Statistical data

A major analysis of the protection status of the world's forests. This has produced an unprecedented amount of data on forest location, by type, and the amount of each forest type protected in each region of the world. Contains all the GIS spatial data files on forests, protected areas and ecological zones that went into the analysis.

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.