IUCN

Lack of readily available information on the status and distribution of inland water taxa in western Africa explains why biodiversity is often poorly represented within the development planning process. In response to this need for information, a regional assessment of the status and distribution of 1,395 taxa of freshwater fishes, molluscs, odonates, crabs, and selected families of aquatic plants from across western Africa was conducted.

The Members' Business Assembly allowed members to contribute to the governance issues of the Union. They heard Commission reports, approved IUCN's programme of work for the next four years and voted on Resolutions and Recommendations. The Proceedings provide members with a session-by-session account of the business activities on the agenda.

Great ape tourism, if well implemented, can serve to conserve the species but it can also have considerable negative impacts if it is not based on sound conservation principles. These guidelines have been developed for both existing and potential great apes tourism sites that wish to improve the degree to which their programme contributes to the conservation rather than the exploitation of great apes.

This ambitious publication focuses on lessons learned from ten years of applied conservation approaches of the Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE), which operates in nine countries spanning the entire Congo Basin. This publication contains 27 case studies of applied conservation as well as seven overview articles synthesizing the results of the case studies, which cover different thematic areas.

On 6-7 July 2006, the Mekong River Waters Dialogue: Exploring Water Futures Together was held in Ventaine, Lao PDR. The dialogue was a regional multi-stakeholder platform organised to provide an opportunity for a high-quality, multi-faceted debate and learning that will contribute to improving water governance in the Mekong Region.

This report documents the proceedings of the Mekong Region Waters Dialogue: Exploring Water Futures Together, held in Vientiane, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic on 6 and 7 July 2006. The Dialogue was a regional multi-stakeholder platform organised to provide an opportunity for a high-quality, multi-faceted debate and learning that will contribute to improving water governance in the Mekong Region.

This study focused specifically on one perceived opportunity for developing IPES, namely the concept of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD). REDD refers to any conservation or sustainable land-use initiative that effectively mitigates a real deforestation/degradation threat in a given area.

The situation analysis studies assessed the current water governance frameworks encompassing policies, legal and regulatory frameworks, and institutional and decision-making aspects, for the three countries. The studies were used to assist the NWGs by identifying the key water governance issues for each country, providing recommendations on relevant dialogue topics for 2009 and 2010 and highlighting the scope for improving water governance.

The situation analysis studies assessed the current water governance frameworks encompassing policies, legal and regulatory frameworks, and institutional and decision-making aspects, for the three countries. The studies were used to assist the NWGs by identifying the key water governance issues for each country, providing recommendations on relevant dialogue topics for 2009 and 2010 and highlighting the scope for improving water governance.