Agrobiodiversity and Law: Regulating Genetic Resources, Food Security and Cultural Diversity

This new book analyzes the impact of the legal system on agrobiodiversity and the emergence of the concept and its relationship with food security, nutrition, health, environmental sustainability and climate change. It assesses the impacts of key legal instruments, discussing the interface between the free software movement, the 'commons' movement and seeds, and the role of protected areas.

Identifying Environment-Species Links

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Data Portal has contributed to a study of over 300,000 mammal records from the US to assess the importance of climate and land cover on species presence at various scales. In a paper published in PloS One, the study's authors suggest that these findings are critical to understanding how to design protected area policies and wildlife corridors.
GBIF Press Release

SADC: Countries Establish Transfrontier Conservation Area

On August 18, during the Southern African Development Community Summit in Luanda (Angola) the Presidents of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe signed the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Treaty legally establishing the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA). The treaty allows the area to potentially become the world's largest conservation area, spanning 444,000 square kilometers incorporating a number of national parks, conservancies, forest reserves and wild management areas, which are home to Africa's "big five" and other species such as cheetah, African wild dog, sable and roan antelope.
The Memorandum of Understanding serving as the basis for negotiations

More Information

Transboundary Conservation and Conflict Resolution

IUCN has published "Crossing Borders for Nature: European examples of transboundary conservation" aiming to improve transboundary conservation in the mountainous border zone between Albania, Macedonia and the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

In addition to the large-scale ecological benefits of protecting extensive natural areas, supporting species migrations, reducing the risk of biodiversity loss, generating additional income opportunities, and helping to resolve political conflicts; the report emphasizes that integrating conservation of two or more protected areas across an international boundary implies gaining the necessary political support and/or support of protected area managers, and that political indifference and lack of commitment can impede the establishment of a transboundary initiative.

Seychelles: New PAs

The Government has announced the designation of new protected areas that will result in in protecting 50.59 percent of Seychelles' land by law.

CBD Press Release
Seychelles Press Release

UNESCO: Biosphere Reserves and Climate

UNESCO has released "For life, for the future - Biosphere reserves and climate change, a collection of good practice case studies" demonstrating, through a selection of 28 case studies from around the world, that UNESCO biosphere reserves are ideal places to test, evaluate and implement comprehensive climate change policies.

IUCN: Report on Freshwater Species in Africa

IUCN has released the report titled "The Diversity of Life in African Freshwaters: Underwater, Under Threat - An analysis of the status and distribution of freshwater species throughout mainland Africa." The analysis represents the most comprehensive assessment of freshwater biodiversity at the species level for an entire continent and presents key messages, inter alia, on the need for better designing protected areas, employing principles of catchment management, and that environmental impact assessments should expressly require reference to the species data sets made available through the IUCN Red List.

Proposal for a Marine Ecological Corridor

On May 31, Oceana, and the Official College of Biologists of the Basque Country (COBE) hosted a media conference to launch their proposal for a marine ecological corridor that would extend from San Sebastien (Spain) to Hendaye (France) encompassing some 27,000 ha over 35 km of coastline. Spain currently only has 1.3% of its marine area protected, considerably less than the 10% recommended by CBD. The ecological corridor would complement a similar proposal on the French side of the Basque country from Biarritz to Hendaye under the Natura 2000 network. Further research is anticipated to identify critical habitat areas as well as ongoing discussions with key government ministries.

Pacific: Post CBD/COP-10 Review

A meeting to follow-up on CBD/COP-10 took place in Nadi (Fiji), from 16-20 May titled "Implementing the Nagoya Outcomes: Review and Planning Meeting." Specific areas on the agenda included the Strategic Plan, funding opportunities, protected areas, island biodiversity, national biodiversity strategy action plans (NBSAPs), implications of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) for the Pacific, as well as the sharing of experiences and lessons learned for participating in international negotiations.

Press Release

IUCN: Protected Areas and Economic Gains in West Africa

In a new report, a survey carried out by IUCN in 2010 shows that local populations living close to protected areas in West Africa earn an additional 40% of their income from activities related to these areas. The findings highlight protected areas' potential for reinforcing sustainable development as well as conservation, according to IUCN. The study examined how protected areas affect jobs and revenues, and compared the benefits with the average agricultural income.

Available in French at: http://www.papaco.org/publication/etude%20Ecowhat.pdf

EU Protected Area Network Enlarged

The network of protected areas of the EU - Natura 2000 - has been enlarged to include 739 new sites covering nearly 27,000 square kilometres with more than half of the area added comprising marine sites, mainly in France, Denmark and Spain. More Details

EU: Commission Guidelines on Wind Energy in Protected Areas

The European Commission has produced new guidelines aimed at avoiding conflict between wind energy development and biodiversity conservation in Natura 2000 protected areas. They highlight the importance of strategic planning and the need for good quality appropriate assessment of new developments. The guidelines contain examples of best practice, and show how wind energy developments can avoid damage to nature sensitive areas. Wind energy developments and Natura 2000