Biodiversity

Global spending on nature conservation is currently estimated at around US$50 billion per year. Most of this is public money, yet even this is far from sufficient to maintain biodiversity and the ecosystem services upon which our economies, livelihoods and well-being depend. For this reason, many governments are using payments for ecosystem services (PES) and related market-based instruments to encourage the private sector to do more to protect the environment.

The Journal publishes papers and notes in the field of natural history, broadly defined as the study of organisms in their natural state, relevant to the eastern African region. Of particular interest are contributions that add to our knowledge of the status and conservation of biological diversity in the region. Since the biological landscape is to a large extent shaped by man, papers on ethnobiology are also featured.

Governments, companies, banks and civil society are placing more emphasis on the rigorous application of the mitigation hierarchy to avoid, minimize and compensate for projects' impacts on biodiversity. The final step in the mitigation hierarchy sequence are biodiversity offsets to achieve No Net Loss (NNL) or Net Gain (NG). Thirty-nine countries have existing laws or policies on NNL/NG, biodiversity offsets or compensation, and twenty-two countries are developing them.

The goal of biodiversity offsets -- measurable conservation outcomes resulting from actions designed to compensate for significant residual adverse biodiversity impacts arising from project development after other appropriate prevention and mitigation measures have been taken -- is to achieve no net loss (or net gain) in biodiversity. This report assesses the conditions under which biodiversity offsets may provide the best outcomes for biodiversity and achieve no net loss.

This document constitutes a summary of the work, studies and reflection initiated by the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) following the recommendations of the Contracting Parties in Almeria in January 2008. It provides answers to the request to assess the knowledge gathered on the effects of climate change on the Mediterranean coastal and marine biodiversity.

This fourth and final publication of the IUCN-UNEP/GEF-ABS-LAC Regional Project focuses on applying the different technical elements that encourage capacity building on the issues of Access and Sharing of Benefits Derived from the Utilization of Genetic Resources (ABS).

La presente publicación aporta una serie de herramientas clave preparadas y recogidas durante el Proyecto Regional GEF "Fortalecimiento de la Implementación de los Regímenes de Acceso a Recursos Genéticos de Beneficios en América Latina y el Caribe," contribuyendo con una compilación de códigos de conducta y mejores prácticas sobre ABS a los diferentes interesados en el tema.

Conservation of animal genetic resources -- ensuring that these valuable resources remain available for future use by livestock breeders -- is one of the four strategic priority areas of the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources, which was adopted in 2007 and is the first internationally agreed framework for the management of biodiversity in the livestock sector. These guidelines focus on conservation "in vivo", i.e.

Agrobiodiversity, which includes the diversity of plants, animals, fish, trees and microbes that are used directly or indirectly for food and agriculture, is the foundation of sustainable agricultural development. But demand has grown for new knowledge and skills to address the multifunctionality of sustainable agriculture and the interconnectedness of biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and human health.