Soil Science: belowground biodiversity and global soil fungi biodiversity
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Blogs
Filtered on Taxonomy term (Biodiversity), Date (2014).
Biodiversity and Climate policy: WCMC report and policy brief on biodiversity and climate change
UNEP-WCMC has announced (June 2014) publication of a report on Using criteria to strengthen biodiversity considerations: Recommendations for the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and an accompanying policy brief Addressing climate change: Why biodiversity matters. The key messages of the policy brief are:
- Climate change mitigation and adaptation can be supported by biodiversity conservation actions, enabling the permanence of mitigation and adaptation efforts.
- Biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation undermines the supply of ecosystem services vital for mitigation and adaptation.
- Adaptation and mitigation actions that do not consider the role of, and potential impacts on, biodiversity can have adverse consequences; therefore, such impacts must be assessed, and measures put in place to address them.
- Application of biodiversity criteria and safeguards to climate change interventions can enhance the benefits and minimise the risks for biodiversity without jeopardising mitigation or adaptation objectives.
- Multiple international agreements and national processes relevant to climate change and biodiversity should be implemented in ways that are coordinated, mutually supportive and enhance synergies.
Biodiversity Policy: FAO State of the World's Forest Genetic Resources and Global Plan of Action
FAO has announced publication of the first State of the World's Forest Genetic Resources, linked to the Global Plan of Action for Forest Genetic Resources. Key messages of the State report are:
- Access to information and knowledge on FGR needs to be improved
- Economic value is the main factor in setting management priorities
- Half of the forest species reported by countries are threatened
- 8,000 forest species are used and one-third of them actively managed
- Species distribution maps are vital, but rarely available
- Most species are conserved in situ, in naturally regenerated and planted forests
- Effective ex situ conservation programmes are restricted to limited species and populations
- Tree improvement greatly enhances productivity and offers potential for adaptation to changing climate
- Emerging technology opens new avenues in FGR management and conservation
- Policies and institutional frameworks are insufficient
And what needs to be done:
- Improve the availability of, and access to, information on FGR
- Enhance in situ and ex situ conservation of FGR
- Improve sustainable use and management of FGR
- Strengthen policies and institutional capacity
Biodiversity policy UK: inquiry on Overseas Territories
The UK Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee has published a report on Sustainability in the UK Overseas Territories. The report argues for better and more consistent policy focus on the part of the UK government, clarity on the respective responsibilities of the UK government and UKOT governments, and various actions with respect to international law and with respect to CBD and other conventions.
It also recommends that Defra should convene UKOT governments with NGOs and research organisations to develop and agree a research programme to catalogue the full extent of biodiversity in the UKOTs. Better planning regimes to value and protect natural capital and promote sustainable tourism industries and economies are also recommended. Marine Protected Areas for the Pitcairn Islands, Tristan da Cunha and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are proposed (there is already a MPA in place for the British Indian Ocean Territory - the Chagos archipelago).
The UKOTs are: Anguilla; Bermuda; British Antarctic Territory; British Indian Ocean Territory; Cayman Islands; Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus; Falkland Islands; Gibraltar; Montserrat; Pitcairn Islands; St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Turks and Caicos Islands; and British Virgin Islands.
Biodiversity policy UK: State of the UK's Birds 2013
The State of the UK's Birds 2013 has been produced by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) – and the UK Government’s statutory nature conservation agencies: Natural England (NE); Natural Resources Wales (NRW); Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA); Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH); and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).