WCMC biodiversity series

Over 600 protected area agencies world-wide were surveyed on their budgets and staffing levels. From the 108 countries surveyed it emerged that budgetary provision was very uneven - ranging from $24 to $12,308 per km2. There is also a positive correlation between economic development and population density. Priorities for financial assistance were identified.

This document provides information on inland waters and their biodiversity, and includes the first global assessment of areas of special importance for freshwater biodiversity, based on expert opinion and data. It also includes a first comparative analysis of major river basins, using indicators of biodiversity, the condition of catchment basins and pressures on water resources, in order to generate indices of importance and risk

This study makes use of extensive spatial datasets, not previously available, to provide for the first time a comprehensive assessment of the conservation status of biodiversity in the terrestrial tropics. The extent to which potential habitats and closed moist forests are represented in protected areas is assessed. Priorities for conservation action are identified on the basis of a country's relative importance for a given habitat and the extent to which it is protected.

Marine waters comprise by far the most extensive major ecosystem on the planet. WCMC has produced a region by region account of select issues in marine biological diversity: descriptive text on marine ecosystems, elements of biodiversity (including estimates of species richness and endemism), and marine fisheries. The aim is to help develop an integrated approach to management of marine and coastal biodiversity.

This work includes 140 pages of tabular data with supporting text and graphics, covering country species diversity, threatened species, national Red Data Book, major food crops, domestic livestock, marine resources, tropical forests, protected areas and systematics collections.

Outlines approaches to assessment of the status and sustainability of national biodiversity. Methods are introduced for biodiversity survey, assessment of the status of species and habitats, and identification of local users of biological resources and the importance and impacts of such use.

This report reviews current knowledge of global biodiversity, discusses priorities, assesses policies required, and suggests where efforts of the Convention and its financial mechanisms should be focused.