The report looks at the linkages between wetlands, human health and well-being, and examines the potential of to improving health while conserving wetland ecosystems. It aims to provide advice to wetland managers and decision makers, and to facilitate dialogue between wetlands and human health experts.

The report gives an overview of how wetland ecosystems influence health — benefits such as the provision of water, as well as hazards such as exposure to infectious disease. It outlines three approaches to harnessing the benefits of wetland ecosystems for human health. These include recognising the human needs satisfied by access to wetlands, such as water, food and social cohesion; medicinal plants and other health products; and the economic value of wetlands to improving socioeconomic conditions.

The authors call for a change in wetland management perspective, better policy development, and new instruments and approaches. They recommend stronger partnerships between sectors, governments and nongovernmental organisations.

This report, which is part of the UN Foresight Initiative, describes the 21 most pressing emerging global environmental issues — those recognised as very important to well-being by the scientific community, but are not yet receiving enough attention from the policymakers. These cover a range of themes, from food security to biodiversity, energy and technology.

One of the most important cross-cutting issues identified in the report is the need to rethink international environmental governance. Other areas in need of improvement include the science–policy interface, and coping with incremental damage to the environment.

Improving food security in light of changing climate is also high on the list of priorities, with the report suggesting a need for more comprehensive early warning systems, support for smallholder farmers, efforts to reduce food waste and increasing agricultural efficiency. Other issues highlighted include managing the impacts of glacial retreat; improving ocean governance; accelerating the implementation of renewable energy systems; and considering the environmental implications of nuclear reactor decommissioning.

This report describes trends in the use of key resources such as water, food and biodiversity in Asia and the Pacific, and what this means for economies. It was produced by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the Asian Development Bank and the UN Environment Programme.

The report highlights how policy has changed over the past few years, driven by rising demand for resources and by climate change, and presents data on patterns of resource-intensive growth in the region. It outlines key policy actions for sustainable economic growth; and recommends strategies to improve the resilience of societies and economies, including changes in governance. The final section highlights the report's implications for the two themes of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).

This report, produced by several UN agencies and programmes, presents tangible recommendations to prioritise and improve the management of the ocean ahead of the Rio+20 conference in June. It aims to provide context for discussions to take place at the conference, and to ensure that ocean and coastal management strategies are incorporated in the new sustainable development approaches that will emerge from Rio+20.

They include plans to mitigate and adapt to ocean acidification; create a 'blue carbon' market for carbon dioxide captured in the ocean; establish institutional mechanisms for protecting habitats and biodiversity not covered by national regulations; adopt a plan to help small island developing states transition towards a green economy; and improve the governance of ocean resources.

The report suggests that there is a strong case for the UN to lead by encouraging improved dialogue, coordination and cooperation among UN agencies, funds and programmes. This could lead to a proposal for a new mechanism for ocean coordination to be put forward at Rio+20.

A summary for decision-makers can be found here [810kB]

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of marine biodiversity and responses to environmental threats in islands in the central and western Pacific Ocean. This includes a description of known ocean characteristics in the region and a summary of country-specific climate change adaptation strategies.  

It provides a comprehensive account of environmental statistics and outlines threats to the marine environment in individual island countries, including potential (and perceived) impacts from environmental change (including climate change); habitat loss; invasive species; fishing pressure; sedimentation and increased nutrients from land-use activities.

The report highlights the lack of ocean science data, which makes development of mitigation strategies difficult, and states that improved data as well as human, technical and financial capacity are urgently needed to improve mitigation strategies. 

This report explores whether solutions for biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction can reinforce each other. Working through diverse opinions on whether these links can be made, it provides answers to ten frequently asked questions around the issue and highlights their implications for policy.

The questions include which components of biodiversity are important to poor people; whether people living in poverty rely more on biodiversity than other people; how the poor can reap the benefits of biodiversity conservation; and whether poverty or poverty reduction contribute to biodiversity loss.

The report concludes with a list of ten policy implications, including the need to clarify the different definitions of poverty, biodiversity and conservation to ensure that complex issues are not confused and misrepresented; the value of giving greater policy attention to how biodiversity can prevent poverty; and the importance of including safeguards in the design of conservation policy and projects, to ensure that poor people do not end up worse off.

This report from the Convention on Biological Diversity presents case studies of 'ecological networks' — programmes that aim to maintain ecosystem functions while simultaneously using the landscape sustainably. The extent to which ecological networks conserve biodiversity while boosting socioeconomic development is assessed in eight cases across the world, including Asia and Latin America. The authors also discuss how ecological networks can contribute to meeting biodiversity targets, reducing poverty and addressing climate change.

This report examines the relationship between biodiversity, forest resilience and ecosystem stability in the face of climate change. The authors review ecosystem resilience and stability theories, and conclude that forests' capacity to withstand disturbance depends on biodiversity at multiple scales.

This report identifies the major impacts of climate change in the Arab world and outlines potential adaptation measures for the region. It aims to inform and shape climate change policy in the Arab world. Dwindling water resources, sea level rise, reduced food production, deteriorating biodiversity and declining tourism are highlighted as particular areas of concern.

This report, published by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, highlights areas where high carbon content and high biodiversity overlap. The authors argue that by identifying target areas, such spatial analyses can help tropical countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions from land-use change while maximizing biodiversity benefits.

Regional maps of tropical Africa, tropical Asia and the Neotropics give overviews of carbon stocks and biodiversity values. National-scale maps covering Panama, Vietnam and Zambia show more detailed data on carbon storage and on the species richness of mammals, birds and amphibians.

The maps highlight protected areas of tropical Asia, which suffer the highest percentage of forest loss. The authors suggest that although mapping can help in conservation planning, it must be accompanied by effective management on the ground and monitoring of land-use change to effectively reduce emissions. It is also important to account for national priorities and country-specific pressures.

The purpose of this report is to update and verify information on Nepal's biodiversity, last recorded in 1996. It is part of the Nepal Biodiversity Yearbook project, which aims to annually update information on the country's biodiversity from 2006 onwards.

This 2007 report focuses on higher plants and animals. Biodiversity is analysed at different altitudes and in protected areas, 'Ramsar sites' — wetlands of international importance — and World Heritage Sites of Nepal.

The report provides a background to the project, including information on Nepal's environmental conditions, topography and climate, its reliance on bioresources, an assessment of land use, and a summary of regulations and policies relevant to biodiversity protection.

An analysis of the species diversity, distribution, confinement and richness for each area follows, including the areas' environment, background and achievements in protecting biodiversity.

Coral reefs are the most diverse of all marine ecosystems and they provide economic benefits to the growing number of people who live in low-lying coastal areas. Research has suggested that climate change poses a threat to these complex ecosystems.

This report includes a thorough introduction to the ecology of coral reefs as a background.  It then provides an overview of the 'regular' stresses to which coral reefs are exposed, and how climate change affects them additionally.  The report suggests that the crisis affecting coral ecosystems must be understood as a combination of interacting stresses and says any attempts for remediation have to consider this.

The report provides a thorough yet accessible introduction and a comprehensive assessment of the stresses affecting coral reef systems. It will primarily be useful to someone who is new to the field.

Readers will have to download the report in pdf format.

This report reviews some of the main scientific achievements in discovering the extent of global biodiversity decline. It also reviews some of the major scientific initiatives to improve understanding of biodiversity issues that have been put in place since the 1992 Earth Summit.

It is one of 11 reports prepared by the International Council for Science to coincide with the World Summit on Sustainable Development that was held in Johannesburg in August 2002. Other reports in the series tackle issues such as biotechnology, climate change, energy, and traditional knowledge.

The Living Planet Report is a periodic update on the state of the world's ecosystems produced by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).

WWF have developed what they call the Living Planet Index. The index is based on trends over the past 30 years in populations of hundreds of species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish.

Between 1970 and 2000, the forest species population index declined by about 15 per cent, the marine index fell by about 35 per cent, while the freshwater index dropped 55 per cent over the 30-year period.

Published by the United Nations biodiversity convention, the Global Biodiversity Outlook is a periodic assessment of the state of the world’s biodiversity, which includes an analysis of the steps being taken to ensure that the convention is being adopted in its member countries.

The report also serves as a useful guide to the convention itself; provides information on what individual countries are doing to protect their biodiversity, and includes a list of biodiversity projects that are being funded by the Global Environment Facility.