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Datasets, Tools & Reports

The World's Protected Areas: Status, Value and Prospects in the 21st Century »

Based on input from more than 100 experts, this book aims to provide the most detailed assessment ever of the worldwide distribution and conservation status of national parks and reserves. It examines the relationship between people and protected areas, investigates threats and opportunities, cites the history of protected areas, provides expert conservation advice and celebrates the success of protected areas around the world. Edited by Stuart Chape, Mark Spalding and Martin Jenkins, with foreword by Achim Steiner and Julia Marton-Lefèvre.
Resource Type: Books
World Atlas of Biodiversity »

The World Atlas of Biodiversity is the first map-based view of the world's living resources and so addresses the remarkable growth in concern at all levels for living things and the environment. It provides a wealth of facts and figures on the importance of forests, wetlands, marine and coastal environments and other key ecosystems.
Resource Type: Books
The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: Africa (1992) »

The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forest series was produced under the Tropical Forest Conservation Programme of IUCN, with much of the research, editing and map preparation done at WCMC. The Atlases provide an overview of the status of tropical forests, with discussions on their history, agricultural colonization policies and deforestation, conservation polices for plants and wildlife, protected areas and a country-by-country analysis of status and trends. Although these Atlases were produced in the early 1990s, they still provide a valuable reference source for forest conservationists and researchers.
Resource Type: Books
The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: Asia (1991) »

The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forest series was produced under the Tropical Forest Conservation Programme of IUCN, with much of the research, editing and map preparation done at WCMC. The Atlases provide an overview of the status of tropical forests, with discussions on their history, agricultural colonization policies and deforestation, conservation polices for plants and wildlife, protected areas and a country-by-country analysis of status and trends. Although these Atlases were produced in the early 1990s, they still provide a valuable reference source for forest conservationists and researchers.
Resource Type: Books
The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: The Americas (1996) »

The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forest series was produced under the Tropical Forest Conservation Programme of IUCN, with much of the research, editing and map preparation done at WCMC. The Atlases provide an overview of the status of tropical forests, with discussions on their history, agricultural colonization policies and deforestation, conservation polices for plants and wildlife, protected areas and a country-by-country analysis of status and trends. Although these Atlases were produced in the early 1990s, they still provide a valuable reference source for forest conservationists and researchers.
Resource Type: Books
World Atlas of Seagrasses »

Seagrasses are unique as they are the only marine flowering plants. Seagrass beds form complex physical structures and are a highly productive ecosystem. This enables them to support a considerable biomass and diversity of associated species. For the first time the World Atlas of Seagrasses summarises the opinion and science of the world's leading experts on the global status of the ecosystem.
The Atlas is a collaboration of more than 50 authors from 25 nations. Fully illustrated, the Atlas contains the first global and regional maps of seagrass distribution and a wealth of information on key issues concerning this 'forgotten' ecosystem.
Resource Type: Books
Conservation data for smarter business decisions »

National Parks and other protected areas not only provide a safe haven for biodiversity, they provide benefits to local communities and preserve some of the most beautiful places on our planet. ‘Coverage of protected areas’ is also a specific indicator in the 2010 Target of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Obtaining the data necessary to monitor trends in protected areas requires a massive effort by national authorities to compile, analyse and then distribute this data to the centralised depository of the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA). With a living and growing system of protected areas that now exceed 100,000 sites covering 19 million square kilometres, you can imagine that this is no small task!
Resource Type: Journal Papers
A comparison between Tundra and wet grassland breeding waders with special reference to the Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) »
Toward representative protection of the world's coasts and oceans - progress, gaps, and opportunities »

Marine conservation lags behind terrestrial in the establishment of protected areas. This was recognized by the Convention on Biological Diversity, whose members, in 2004, agreed to establish “comprehensive, effectively managed, and ecologically representative” systems of marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2012. Halfway toward this target date, we look at the coverage of the world’s 5045 MPAs from a biogeographic perspective.
Resource Type: Journal Papers
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation: Global Land-Use Implications »

Recent climate talks in Bali have made progress toward action on deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, within the anticipated post-Kyoto emissions reduction agreements. As a result of such action, many forests will be better protected, but some land-use change will be displaced to other locations. The demonstration phase launched at Bali offers an opportunity to examine potential outcomes for biodiversity and ecosystem services. Research will be needed into selection of priority areas for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation to deliver multiple benefits, on-the-ground methods to best ensure these benefits, and minimization of displaced land-use change into nontarget countries and ecosystems, including through revised conservation investments.
Resource Type: Journal Papers