The United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is the biodiversity assessment and policy implementation arm of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the world's foremost intergovernmental environmental organization. The centre has been in operation since 1989, combining scientific research with practical policy advice.

UNEP-WCMC provides objective, scientifically rigorous products and services to help decision makers recognize the value of biodiversity and apply this knowledge to all that they do. Its core business is managing data about ecosystems and biodiversity, interpreting and analysing that data to provide assessments and policy analysis, and making the results available to international decision makers and businesses.

UNEP-WCMC's Vision & Mission

UNEP-WCMC is working towards a wiser world: one in which everyone recognizes that the diversity of life on Earth is vital to the future of humanity. The Centre strives to promote wiser decision-making and a sustainable future by providing information on the conservation and sustainable management of the living world.

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The Centre's activities include:

• Assessment and analysis of global biodiversity to identify trends and emerging threats in support of international cooperation and action;
• Support for policy and agreements at national, regional and international levels to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable management;
• Providing expertise, tools, techniques and information for public awareness, education, capacity-building and cooperation;
• Knowledge management to enable easy access to wide-ranging information and analytical services;
• Establishing networks and collaborations to promote conservation and information exchange.
  

UNEP-WCMC Annual Reports

2004
2003
2002
2001
 

A Brief History of UNEP-WCMC

The UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) was established in 2000 as the world biodiversity information and assessment centre of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The Centre’s roots go back to 1979 when the IUCN World Conservation Union established a Cambridge office to monitor endangered species. In 1988, the independent, non-profit World Conservation Monitoring Centre was founded jointly by IUCN, WWF and UNEP.

In 2000, the Centre became an integral part of UNEP, the first new United Nations institute to open in Great Britain for 50 years. The Centre is guided by a high-level Scientific Advisory Council closely linked to UNEP, which acts as a guarantor of the scientific and technical quality and direction of the Centre's work.

The Centre is now well established as UNEP's biodiversity assessment and policy implementation arm. In 2004, UNEP-WCMC celebrated its 25th Anniversary.