Biodiversity projects and articles

MP Richard Benyon on COP11 to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity

Richard Benyon MP

7 November 2012

Article

When a big UN conference ends, the real work is only just beginning. Last month representatives of nearly 200 nations met in Hyderabad, India, for the 11th Conference of Parties (COP11) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Now they are back at home working to implement the decisions they reached. In this Q & A Richard Benyon MP, the Parliamentary under-Secretary for Natural Environment, Water and Rural Affairs, highlights some key outcomes and explains when the government plans to ratify the Nagoya Protocol.

Participatory Learning and Action

3 October 2012

Article

Natural resource management

Announcement on the future of the PLA series

The Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) series is 25 years old this year. At this important milestone, IIED is taking stock of PLA to look at its legacy and its future direction.

IUCN World Conservation Congress

16 August 2012

Article

The IUCN World Conservation Congress is a large, conservation event held every four years.

2010 International Year of Biodiversity

4 December 2011

Article

The United Nations has declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity. It’s a key reminder of how fundamental biodiversity is to the health of planetary systems as well as human prosperity and wellbeing — and a chance for all of us to learn more.

Biodiversity and REDD

Native bird perched on a branch, Costa Rica.

25 July 2011

Project

REDD could play an important role in biodiversity conservation. This project aims to identify and test possible mechanisms to help promote high biodiversity REDD.

The role of economic instruments in policy mixes for biodiversity conservation

22 June 2011

Project

POLICYMIX aims to contribute to the EU's goals of reversing trends in biodiversity loss beyond 2010 through the use of cost-effective and incentive-compatible economic instruments.

Paying local communities for ecosystem services: The Chimpanzee Conservation Corridor

22 June 2011

Project

Natural resource management

Chimpanzees in Uganda are under threat as their habitat is lost to agriculture and human settlements. Central to this problem is the attitude of most farmers that chimpanzees and forest habitat conservation are a threat to their own livelihoods. IIED aims to show how an equitable and financially sustainable payment scheme can compensate local landholders for conserving and restoring forest habitats and for protecting chimpanzee populations.

Harnessing carbon finance to arrest deforestation: Saving the Javan rhinoceros

22 June 2011

Project

Natural resource management

The project aims to support local institutions to set up a properly functioning and equitable forest carbon facility. This carbon facility will compensate local villagers for arresting degradation and deforestation in and around Cat Tien National Park. This protection of forests will help conserve large mammals, particularly the critically endangered Javan rhinoceros.

Sustainable tourism in the Srepok Wilderness Area, Cambodia

21 June 2011

Project

Natural resource management

Local people and endangered animals such as elephants, tigers and wild water buffalo should benefit from a unique wildlife ecotourism initiative in Southeast Asia led by IIED and WWF in Cambodia.

IIED Insights: Q&A with Krystyna Swiderska on the Nagoya Protocol

28 November 2010

Article

Last month, after 18 years of negotiations and more than 2 weeks of tense discussions in Nagoya, Japan, the world finally struck a deal on access to genetic resources and benefit sharing. The agreement — the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and Equitable Sharing of Benefits — was, for many developing countries, a pre-requisite to any broader biodiversity pact. The Group of 77 and China had repeatedly said they would not sign any deal on financing or a strategic plan for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) unless a protocol on benefit sharing was established first.

What happened at Nagoya?

19 November 2010

Article

Krystyna Swiderska reflects on what happened during the COP10, Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, in October 2010.

COP10: Conference of Parties to UN Convention on Biological Diversity

19 October 2010

Article

193 governments have gathered in Nagoya, Japan for the 10th Conference of Parties (COP10) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in October this year. They were asked to adopt a new ten-year strategic plan to protect biodiversity and ensure that it is used in a sustainable way.

Bio-cultural diversity conserved by indigenous peoples & local communities— examples & analysis

13 October 2010

Article

Natural resource management

Indigenous conservation territories and areas conserved by indigenous peoples and local communities (ICCAs) are the subject of this briefing sponsored by IIED, IUCN CEESP and other organizations.

Poverty and Conservation Learning Group

16 September 2010

Project

The goal of the Poverty and Conservation Learning Group (PCLG) is to facilitate learning on conservation-poverty linkages between and within different communities of interest.

Social Assessment of Protected Areas (SAPA)

25 August 2010

Project

SAPA is a joint initiative of IIED, Care International, UNEP-WCMC and the CEESP/WCPA Protected Areas, Equity and Livelihoods Taskforce.

Linking ape conservation and poverty alleviation

25 August 2010

Article

Natural resource management

The Poverty and Conservation learning group has three main goals that it was been working to achieve from 2009 - 2012.

Could things for biodiversity go from bad to worse?

16 July 2010

Article

Food and agriculture

Current efforts to protect the world's biodiversity run the risk of doing more harm than good, warns Krystyna Swiderska. In the BBC's Green Room, she says the role of indigenous and local communities in protecting the planet's genetic resources are being overlooked or even ignored.

Assessing the contribution of pollination to sustainable horticultural production

29 June 2010

Project

This project aims to help smallholder farmers in Ghana, Kenya, India and Nepal to look at the costs and benefits of introducing pro-pollinator practices.

Conservation Initiative on Human Rights

12 April 2010

Project

The Conservation Initiative on Human Rights (CIHR) is a consortium of international conservation NGOs that seek to improve the practice of conservation by promoting integration of human rights in conservation policy and practice.

Protect and survive: customary safeguards, traditional knowledge

9 November 2009

Article

Natural resource management

In thousands of rural communities from Bolivia to Bangladesh, traditional knowledge makes up the living core of culture. Bound up with local livelihoods and biodiversity, it forms a holistic system precisely tailored to local needs and environmental capacity. Its evolution over time and through shifting conditions ensures traditional practices are robust and adaptable to climate change.

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