IUCN

This guide serves as a resource for policy makers and staff of conservation and population organizations who wish to integrate population dynamics into environmental planning for sustainable development. It presents the basic rationale for linking population and environmental issues, including the demonstrable impact that population dymanics and rising consumption are having on the environment.

Protected areas around the globe - national parks, wildlife reserves, biosphere reserves - will prosper only if they are supported by the public, the private sector, and the full range of government agencies. Yet such support is unlikely unless society appreciates the importance of protected areas to its own interests, and protected areas are well-managed and contribute to the national welfare in a cost-effective way.

Today, there is increasing recognition that traditional and indigenous knowledge systems can provide alternative strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, a realisation that is strongly reflected in the Convention on biological diversity. However, there is a fear that this interest in traditional knowledge systems will lead to the basic human, cultural and scientific rights of indigenous people being sidelined, something the CBD fails to address adequately.

With almost 5000 island and islets, the Mediterranean comprises one of the largest groups of islands in the world. With its wealth of species, high degree of endemism, long history and tolerance of all kinds of disruptions, it is of extremely high value to global biodiversity. However, over the last few decades, major socio-economic changes have increased the negative impact of human activity in the region and today, the islands are extremely vulnerable.

Increasing demands on the world's natural resources pose a serious threat to palm biodiversity. This action plan identifies the most threatened palm species in order to present recommendations for conservation measures that cater to their specific requirements, and to provide strategic guidelines for the conservation and sustainable utilisation of the many palms that provide food, construction material, and an important source of revenue for many people.

This action plan chronicles the threats faced by wild orchids, but more importantly to critical habitats that host extraordinarily high orchid diversity and endemicity. It explores and recommends specific ways that national and local government, legislators, scientists and orchid conservationists as well as growers can all help to reverse present trends.