IUCN

Our oceans are slowly dying, and the instruments of governance are inadequate to stop it. The international dimensions of ocean problems loom larger as we learn more about threats to marine species and ecosystems - invasive species are transported by international shipping, oceans fill with persistent organic pollutants, and nutrients from sewage and fertilizers cause excessive growth of marine plants.

In order for National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) to be implemented, there is a need for financing. This financing hinges on the ability and ingenuity of national governments to design innovative mechanisms to make finances available. The aim of this toolkit is to provide biodiversity planners and decisions makers in Asia with a series of clear and practical methods, options and steps for developing financing strategies for their NBSAPs.

This CD provides maps of land cover, population density and biodiversity for 154 basins and sub-basins around the world. It lists indicators and variables for each of these basins and, where appropriate, provides links and references to relevant information. It further contains 20 global maps portraying relevant water resources issues. There are coloured buttons that function as a menu to select individual basins by continent.

Cycads were a dominant part of the earth’s flora during the age of the dinosaurs and many species were common even in more recent times. However, many of the 297 species and sub-species dealt with in this Action Plan are threatened by habitat destruction and plant collecting, and more than half the known species are now classified as threatened.

This guide has been prepared by the IUCN Environmental Law Programme and the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD), in cooperation with the World Resources Institute (WRI).

Consistent evaluation and new recommendations for action are required of protective measures to address threats that were unrecognised or non-existent until recently. Global warming, noise pollution and reduced availability of prey are now of great concern. The all too familiar threats of accidental killing in fishing gear and exposure to toxic chemicals remain almost intractable. This Action Plan reviews threats and offers possible solutions.