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UNEP-WCMC does not assert any intellectual property rights in the data made available to it by data providers.

Access to UNEP-WCMC datasets is provided on the understanding that you read and consent to be bound by the Terms and Conditions set out in the policies below.

Datasets, Tools & Reports

The Contribution of Brazilian Conservation Units to the National Economy »

This publication presents the results of an analysis on the economic impact and the potential of five of goods and services provisioned by conservation units for the Brazilian economy and society: forest products, public use, carbon, water and sharing of tax revenue.
Resource Type: Tools / Applications
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
Carbon Calculator »

This innovative tool provides users with initial estimates of embedded carbon within an identified spatial area such as a protected area or any user-defined polygon drawn on a global map.
Resource Type: Tools / Applications
Indirect Land Use Change from biofuel production: implications for biodiversity »

This JNCC-commissioned report highlights biodiversity impacts of indirect land use change caused by biofuel production. Increased demand for biofuels to achieve renewable energy targets is putting pressure on biodiversity worldwide. The research highlights a new and so far little understood threat: the impact of indirect land use change on biodiversity.
Resource Type: Tools / Applications
Website - Carbon, biodiversity & ecosystem services: exploring co-benefits »

UNEP-WCMC, with support from the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), has launched a new website highlighting the potential for actions on reducing emissions from land use change to secure additional important benefits for biodiversity and ecosystem services (co-benefits). The website demonstrates the utility of spatial analyses to assist decision makers in identifying areas where high carbon, high biodiversity priority, and ecosystem service values overlap, which represent opportunities for securing co-benefits. It showcases UNEP-WCMC’s recent work with in-country partners on developing such analyses and includes an interactive mapping tool that allows users to explore the spatial relationships between carbon and co-benefits.
Resource Type: Tools / Applications
Marine and coastal ecosystem services: Valuation methods and their practical application »

Economic valuation of marine and coastal ecosystem services is increasingly being considered to be of critical importance for informed decision-making and effective management of marine and coastal resources.
However, the translation of scientific theory to policy in practice can be challenging.
This report provides an overview of the main methods of economic valuation, their strengths and weaknesses, and practical applications. Theoretical concepts are illustrated with a number of practical examples throughout this report, to demonstrate how these approaches can be of practical use across all scales, in policy development, decision making and communication. Practical guidance on how to implement a valuation exercise, and how to overcome common challenges, is also provided.
Download the report.
Resource Type: Tools / Applications
Carbon in Drylands: Desertification, Climate Change and Carbon Finance »

This paper reviews the potential for carbon sequestration in dryland ecosystems, which includes forests, but also covers other habitats, such as grasslands, and, importantly, soils. It also considers ways in which carbon storage in drylands affects land degradation issues.
Resource Type: Reports
MA Ecosystem Services Guide for Decisionmakers »

Evidence is accumulating that taking an Ecosystems Services Approach can make development more sustainable by sustaining nature’s capacity to provide needed goods and services.This guide assembles that evidence for use by a decision maker. It details the processes that they can use, beginning with a conceptual framework that links development and ecosystem services and ending with guidance for choosing policies to sustain ecosystem services.
By offering decision makers the conceptual and practical guidance for choosing policies that better attend to ecosystem services, this guide aims to help unite nature and development. Instead of solely working to protect natur from development, we may also begin to invest in nature for development.
Resource Type: Reports
Developing and Mainstreaming Ecosystem Service Indicators Workshop »

UNEP-WCMC In collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Commission for Ecosystem Management (IUCN -CEM) and the World Resources Institute (WRI) organised and hosted an international workshop on Ecosystem Service Indicators from September 22nd - 23rd 2009. Funded by the Swedish International Biodiversity Programme (SwedBio), the workshop brought together 16 experts from all over the world in the fields of indicators and ecosystem services. The aim of the workshop was to identify a suite of ecosystem service indicators of policy relevance, and the datasets available/necessary to underpin them, that could be applied within assessments and monitoring at different scales.
Resource Type: Reports
Scoping the potential benefits of undertaking an MA-style assessment for England »

The aim of this study was to identify and examine potential benefits of undertaking an ecosystem assessment for England. The need for such a study has arisen largely as a result of the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) which not only demonstrated the importance of ecosystem services to human wellbeing, but also showed that at global scales, many key services are being degraded and lost.
Resource Type: Reports