Datasets, Tools & Reports

Search

• 

  Biodiversity information on the Internet: cornucopia or confusion? »

  The range of information on biodiversity currently available via the Internet is reviewed and its accessibility, usefulness and relevance to biodiversity research and to policy decision making assessed. Commercial and non-commercial databases are reviewed. The future of information via the net is also reviewed, in particular the role of the `Clearing House Mechanism' of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Biodiversity Conservation Information System.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
• 

  BINU Experience and Guidance »

  This collaborative project, sponsored by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and others, developed biodiversity indicators to support planning and decision-making at the national level in four participating countries. In each country national partners developed and tested several indicators for a single focal ecosystem, using an iterative process of consultation, inventory and synthesis of existing data.

  The BINU project has launched this 20-page booklet on its experience and lessons learned in developing biodiversity indicators for national use.

  Resource Type: Reports

• Ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation and mitigation – good practice examples and lessons learned in Europe »

  This report documents and analyses good practice examples of ecosystem-based approaches to climate change mitigation and adaptation in Europe.  Case studies on ecosystem-based approaches to mitigation involved peatland restoration or conservation (11 projects) and forest conservation, restoration and reforestation (2 projects).  Case studies on ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation were divided into inland waters (28 projects), coastal zone (10 projects), agriculture and forestry (11 projects) and cities (9 projects).

  Resource Type: Reports
• 

  China Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation Situation Analysis and Research Strategy Final Report »

  In 2008 UNEP-WCMC produced a report with a consortium of Chinese and international partners on research needs for reducing poverty through better ecosystem management in China. This work was for DFID, NERC and ESRC of the UK government, as a contribution to their design of a proposed international research programme on ecosystem services for poverty alleviation (www.nerc.ac.uk/research/programmes/espa/) The China ESPA report identified that China’s great progress in poverty reduction has slowed, as the remaining poor tend to be found in environments of low productivity or high risk of ecosystem degradation, such as mountains, grasslands and deserts. The government of China is investing heavily in poverty reduction and environmental management, with opportunities for improving the synergies between these activities. Research needs include better understanding of ecosystem functioning for multiple services, and development of methods to analyse policies and projects for both poverty reduction and supply of ecosystem services.

  Resource Type: Reports
• 

  Climate Change and the Biodiversity of European Islands »

• 

  Knowledge for conservation-new technology, new players and a new approach »

  How may we improve the quality, accessibility and usefulness of data about the living world? Three examples present themselves: use of new technology to build capacity for biodiversity knowledge management in the developing world; engagement of new sources of data; and harmonization of official data deriving from inter-governmental biodiversity-related treaties.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
• 

  Review of the Literature on the Links between Biodiversity and Climate Change »

  UNEP-WCMC has been providing technical support to the work of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on biodiversity and climate change. We carried out three reviews of the recent scientific literature and these fed into the deliberations of the CBD’s Second Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on Biodiversity and Climate Change. These reviews, entitled Links between Biodiversity and Climate change: Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation, have now been published as no 42 of the CBD Technical Series. This publication complements the main report from the CBD AHTEG which appears as CBD Technical Series No. 41 Connecting Biodiversity and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation.

  Resource Type: Reports
• 

  The Challenge of Measuring Global Change in Wild Nature: Are Things Getting Better or Worse? »

  We briefly review recent global trends in habitat area in as many broadly-defined natural habitats as possible, and in indices of animal populations characteristic of those habitats. The information available indicates continuing declines in habitat area and species, but those data are extremely sparse.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
• 

  Uncertainty in predictions of extinction risk/Effects of changes in climate and land use/Climate change and extinction risk (reply) »

  The number of environmental variables used during modelling could affect the outcome, but we found no correlation between these and our estimates of extinction risk in global samples. Although further investigation is needed, it is unlikely to result in substantially reduced estimates of extinction. Anthropogenic climate change seems set to generate very large numbers of species-level extinctions.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers
• 

  Monitoring international wildlife trade with coded species data: response to Gerson et al »

  We suggest that well-targeted instruments that consider contextual information, such as conservation status, are the most effective and efficient approach to monitoring international wildlife trade for conservation purposes. Where relevant, such instruments could be expanded to include additional species not currently protected, or new instruments could be developed to monitor certain groups as appropriate.

  Resource Type: Journal Papers