Search the SPREP Catalogue

Assessing species' vulnerability to climate change is a prerequisite for developing effective strategies to conserve them. The last three decades have seen exponential growth in the number of studies evaluating how, how much, why, when, and where species will be impacted by climate change. We provide an overview of the rapidly developing field of climate change vulnerability assessment (CCVA) and describe key concepts, terms, steps and considerations. We stress the importance of identifying the full range of pressures, impacts and their associated mechanisms that species face and using this as a basis for selecting the appropriate assessment approaches for quantifying vulnerability. We outline four CCVA assessment approaches, namely trait?based, correlative, mechanistic and combined approaches and discuss their use. Since any assessment can deliver unreliable or even misleading results when incorrect data and parameters are applied, we discuss finding, selecting, and applying input data and provide examples of open?access resources. Because rare, small?range, and declining?range species are often of particular conservation concern while also posing significant challenges for CCVA, we describe alternative ways to assess them. We also describe how CCVAs can be used to inform IUCN Red List assessments of extinction risk. Finally, we suggest future directions in this field and propose areas where research efforts may be particularly valuable.

This edition of The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets focuses on the complex and underexplored intersection between agricultural trade, climate change and food security. It is clear that we cannot tackle hunger without finding adaptation and mitigation solutions to climate change in agriculture and food systems. It is also clear that the uneven impact of climate change across regions and countries, and the corresponding changes in food availability and access will affect international trade patterns and trade routes. This report supports these discussions by providing an in-depth analysis of the Paris Agreement and the WTO agreements to enhance clarity and provide guidance on policy options that could strengthen the mutually supportive role of these accords in tackling climate change and hunger. Wide-ranging policy actions are necessary to ensure that trade will contribute to the efforts aimed at ensuring food security and promoting adaptation and mitigation to climate change. The uneven impact of climate change across the world and its implications for agricultural trade, especially for developing countries, underlines the need for a balanced approach to policies, which should enhance the adaptive role of trade, while supporting the most vulnerable.

The SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway underscores the need for a more integrated approach to sustainable development as emphasized in the 2030 Agenda. It calls for strengthened international cooperation and partnerships, with adequate investment and coordinated implementation, to address and halt the persistent development challenges of SIDS. As a key follow-up to the SAMOA Pathway, the Global Action Programme on Food Security and Nutrition in Small Island Developing States (GAP) aims to accelerate action on food security and nutrition in SIDS. It is intended as a tangible contribution to the integrated implementation of the 2030 Agenda.The GAP recommends action at global, regional, national and local level. The overarching outcomes of the GAP are to create enabling environments for food security and nutrition; to transform food systems to improve their nutrition-sensitivity, resilience and sustainability; and to empower people and communities to lead healthy and productive lives.

Invasive alien species represent an insidious and pervasive threat to the environmental, economic and human well-being of the Pacific islands. Pacific island ecosystems make up one of the world’s important biodiversity hotspots, with high numbers of endemic species that are particularly vulnerable to extinction due to their limited habitat and isolation.|This book is intended to serve as a practical guide, calling attention to the need to link emergencies, disasters and development, not only in policy statements, but in practical ways. The book identifies physical and social factors and processes determining disaster vulnerability and offers the reader a range of vulnerability-reduction options in development and disaster mitigation. The book covers the main relief and response technologies for a range of natural and technological disasters, and deals with community participation, health education, training and other social aspects relevant to the protection of health and the environment in emergencies and disasters.|The UNEP/GEF Prevention, Control and Management of Invasive Alien Species in the Pacific Islands project also known as the IAS project, commenced on 12 September 2012 and was due for completion on 30 September 2016, following an extension of one year. The project was designed to provide support to Pacific Island countries in their national efforts to implement the Guidelines for Invasive Species Management in the Pacific – a Pacific Strategy for managing pest, weeds and other invasive species (Tye 2009) which were developed and adopted as the regional strategic framework for invasive species management in 2009. Ten Pacific Island countries originally participated in the IAS project, these being the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. These were reduced to nine countries with the withdrawal of Papua New Guinea following the Mid-Term Review due to issues related to the country’s readiness to engage with the project. The project was therefore, responsible for delivering of support to a culturally, geographically and economic diverse set of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) spread across the vast geographical scope of the Pacific Ocean. The project was implemented by the UN Environment as the Implementing Agency (IA) and Executed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) as the Executing Agency (EA). In-country sub projects and activities were facilitated by National Project Coordinators and overseen by national Invasive Species Coordinating Committees. Its goal "to conserve ecosystems, species and genetic diversity in the Pacific region" is broad and aspirational and is backed by the Objective "to reduce the environmental economic and human health impacts of invasive alien species in both terrestrial and marine habitats in the Pacific region". The Project consisted of 5 core components: Building foundations for sustainable Invasive Alien Species (IAS) management by generating awareness and support, building institution and human capacity and strengthening legislation, policy and protocols. Defining problems, prioritisation and decision making by improving baseline information on IAS distribution and status, establishing systems to assess risk and prioritise action and developing or utilising effective management techniques. Taking management action through improved bio-security and border protection, direct management action through eradication and application of best practice methods and restoring ecosystems after IAS management. Undertaking effective monitoring and evaluation of the project.| Establishing effective and efficient project management and governance. This Terminal Project Evaluation is undertaken by the Evaluation Office of the UN Environment in order to assess the effectiveness of the project and its likely future impact on the state of IAS management in the region and its likely impact on invasive species and the environmental health of the participating countries. Further, the report aims to discern lessons and offers recommendations which may help improve the development and implementation of similar multi-country projects in the future both in the Pacific region and globally.

Many neglected tropical zoonotic pathogens are maintained by introduced mammals, and on islands the most common introduced species are rodents, cats, and dogs. Management of introduced mammals, including control or eradication of feral populations, which is frequently done for ecological restoration, could also reduce or eliminate the pathogens these animals carry. Understanding the burden of these zoonotic diseases is crucial for quantifying the potential public health benefits of introduced mammal management. However, epidemiological data are only available from a small subset of islands where these introduced mammals co-occur with people. We examined socioeconomic and climatic variables as predictors for disease burdens of angiostrongyliasis, leptospirosis, toxoplasmosis, toxocariasis, and rabies from 57 islands or island countries. We found strong correlates of disease burden for leptospirosis, Toxoplasma gondii infection, angiostrongyliasis, and toxocariasis with more than 50% of the variance explained, and an average of 57% (range = 32–95%) predictive accuracy on out-of-sample data. We used these relationships to provide estimates of leptospirosis incidence and T. gondii seroprevalence infection on islands where nonnative rodents and cats are present. These predicted estimates of disease burden could be used in an initial assessment of whether the costs of managing introduced mammal reservoirs might be less than the costs of perpetual treatment of these diseases on islands.

Predators play a critical role in ecosystems; however, when overly abundant, they can disrupt natural processes and cause extinctions of species. In particular, oceanic islands have endured many impacts of introduced mammalian predators. Whereas knowledge and management of introduced mammalian predators on islands is well advanced in natural landscapes, in inhabited landscapes, spanning rural and urban environments, comparatively less is known. We summarise key issues from the natural and social sciences in the management of introduced mammalian predators in inhabited landscapes of Aotearoa–New Zealand. We describe the shift in focus over the past few decades from management of introduced mammalian herbivores to predators in rural environments, and the growth in management of introduced mammalian predators in urban environments, both seeking to emulate conservation gains made in forested landscapes. We discuss the circumstances around companion animal management at the interface of the natural and social sciences. We summarise surveys of attitudes towards introduced mammalian predators, the role of biodiversity comanagement between Ma¯ori and Pakeha, and the importance of also considering non-biodiversity benefits from introduced predator management. We describe the rise of community predator control and large landscape projects aspiring for a ‘Predator Free New Zealand’, and how such an aspiration must be concurrent with habitat restoration. We make recommendations for further research on the basic population biology of predators in inhabited landscapes, and more long-term studies. Such studies should be integrated with examination of the motivations for predator management, as well as the biodiversity and social outcomes of such management. We conclude by remarking that introduced predator management is only one component of a robust national strategy for conservation of native biodiversity in New Zealand.

Eradication of introduced species from inhabited islands requires consideration of both technical and social feasibility. Historically, biologists have struggled to engage successfully in the social components of eradication planning. Island communities have unique features that require consideration in eradication planning. Social impact assessment is a powerful planning tool used widely outside of wildlife management. We outline the core components of a social impact assessment as it could be applied to eradication planning on inhabited islands. We summarise previous experience in social impact assessment and community engagement for introduced predator eradication on inhabited islands, and as an example develop a social profile for inhabited islands of the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. We conclude that social impact assessment has great potential to improve eradication feasibility assessment, and should be applied routinely in eradication scoping on inhabited islands.

The eradication of some introduced pests such as rats, stoats and possums in New Zealand seems increasingly feasible with successful action to date in various cities (e.g. Wellington City) and with the government’s national 2050 predator-free goal. Here we specifically detail the potential benefits of urban rat eradication and find these cover a wide range of topics including a potentially reduced risk of infection from at least seven zoonotic diseases (e.g. leptospirosis, toxoplasmosis, trichinellosis, murine typhus; and three enteric diseases). Other potential benefits include: psychological benefits from increased native bird life in cities; reduced damage to food supplies; reduced rat damage to building insulation and to building walls and roofing; and reduced fires in buildings associated with rat damage. However, there is considerable uncertainty on the size of such impacts and so we outline a tentative research agenda as a first step towards quantification of the likely key public health benefits of rat eradication.

Invasive alien species (IAS) threaten human livelihoods and biodiversity globally. Increasing globalization facilitates IAS arrival, and environmental changes, including climate change, facilitate IAS establishment. Here we provide the first global, spatial analysis of the terrestrial threat from IAS in light of twenty-first century globalization and environmental change, and evaluate national capacities to prevent and manage species invasions. We find that one-sixth of the global land surface is highly vulnerable to invasion, including substantial areas in developing economies and biodiversity hotspots. The dominant invasion vectors differ between high-income countries (imports, particularly of plants and pets) and low-income countries (air travel). Uniting data on the causes of introduction and establishment can improve early-warning and eradication schemes. Most countries have limited capacity to act against invasions. In particular, we reveal a clear need for proactive invasion strategies in areas with high poverty levels, high biodiversity and low historical levels of invasion.

Green Climate Fund B.07/04: Recommended action of the Board, a. Takes note of the information presented in document GCF/B.07/05 Initial Results Management Framework of the Fund; and b. Adopts the draft decision presented in Annex 1 to this document