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Work on the poet-2020 global biodiversity framework is now well advanced and will outline a vision, goals and targets for the next decade of biodiversity conservation and beyond. For the effectiveness of Protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, an indicator has been proposed for areas meeting their documented ecological objectives.

Increasingly frequent severe coral bleaching is among the greatest threats to coral reefs posed by climate change. Global climate models (GCMs) project great spatial variation in the timing of annual severe bleaching (ASB) conditions, a point at which reefs are certain to change and recovery will be limited.

Mare nostrum, the Mediterranean Sea, the historic cradle of so many different cultures, is a melting-pot containing all that is at stake in terms of sustainable development and conservation of marine biodiversity. Mare medi terra, this semi-enclosed sea, representing less than 1% of the world’s oceans comprises 10% of the identified marine biodiversity known. The Mediterranean acts as a catalyst for the questions of integrated management of human activities and governance for the following reasons: it supports 1/3 of global maritime traffic, and is home to 150 million people attracting 200 million visitors each year; nearly half of its coastline has become “artificial”; over a quarter of the species of rays and sharks in the Mediterranean are threatened, and because management of fish stocks is a current topic for debate.

As environmental problems continue to increase at an ever more rapid rate, exacerbated by the major threat of global climate change, the need for widespread remedial action is becoming ever more pressing. Scientific consensus on both the root causes of these problems and the measures required to tackle them is growing, while mass media and public interest has reached fever pitch. Of course, while this has put pressure on decisionmakers to take positive action, the realisation of the gravity and extent of the environmental problems has encouraged all those concerned about the state of our world to search for partners around it: one such significant partnership to e­merge in recent years is between those concerned with the conservation of nature –and of its biodiversity– and the custodians of sacred sites, representing both indigenous beliefs and mainstream faiths.

Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms, including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants, and embraces all kinds of aquaculture (inland and marine, and capture based or not). Farming implies some sort of intervention in the rearing process to enhance production, such as regular stocking, feeding and protection from predators. Farming also implies individual or corporate ownership of the stock being cultivated.

Many governments are actively encouraging private investment in biofuels developments to harness the perceived benefits of biofuels such as agricultural development, increased energy security and independence, improved balance of trade and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. However, in the rush to pursue the benefits of biofuels, the risks of invasion by introduced species have received little or no attention and are not being adequately prevented or managed. The situation is most acute in countries lacking the capacity and resources to adequately avoid and manage the risks of invasion. Lack of suitable pest and weed risk assessment and management regimes compromises the long-term viability of the biofuels sector and threatens local livelihoods and the environment.