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Latest News
This page holds information on recent events and publications, (a full listing of publications is available here). UNEP-WCMC also operates an emergency response service providing conservation-related information in the event of natural or man-made disasters. Please visit our vacancies page for the latest jobs available at UNEP-WCMC. 2010BIP receives funding from GEF (posted 14th August 2006) The 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (2010BIP) has been successful in its application for funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The Partnership will coordinate the delivery and communication of a suite of indicators measuring progress towards the "2010 target", agreed by the Convention on Biological Diversity and the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. Funds allocated by the GEF to the 2010BIP amount to over $3.6 million, and cover activities from late 2006 to late 2009, including establishing and maintenance of the Partnership, developing and delivering the range of indicators showing progress towards the 2010 target at a global scale, implementing a communications strategy, and increasing the capacity of national governments and regional organizations to develop and use biodiversity indicators in the context of the 2010 target. The 2010BIP, coordinated by UNEP-WCMC, has over forty Partners, including various UN agencies, IGOs, NGOs, scientific institutions, Multilateral Environmental Agreements, and representatives of national governments, who will be instrumental in the delivery and reporting of the indicators measuring progress towards 2010. UNEP-WCMC 2005 Annual Report (posted 7th August 2006) For more than 25 years, UNEP-WCMC has been at the forefront of efforts to provide a global picture of the state of the natural world and the pressures that act upon it. With a strong financial performance in 2005, coupled with the new leadership and direction, the Centre is once again in a good position to take on the many challenges ahead and to strive towards it's vision of a world in which biodiversity counts. Download the Annual Report here Environment on the Edge publication (posted 4th August 2006)
The latest Environment on the Edge publication has been released, and contains the 2005-06 series lectures:
For more information, please visit the Environment on the Edge site CITES and Livelihoods Workshop (posted 31st July 2006) The CITES & Livelihoods workshop will take place on 5-7 September 2006 at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, Cape Town South Africa. The purpose of the meeting is to identify practical measures that will allow Parties to better address livelihood issues in the course of regulating the international trade in wild species. The workshop was prompted by an amendment, passed in 2004, to CITES Resolution Conf 8.3. This recognizes that the implementation of CITES-listing decisions should take into account potential impacts on the livelihoods of the poor. Over 20 Parties are currently registered for the workshop. The workshop is being organised by a Steering Group made up representatives of Argentina, Germany, Ghana, Namibia, South Africa, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, CRIAA SA-DC (Namibia), Fauna & Flora International, International Institute for Environment and Development, IUCN, TRAFFIC International, UNEP-WCMC and WWF International. For more details, please contact barney.dickson@fauna-flora.org. GLOBIO3 Directors meeting (posted 28th June 2006)
The collaboration has developed a global model for exploring the impact of environmental change on biodiversity, in support of UNEP's environmental assessment and early warning activities. The meeting identified several promising opportunities for further development and application of the GLOBIO3 model. For more information, please view the GLOBIO page International Day for Biological Diversity (posted 22nd May 2006) In conjunction with the International Day for Biological Diversity, Greenfacts has published a popularised version of the Millennium Assessment Report on Biodiversity, available here. The summary was produced in partnership with IUCN, Countdown 2010 and UNEP-WCMC. This year's International Day for Biological Diversity marks the 14th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity. According to this Convention, Biodiversity - the number, variety, and variability of living organisms - is not just about plants, animals, microorganisms and their ecosystems, but also about humans and their needs such as food security, clean air and water, as well as a healthy environment. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) was launched by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2001 to provide scientific information concerning the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and options for responding to those changes. It involved over 1300 scientists from 95 countries and produced a series of assessment reports. "Only by understanding the environment and how it works, can we make the necessary decisions to protect it," said Kofi Annan in a message launching the MA reports. "The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is an unprecedented contribution to our global mission for development, sustainability and peace." CBD COP 8 Decisions (posted 22nd May 2006)
Decision VIII/24 on protected areas recognises the importance of the World Database on Protected Areas for assessing progress in meeting targets, and calls on us to further develop the database and access to it. Decision VIII/14 on national reporting encourages the Biodiversity Liaison Group of the biodiversity-related agreements to work with UNEP-WCMC on harmonization of reporting. Also very significant for the Centre were the references in five decisions to the UNEP issue-based modules project, where UNEP-WCMC is supporting work which aims to help countries implement biodiversity agreements in a coherent and integrated manner. World Environment Day - interactive discussion (posted 17th May 2006)
An interactive discussion about water, climate change, desertification and poverty, titled 'Parched Earth' will be held on Monday 5th June, 7.30pm at New Hall (Buckingham House Lecture Theatre). Questions from the general public will be answered by a panel of experts, chaired by Professor Chris Rapley, Director of the British Antartic Survey. The evening will focus on issues such as water, coping with drought in Africa, desert ecosystems, and the effcts of rapid climate change. Panelists will include Fred Pearce (environmental correspondent for New Scientist and author of 'When the Rivers Run Dry'), Bill Adams (Professor of Conservation and Development at the University's Department of Geography) and Neville Ash (Head of Monitoring and Assessment at UNEP-WCMC). Questions are invited in advance on these and related themes. Admission to this event is free. No registration is required, but please send questions in advance. Download the flyer here - pdf file CBD COP 8 Summary (posted 31st March 2006) A delegation from UNEP-WCMC participated in the 8th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 8) in Curitiba, Brazil, 20 31 March 2006. Among many other important contributions, delegation members participated in the CBD Expert Workshop on Protected Areas and launched the UNEP-WCMC publication 'Transboundary Conservation: a new vision for protected areas' at a side event. UNEP-WCMC also introduced the 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (2010BIP) aimed at strengthening the linkages between global, regional and national 2010 indicators and other processes, noting that this is the lead source of information on trends in biodiversity. CBD and UNEP-WCMC sign Agreement (posted 27th March 2006) The Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Director of UNEP-WCMC signed an Agreement, which will serve as a framework for future collaboration to support the implementation of the CBD, at the occasion of its last COP in Brazil. While the CBD Secretariat and UNEP-WCMC will continue to work together in the further development of the Convention, the aim is to broaden the collaboration to bring the technical and capacity building expertise within UNEP-WCMC to bear on the improved implementation of the Convention. Minister for Rural Affairs visits Centre (posted 20th March 2006)
Environment on the Edge Lecture - Women in Conservation and their stewardship of the natural world (posted 15 March 2006) We are pleased to announce the third lecture of the year 2006 in our Environment on the Edge lecture series. Places are limited. To reserve your place, please email: directorate@unep-wcmc.org The Environment on the Edge Lecture Series is run by New Hall, University of Cambridge and the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre with the support of St. Edmunds, University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey. The series is sponsored by BP. The Commercialization of Non-Timber Forest Products (posted 01 March 2006) Half the world's poor depend on harvesting wild natural resources for their livelihoods. Non-timber forest products have been the centre of great interest from development and conservation organisations because of their high economic value and lower environmental impact. But while some "fair trade" commercialisation projects have been successful, others have failed. This new publication reports on the results of a comprehensive DFID-funded investigation into the factors that lead to success and sustainability and whether commercialisation can help support sustainable forest and resource management as well as alleviate poverty. Download a free copy of the report A global overview of the conservation status of tropical dry forests (posted 21 February 2006) Global scale analyses combining a newly developed global distribution map with spatial data describing different threats have today been published in Journal of Biogeography. It is concluded that virtually all remaining tropical dry forests are exposed to a variety of different threats. Their high biodiversity indicates that these ecosystems should therefore be accorded high conservation priority. In particular, the expansion of the global protected area network, particularly in Mesoamerica, should be given urgent consideration. This work was supported by Defra and by the European Commission as part of the BIOCORES project. It was carried out in collaboration with Bournemouth University, University of Maryland and University of Durham. Environment on the Edge Lecture - Urban Environment On The Edge (posted 16 February 2006) We are pleased to announce the third lecture of the year 2006 in our Environment on the Edge lecture series. Places are limited. To reserve your place, please email: directorate@unep-wcmc.org The Environment on the Edge Lecture Series is run by New Hall, University of Cambridge and the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre with the support of St. Edmunds, University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey. The series is sponsored by BP. In the front line: Shoreline protection and other ecosystem services from mangroves and coral reefs (posted 24 January 2006) UNEP-WCMC has released a new report on shoreline protection and other ecosystem services from mangroves and coral reefs. This report has gathered lessons that have been learned since these events that will be relevant to future management of the coasts in the context of severe weather events and other potential consequences of global warming. More than ever it is essential to consider the full value of ecosystem services - that is the benefit that people derive from ecosystems - when making decisions about coastal development. Environment on the Edge Lecture - Agriculture and Food Production - Quo Vadis? (posted 10 January 2006) We are pleased to announce the latest in our series of Environment on the Edge lectures. 'Agriculture and Food Production - Quo Vadis? Options for feeding the world while sustaining the production base'. This will be presented by Dr. Hans R. Herren, President of the Millennium Institute, on Thursday 16th February, 2006. It will be at 17:15 PM in the Buckingham House Lecture Theatre, New Hall, University of Cambridge, Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 0DF. Places are limited. To reserve your place, please email: directorate@unep-wcmc.org The Environment on the Edge Lecture Series is run by New Hall, University of Cambridge and the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre with the support of St. Edmunds, University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey. The series is sponsored by BP. Environment on the Edge 2004-2005 PDF published (posted 3 January 2006) The Environment on the Edge Lecture Series is run by New Hall, University of Cambridge and the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre with the support of St. Edmunds, University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey. The series is sponsored by BP. This PDF presents five of the lectures from the 2004-5 series. The lectures continue in 2006. For more information about the 2006 programme, please visit www.newhall.cam.ac.uk/events/ or write to directorate@unep-wcmc.org. Previous news 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996
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Environment on the Edge is a series of lectures given by leading international figures that examine our current relationship with the natural world and discuss what tomorrow might bring.
On 26-27 June UNEP-WCMC hosted a GLOBIO3 Directors meeting to discuss the progress and aims of the global biodiversity modelling consortium between UNEP-WCMC, UNEP/GRID Arendal and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.
At the recent CBD Conference of the Parties that took place in Curitiba, Brazil in March, the role of UNEP-WCMC was explicitly recognised in several decisions, providing an improved mandate for our work.
Jim Knight MP, Minister for Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs visited UNEP-WCMC on 20 March.