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KEY PUBLICATIONS AND ONLINE
RESOURCES
BIODIVERSITY AND WILDLIFE
This page was updated
on: 01/12/10
YOUR RIGHT
TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT: A SIMPLIFIED GUIDE TO THE AARHUS CONVENTION ON
ACCESS TO INFORMATION, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN DECISION-MAKING AND
JUSTICE IN ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS
(UNECE, 2006)
This guide provides accessible information for governments and
individuals about the rights set out in the Aarhus Convention: the right
to information, the right to public participation and the right of
access to justice.
The
guide.
PAYMENTS
FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES: A SOLUTION FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION?
(Institut du développement durable et des relations internationales,
2006)
Authored by Sheila Wertz-Kanounnikoff, this paper synthesizes the
conceptual approach and current experiences of payments for
environmental services, and assesses the tool with respect to its
economic, social and environmental impact. It concludes that such
payments cannot be considered as panacea for biodiversity conservation,
but that they can present a promising tool notably to internalize
indirect use values derived from ecosystems that provide benefits to
human beings and for which the traditional set of environmental policy
instruments had long been deficient.
The
paper.
COMMUNITIES, LIVELIHOODS AND NATURAL RESOURCES: ACTION RESEARCH AND
POLICY CHANGE IN ASIA
(International Development Research Centre, 2006)
Edited by Stephen Tyler, this book responds to the question of how poor
rural people can improve their living conditions and the productivity of
their resource base through local interventions in natural resource
management. It describes and analyses processes and outcomes from a set
of action research projects in Asia. The
book.
PROTECTING INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AGAINST BIOPIRACY IN THE ANDES
(IIED, December 2006)
Authored by Alejandro Argumedo and Michel Pimbert, this paper presents
the Indigenous Biocultural Heritage Register, an approach developed by
Andean communities in Peru in order to protect their knowledge against
biopiracy and gain legal rights relating to their knowledge. The main
objective of the register is to ensure the conservation, protection and
promotion of indigenous peoples' knowledge systems for sustaining their
livelihoods and traditional resource rights. The
report.
ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF
GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS: EXPERIENCES FROM TEN YEARS OF FIELD RESEARCH
AND COMMERCIAL CULTIVATION
(Swiss Expert Committee for Biosafety, October 2006)
Authored by Olivier Sanvido, Michèle Stark, Jörg Romeis and Franz Bigler,
this report discusses the effects of genetically modified (GM) crop
cultivation on the environment considering the impacts caused by
cultivation practices of modern agricultural systems. It concludes that,
to ensure that a policy is truly precautionary, one should compare the
risk of adopting a technology against the risk of not adopting it, and
both benefits and risks of GM crop systems should be compared with those
of current agricultural practices. The
report.
GUIDANCE FOR PROMOTING SYNERGY
AMONG ACTIVITIES ADDRESSING BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, DESERTIFICATION, LAND
DEGRADATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(CBD, May 2006)
This CBD Technical Series report highlights the major biological factors
that contribute to ecosystem resilience under the projected impacts of
global climate change, assesses the potential consequences for
biodiversity of particular adaptation activities under the CBD thematic
areas, provides methodological considerations when implementing these
activities, and highlights research and knowledge gaps. The report
recognizes the potential of, and stresses the need for, synergy in the
implementation of activities that interlink biodiversity conservation,
mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, and land degradation and
desertification in the context of the objectives of the three Rio
Conventions and other relevant multilateral environmental agreements.
The
report.
BUSINESS AND ECOSYSTEMS
(Earthwatch Institute, IUCN, World Business Council for Sustainable
Development, World Resources Institute, November 2006)
This issue brief explores the six challenges identified by the
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment –water scarcity, climate change, habitat
change, biodiversity loss and invasive species, overexploitation of
oceans and nutrient overloading- discusses their implications for
businesses and provides examples of corporate responses. The
brief.
WHEN ARE PAYMENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL
SERVICES BENEFICIAL TO THE POOR?
(FAO, April 2006)
Authored by D. Zilberman, L. Lipper and N. McCarthy, this working paper
aims to develop a conceptual framework to analyze the conditions under
which policies related to payments for environmental services can serve
to reduce poverty and give insight into ways such programmes can be
targeted to obtain poverty reduction benefits. The authors attempt to
identify how the pursuit of environmental goals can be used to improve
the lot of the poor in the developing world. The analysis concludes that
there is a wide array of circumstances where payments for environmental
services can both promote environmental quality and reduce poverty.
However, the impact on the poor will vary considerably depending on the
local circumstances of the poor. The
paper.
VALUING
WETLANDS: GUIDANCE FOR VALUING THE BENEFITS DERIVED FROM WETLAND
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
(Ramsar and CBD, 2006)
This report, published jointly as Ramsar Technical Report No. 3 and CBD
Technical Series No. 27, provides guidance and updates on methodologies
for wetland economic valuation. Rudolf de Groot and Miska Stiup of
Wageningen University and the Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD)
in the Netherlands led the preparation of the report, which updates
Ramsar's 1997 Economic valuation of wetlands: A guide for policy
makers and planners by Barbier, Acreman, and Knowler. The
report.
MIGRATORY SPECIES AND CLIMATE CHANGE: IMPACTS OF A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT
ON WILD ANIMALS
(UNEP/CMS, November 2006) This report indicates that climate change
is and will increasingly have dramatic impacts on migratory species from
whales and dolphins to birds and turtles. Changes in the length, timing
and location of migration routes are being documented, as well as
habitat changes, reduced breeding success and feminization of
populations. The
report.
THE WTO GMO
DISPUTE: IMPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND THE NEED FOR AN
APPEAL
(GeneWatch UK, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Forum for
Biotechnology and Food Security and GM Freeze, November 2006) Authored
by Alice Palmer, this note is a legal analysis of the WTO Dispute
Panel's decision regarding the complaint by the US, Canada and Argentina
against the EU over genetically modified organisms. It explains what the
WTO Panel decided, what might be appealed, and what might be important
to developing countries wanting to regulate GM imports and other
products that could cause harm to health and the environment. The note
reaches two conclusions. First, it stresses that developing countries
currently considering what laws to introduce to regulate GM crops and
products should be aware that the dispute was only about the
implementation of the EC's rules. Secondly, it concludes that the
EC should not leave the Panel's erroneous description and application of
WTO law unchallenged. The
report.
ECOSYSTEM CHALLENGES AND
BUSINESS IMPLICATIONS
(Earthwatch Institute,
IUCN, WBCSD and WRI, 2006)
This publication is based on facts and projections from the UN's
multi-year Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as well as interviews with
business leaders to assess the implications and strategies needed to
respond to environmental challenges. It indicates that many companies
recognize the risks associated with degrading ecosystems and are trying
to adapt accordingly, but most fail to associate healthy ecosystems with
their business interests. Four partners, the Earthwatch Institute
(Europe), the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the World Business
Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Resources
Institute (WRI), produced the report, which is the first of three
anticipated studies. The second will focus on how new business models,
markets and entrepreneurs can profit from responding to ecosystem
challenges, and the third will help business executives identify their
dependences on ecosystem services and ways to retain them for the long
term. The
report.
PUTTING THE RIGHT PRICE ON
NATURE: ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS
(SciDev.Net, 2006)
This policy brief by Anantha Duraiappah (UNEP) discusses how
environmental economics can be used to ensure that the benefits obtained
from ecosystems are properly valued, enabling a framework to be built
for sustainable use and conservation of the environment. The
policy brief.
CGIAR
VIRTUAL LIBRARY
(CGIAR, 2006) The recently launched Virtual Library of the
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is an
internet gateway allowing users to search the on-line libraries of the
CGIAR centers. It provides access to over 4,000 e-journals and thousands
of publications on agriculture, hunger, poverty and the environment. The
Virtual Library.
LIVING
PLANET REPORT 2006
(WWF and Global Footprint Network, October 2006) This year's Living
Planet Report explores the overall impact of humankind on the planet,
and confirms that humanity is using the planet's resources faster than
they can be renewed and that populations of vertebrate species have
declined by about one third since 1970. The report details the strain on
the world's natural resources and the declining numbers of the animal
species that depend on them, and offers solutions to reverse downward
trends in both these areas. The
report.
ARTICLES
ON THE VALUE OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
(Public Library of Science Biology, November 2006) A number of
recently published articles focus on incorporating the value of
ecosystem services into conservation and development planning:
Mapping the economic costs and benefits of conservation, by Robin
Naidoo and Taylor H. Ricketts;
Conservation Planning for Ecosystem Services, by Kai M. A. Chan
et al; and
Assessing ecosystem services to identify conservation priorities, by
Liza Gross.
RESPONDING TO THE 2010 BIODIVERSITY CHALLENGE: GOVERNANCE,
IMPLEMENTATION AND INFLUENCE: MEETING REPORT
(Chatham House, 2006) A report of the workshop "Responding to the
2010 biodiversity challenge: governance, implementation and influence,"
organized on 3-4 July 2006 by Chatham House and Countdown 2010, is
available online. The
report.
BILATERAL BIOSAFETY BULLIES
(GRAIN and African Centre for Biosafety, October 2006) This briefing
looks at how governments, the agribusiness sector and transnational
corporations use bilateral trade channels to weaken biosafety
regulations and open markets for GM crops.
The
briefing.
GUIDELINES
FOR THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF BIODIVERSITY IN TROPICAL
TIMBER PRODUCTION FORESTS
(IUCN and ITTO, November 2006)
These guidelines set out how positive outcomes for biodiversity can be
achieved in the management of tropical production forests.
The
guidelines.
NEW BCH FEATURES
(CBD, October 2006) New features of the Convention on
Biological Diversity's Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) include: a section
on information-sharing, which provides improved access to the Biosafety
Information Resource Centre, the recently released directory of
biosafety organizations, and a database of country profiles; a facility
to search all types of decisions, declarations and notifications, and
information about finding field trials not covered by the Advance
Informed Agreement procedure; and a section on reporting.
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