Ecosystem management

This report provides a summary for the business community, illustrated with examples from a range of companies and sectors. It asks: what are the risks and opportunities to business of ecological change? What is business currently doing about biodiversity and ecosystem services? What more could business do? and how can the business imperative to deliver profits be better aligned with the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources?

Designed by a partnership of UN agencies, international scientific organizations, and development agencies, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is the most extensive study ever of the linkages between the world's ecosystems and human well-being. The goal of the MA is to establish the scientific basis for actions needed to enhance the contribution of ecosystems to human well-being without undermining their long-term productivity.

This documentary demonstrates that it is possible to rehabilitate large-scale damaged ecosystems, to restore ecosystem functions in areas where they have been lost, to fundamentally improve the lives of people who have been trapped in poverty for generations and to sequester carbon naturally. This approach has been dramatically proven on the Loess Plateau in China, the highland area spanning some 640,000 square km in north central China.

This booklet documents the achievements of selected projects of the Mangroves for the Future (MFF) Small Grants Programme in Sri Lanka, with emphasis on drawing lessons to improve future project performance. The projects are presented under three thematic areas, namely Ecosystem restoration, Education and Awareness, and Livelihood enhancement. The contents are largely based on information gleaned from project progress reports and reviews, and notes of field monitoring visits.

Increasing incidence and intensity of natural disasters and climate change are having over-arching impacts on the environment. Sustainable development is being undermined. Ecological services and their indirect economic values are frequently omitted from assessments. Mainstreaming ecosystem concerns – both ecological and economical – and integrating them into disaster management is essential.

Out of all the biological carbon (or green carbon) captured in the world, over half is captured by marine living organisms --- hence it is called "blue carbon". Although emissions reductions are currently at the centre of the climate change debate, the critical role that oceans and ocean ecosystems play has been vastly overlooked.