IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM)

Islands are among the richest, most diverse ecosystems on the planet. Today, in the face of growing threats such as climate change, they are also among the most vulnerable. In early 2006 IUCN launched an initiative to explore options for ecosystem management and restoration in small island developing states (SIDS).

Vulnerability to natural disasters continues to increase, severely compromising the achievement of poverty alleviation goals in many developing countries. A more effective approach is needed to reduce the impacts of these disasters. This publication proposes an approach that integrates ecosystem management, development planning and risk reduction strategies to reduce disaster impacts and improve both livelihoods and biodiversity outcomes.

El Enfoque Ecosistémico coloca a la gente y el uso de los recursos naturales como el punto de partarget_ida de la toma de decisiones. Es por esto que el Enfoque Ecosistémico puede ser utilizado para buscar un balance apropiado entre la conservación y el uso de la diversidad biológica en áreas en donde hay múltiples usuarios de los recursos y valores naturales importantes.

The Ecosystem Approach puts people and their natural resource use practices squarely at the centre of decision-making. Because of this, the Ecosystem Approach can be used to seek a balance between the conservation and use of biological diversity. This publication provides practical guidance on how to use the Ecosystem Approach in planning field activities.

En el taller se presentó una diversa gama de proyectos e iniciativas que involucran a la mayoría de países de la región. Así, se intercambiaron experiencias y lecciones aprendidas sobre la aplicación del enfoque ecosistémico (EE) en el diseño y gestión de corredores biológicos y de conservación en América del Sur.

Mountain areas cover 24% of the Earth's land and 26% of the global population lives in or around these areas. At the global scale, perhaps their greatest value is as 'water towers', providing water for over half of humankind. As global centres of biological and cultural diversity, they are among the world's major tourist destinations.

Cloud forests represent a rare and fragile ecosystem that is under threat in many parts of the world. These rich mountain forests make up no more than 2.5 per cent of the world's tropical forests but contain a disproportionately large number of the world's species. The Cloud Forest Agenda report aims to stimulate new initiatives and partnerships for the conservation and restoration of tropical montane cloud forests around the world.

IUCN's 5th World Parks Congress (2003) concluded that parks should not exist as unique islands, but need to be planned and managed as an integral part of the broader landscape. Ecological networks provide an operational model for conserving biodiversity that is based on ecological principles and allow a degree of human use of the landscape.

The Ecosystem Approach, defined as a strategy for the management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way, was adopted at the Second Conference of the Parties of the CBD as the primary framework for action under the Convention. It puts people and their nature resource use practices squarely at the centre of the decision-making framework.