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Datasets, Tools & Reports

United Nations List of Protected Areas (2003) »

The 2003 UN List of Protected Areas, the thirteenth produced since 1962, records the global community's endeavour to conserve the Earth's natural places. This is the first version to attempt a comprehensive presentation of all the world's known protected areas, listing 102,102 sites covering 18.8 million sq km compared to just over 1,000 protected areas in 1962.
Resource Type: Reports
Great Apes - The Road Ahead »

The Great Apes, including the chimpanzee, gorilla and orangutan, are threatened with extinction. All species are rapidly declining in abundance, even within protected areas.The main factors responsible for this decline are loss and degradation of habitat, and hunting. Construction of roads in forest areas is particularly damaging, as such development facilitates hunting and other activities which lead to habitat destruction.
This report assesses the impact of infrastructural development on great ape populations, using the GLOBIO modelling approach. GLOBIO is a multivariable spatial model, which estimates the extent of land area with reduced abundance and diversity of living organisms, as a result of infrastructural development. The model can also be used to develop scenarios of possible future impacts, based on the current rates of infrastructural development.
Resource Type: Reports
The Last Stand of the Orangutan - State of emergency: illegal logging, fire and palm oil in Indonesia's national parks »

The Last Stand of the Orangutan was prepared by a Rapid Response Team at UNEP/GRID-Arendal and UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre as a broad collaborative effort, involving contributors from the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Forestry, Indonesia, and partners of the Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP).
Resource Type: Reports
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
Joined-up indicators guide policy better »

With biodiversity still in rapid decline, effective and policy relevant indicators are urgently needed. The current indicator framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is widely influential and includes many good measures. However, each of the CBD indicators presently exists in isolation. It is not clear how they relate to each other, nor how they can be used to assess and inform policies for stemming biodiversity loss.

Resource Type: Reports
Impacts of climate change and selected renewable energie infrastructures on EU biodiversity and the Natura 2000 network »

This summary report aims to provide the European Commission with an overview of the likely impact of climate change on biodiversity in the European Union and indications as to how the design and implementation of current policy might need to be adapted in order to ensure that the EU respects its commitment to reduce biodiversity loss by 2010 and beyond.
Resource Type: Reports
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
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
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
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