Action plans

By far the largest habitat for life on earth and the cradle of new species, habitats and undiscovered ecosystems, our oceans are being intensively exploited and heavily degraded. Marine Protected Areas can be used to restore, safeguard and halt the negative impacts on the biodiversity of these oceans.

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.

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.

Once one of the most abundant grazing animals, now only seven species remain. Equids persist in some of the harshest climates and terrains in the world, habitats which are also home to many human populations. Conservation will depend on local nomadic pastoralists participating in, and benefiting from, the conservation management of their areas.

The dugong (Dugong dugon) is the only herbivorous mammal that is strictly marine. It has a range spanning some 37 countries, including tropical and subtropical coastal and island waters. This plan presents a global overview of the status of the dugong and its management throughout its range.

The fourth part in a series of action plan, this publication covers less than one-quarter of the world's antelope species that are found in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Herds numbering in the tens of thousands formerly occurred across the steppes and semi-deserts of Eurasia and India, but these have nearly all been reduced to fractions of their earlier size. Populations are fragmented across the region and several species have disappeared altogether during recent decades.

Bats make up a quarter of all mammals, and almost half of the species can be considered threatened or near threatened at a global level. This publication offers the results of the first comprehensive review to identify the conservation priorities for the 834 species of Microchiroptera.