Assessments

This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the socio-economic benefits of PAs and PA networks and provides step-by-step practical guidance on identifying, assessing and valuing the various ecosystem services and related benefits provided by PAs. It also aims to improve the communication of PA benefits to different stakeholders and the general public. 

In 2014, IUCN carried out a vulnerability assessment of the impacts of climate change on the Ramsar site at Beung Kiat Ngong in southern Lao PDR. The overall description of the wetland ecosystem and its components were drawn from the Ramsar profiles of the wetland and the recent biodiversity surveys.

The Eastern Mediterranean region supports just over 4.4% of the global human population yet contains only 1.1% of its renewable water resources, which are under constant threat from the impacts of unsustainable water withdrawal, dam development and climate change.

This study identifies and assesses the diversity of ecosystem services, and in turn the benefits that World Heritage sites can deliver to society and the economy through direct and indirect use or through inherent 'non-use' values. It also aims to increase awareness and understanding of the multiple services and benefits that ecosystems can provide as well  as their contribution to the well-being of local, national and global communities.

Natural World Heritage sites are internationally recognized as having the highest global conservation significance and include iconic places such as the Serengeti, Great Barrier Reef and the Galapagos Islands. These renowned sites offer crucial insight into the successes and challenges on the frontlines of conservation, but only about half of the natural sites have been regularly monitored through the main monitoring mechanisms of the World Heritage Convention.

Recent developments have seen forest landscape restoration (FLR) become widely recognized as an important means of not only restoring ecological integrity at scale but also generating additional local-to-global benefits. This handbook presents the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM), which provides a flexible and affordable framework for countries to rapidly identify and analyse FLR potential and locate special areas of opportunity at a national or sub-national level.