la Biodiversité et les Services Éco-systémiques dans lequel nous sommes prêts à jouer un rôle majeur.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Mapping potential biodiversity benefits from REDD+. The Democratic Republic of the Congo »

  REDD+, as discussed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, is a mechanism to incentivise Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, as well as the conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks. Actions under REDD+ can potentially provide biodiversity benefits, but there is also a need to avoid any risks of environmental harms from REDD+. A new report, launched in Kinshasa on 5 July 2012, presents selected results of spatial analyses to explore potential biodiversity benefits and risks from REDD+ in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The report is the output of a collaboration between the DRC’s Direction des Inventaires et Aménagement Forestiers (DIAF) of the Ministère de l'Environnement, Conservation de la Nature et Tourisme, the Observatoire Satellital des Forêts d’Afrique Centrale (OSFAC) and the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), with support from the UN-REDD Programme.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Dead planet, living planet: Biodiversity and ecosystem restoration for sustainable development »

  This 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: Reports
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  Global Environment Outlook (GEO) Reports »

  Since 1997, UNEP has produced Global Environment Outlook (GEO) reports providing assessments of the interactions between environment and society. With its core mandate of “keeping the global environment under review,” UNEP coordinated a series of scientific assessments that included extensive consultations and participatory processes, resulting in the production of GEO reports in 1997, 1999 and 2002.

  GEO-4 provides an overview of global social and economic trends, and the state-and-trends of the global and regional environments over the past two decades, as well as the human dimensions of these changes. It highlights the interlinkages as well as the challenges of environmental change and opportunities that the environment provides for human wellbeing. It provides an outlook for the future, and policy options to address present and emerging environmental issues.

  It places sustainable development at the core of the assessment, particularly on issues dealing with intra- and intergenerational equity. The analyses include the need and usefulness of valuation of environmental goods and services, and the role of such services in enhancing development and human well-being, and minimizing human vulnerability to environmental change
   

  Resource Type: Reports
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  The Costs and Benefits of Forest Protected Areas for Local Livelihoods: a review of the current literature »

  Protected areas could play a significant role in the implementation of schemes to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) in developing countries, through either the strengthening of the existing protected area network, or designation of new areas. Many rural poor people rely on forest resources, and may experience positive or negative changes to their livelihoods as a result of REDD. This review aims to assess the livelihood implications of the existing protected area network in order to inform future REDD policy.

  The costs and benefits of individual protected areas for community livelihoods have been well documented. Costs can range from displacement of local communities to crop damage by wildlife, and sometimes include restricted access to resources and changes in land tenure. Benefits can include direct revenue from environmental protection, and the maintenance of ecosystem services such as watershed protection. The nature of these costs and benefits depends largely upon the protected area’s status and governance, as well as its history of use.

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Registro de datos útiles para la toma de decisiones en relación a REDD+ y sus beneficios múltiples »

  Efforts related to REDD+ in Bolivia are a component of the overall national strategy on forests and climate change. A UN-REDD Programme mission to Bolivia in 2010 identified a widespread enthusiasm for incorporating consideration of the ecosystem-derived multiple benefits of REDD+ into decision making. This metadata directory addresses the need identified by stakeholders to collate existing datasets on biodiversity, ecosystem services and other factors. They felt that an overview of existing datasets would help to clarify what data exists and is held by whom, and so enhance collaboration and reduce the potential for duplicating effort.

   

  Resource Type: Reports
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  Carbon, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services: Exploring Co-benefits Ecuador »

  Analyses of the spatial relationships between carbon, co-benefits and socio-economic context can support planning and decision-making at national and sub-national scales. When such spatial analyses are based on data developed at an appropriate scale, done in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, they can help to prioritise among the different benefits and services under consideration and the actions that might best deliver them.

  Ecuador is a country with high forest cover and very high biodiversity. However, Ecuadorian forests are under pressure from deforestation and resource exploitation. The government is addressing the issue by planning for a high quality REDD+ mechanism that maximises benefits for the climate, the environment and people. This report presents the result of spatial analyses to support this planning process.

  Resource Type: Reports