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Recognizing the value of large marine ecosystems (LMEs) and other transboundary water systems (open ocean, groundwater aquifers, lakes and reservoirs, and river basins), their continued degradation, the fragmented approach to their management, and the need for better prioritization of interventions, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) embarked on the Transboundary Waters Assessment Programme (TWAP) from 2009 to 2015. TWAP objectives were to undertake global assessments of the five transboundary water systems to assist GEF and other international organizations set priorities for interventions; and develop formal institutional partnerships for periodic assessments of these systems.

Ice, snow and climate change are closely linked. The Global Outlook for Ice and Snow investigates those linkages. It also presents information on the trends in ice and snow, the outlook for this century and beyond and the consequences to ecosystems and human well-being of these changes. It covers all parts of the cryosphere (the world of ice): snow, land ice, sea ice, river and lake ice, and frozen ground. The Global Outlook for Ice and Snow was written by more than 70 scientists from around the world.

One of the largest open-cut copper and gold mines in the world commenced operation in May 1984 in the Star Mountains of Papua New Guinea. Waste rock and tailings are currently dumped into the Ok Tedi, a tributary of the Fly River. Mine development has been surrounded by controverey concerning the potential environmental impacts of this major development This paper outlines the environment in which the mine is situated; details traditional resource use in the area; reviews the history of mine development and evaluates the current situation with regard to waste disposal. Details of the current concerns expressed both within and outside the country about the long-term impacts of this project are also presented. As such this paper serves as a background to the other papers in this volume, which examine issues such as tailings toxicity; heavy metal levels in fish; the complexing capacity of waters in the drainage basin; and the limnology of lakes associated with the Fly River flood plain.