Environmental impacts

This book provides an original account of the environmental history of the Great Barrier Reef, based on extensive archival and oral history research. It documents and explains the main human impacts on the Great Barrier Reef since European settlement in the region, focusing particularly on the century from 1860 to 1960 which has not previously been fully documented, yet which was a period of unprecedented exploitation of the ecosystem and its resources.

Natural Area Tourism provides a comprehensive description of tourism in natural areas allowing readers to understand the scope of, complexities arising from, and possibilities of undertaking successful tourism developments in natural areas. Furthermore, the second edition contains an overview of recent developments, such as mountain biking, adventure activities in protected areas and geotourism.

This report offers a review of literature from various sources on the impacts of the production and use of liquid biofuels, which are used mainly in the transport sector. In 2009, Campbell and Doswald (2009) published a review similar to this one, focusing on the biodiversity impacts of biofuels, on behalf of UNEP-WCMC. This report reflects on the progress made since that review.

The impacts of oil palm plantations have been widely ignored, and given widespread promotion of these plantations throughout the tropics, the World Rainforest Movement decided to bring together research and local struggles in this book, aimed as a tool for action. Presented are three representative cases for each continent -- Cameroon, Ecuador and Indonesia -- as well as a general overview and examples from other countries. 

This study compares compensation approaches taken with respect to impacts on biological diversity in selected countries from four different continents: Africa, Asia, North America, and South America. Background on specific legal and institutional frameworks for each country are elaborated and assumptions for further research are formulated. 

This publication is an excerpt of the report, "Decoupling natural resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth : a report of the working group on decoupling to the International Resource Panel".