Concerns over the EU’s wolf downlisting proposal

This tool (i) supports the decision-making process when establishing and implementing transboundary conservation initiatives; (ii) minimizes the risks of the process; (iii) enables planners to assess the feasibility of design and implementation of transboundary conservation measures. Version 2.0 was released by IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) Transboundary Conservation Specialist Group in June 2020.

How to use

For further details and to access the tool:

https://www.iucn.org/news/world-commission-protected-areas/202006/version-20-diagnostic-tool-transboundary-conservation-planners-released

The Darwin Initiative is a UK government grants scheme that helps conserve biodiversity and support the communities that live alongside it through locally led projects worldwide. It is one of the Biodiversity Challenge Funds (BCFs) – the collective name for three of the UK Government’s competitive grants that also includes the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund and Darwin Plus, aimed at conserving biodiversity and safeguarding the environment for local people.

Successful Darwin Initiative projects are likely to include:

• delivering outputs that will achieve both biodiversity conservation and multidimensional poverty reduction
• demonstrated an understanding of GESI within their context, and effectively reflected this in their approach to deliver sustained outcomes
• enhancing the capability and capacity of national and local partners and stakeholders, to help ensure a project’s long-term legacy
• strengthening, promotion and use of evidence to inform and scale the action
• the implementation of a novel or significantly improved approach
• scalable approaches that have the potential to deliver greater impact

Since 1993, the Darwin Initiative has awarded over £230m to more than 1,275 projects across 159 countries.

Several methods have been developed for climate change vulnerability assessment (CCVA) of species. There is no single ‘correct’ or established way to carry out CCVA of species and these guidelines aim to assist conservation practitioners to interpret and use the complex and often inconsistent CCVA literature. The guidelines indicate sensible and defensible approaches, in the context of the current state of knowledge and available resources.

The guidelines outline some of the terms commonly used in climate change vulnerability assessment (CCVA) and describe three dominant CCVA approaches, namely correlative (niche-based), mechanistic, and trait-based approaches. Advice is provided on setting clear, measurable objectives and selecting CCVA approaches and appropriate methods. Guidance on using and interpreting CCVA results includes suggestions on data sources and their use, working with knowledge gaps and uncertainty, approaches for use in challenging contexts, and incorporating indirect climate change impacts such as habitat transformation.

It is hoped that the guidelines will promote standardization of CCVA terminology and provide a useful resource for those wishing to carry out CCVA at species, site, or site-network scales.

The guidelines are structured to provide (i) background information on definitions and metrics associated with CCVA; (ii) a discussion on identifying CCVA objectives; (iii) core guidance on selecting and applying appropriate methods; (iv) sections on interpreting and communicating results; (v) using results in IUCN Red List assessments; (vi) ways to address the many sources of uncertainty in CCVAs. A final section explores future directions for CCVAs and research needs. The guidelines also highlight 10 case studies that provide worked examples of CCVAs covering the range of methods described.

BIOFIN was initiated ten years ago at CBD COP 11 by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the European Commission in response to the urgent global need to divert more finance from all possible sources towards global and national biodiversity goals. BIOFIN demonstrates how nature-positive economies can work for people and the planet. Now present in 40 countries, BIOFIN is working with governments, civil-society, vulnerable communities, and the private sector to catalyse investments in nature protect and promote biodiversity. The BIOFIN Report: How Can Biodiversity Finance Plans Support NBSAPs? assists countries to develop, update, and implement national Biodiversity Finance Plans (BFPs) in support of their National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP).

BIOFIN does not provide funds directly. However, BIOFIN has partnered with several other organisations to set up the Finance Resources for Biodiversity (FIRE) platform to collate funding sources for all types of biodiversity projects, including for species. Over 300 funding opportunities for biodiversity conservation, both public and private, are listed. FIRE functions as a one-stop-shop, where a project leader can find a multitude of different opportunities matching specific criteria (country, range of funding, type of entity, etc.). Sources can be sorted using filters. Within the “ecosystems” filter there is an option to select Wildlife / Endangered Species.

How to use

Information on BIOFIN can be accessed at: https://www.biofin.org/

The BIOFIN brochure can be downloaded at: https://www.biofin.org/knowledge-product/biofin-brochure-0

The Report: How Can Biodiversity Finance Plans Support NBSAPs? can be downloaded at: https://www.biofin.org/knowledge-product/how-can-biodiversity-finance-plans-support-nbsaps

The FIRE platform can be accessed at: https://fire.biofin.org/

To obtain information on funding resources for species use the link:  https://fire.biofin.org/?ecosystems=Wildlife++Endangered+Species&name=

The Living Planet Index measures the state of the world’s biodiversity based on population trends of vertebrate species from terrestrial, freshwater, and marine habitats. The LPI has been adopted by the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) as an indicator of progress towards its targets. The LPI is compiled by WWF and ZSL based on trends in thousands of population time-series data collected from monitored sites around the world. The Living Planet Database contains population time-series data on the abundance of tens of thousands of vertebrate species between 1970 and 2021. It is publicly available, except for some confidential records that cannot be shared.

How to use  

• The annual Living Planet Report can be downloaded at: https://www.wwf.org.uk/our-reports/living-planet-report
• The latest results and the technical supplement are available at: https://www.livingplanetindex.org/
• Data in the Living Planet Database can be searched or downloaded at:

https://github.com/Zoological-Society-of-London/rlpi

A Ramsar site is a wetland designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention (The Convention on Wetlands). The convention provides for national action and international cooperation on the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. Sites are identified according to any one of nine criteria. The Ramsar Classification System for Wetland Types has been developed by the Ramsar Convention. There are currently more than 2,400 Ramsar Sites around the world, covering over 2.5 million km².  The Ramsar Sites Information Service (RSIS) provides online information on wetlands that have been designated as internationally important.

How to use

• For further information on the Convention visit: https://www.ramsar.org
• For an overview of the Ramsar Sites network or to obtain information on a specific Site, visit
• https://rsis.ramsar.org/
• The Administrative Authority of a Contracting Party can submit or update Ramsar Site information using the new online RIS by logging in or registering – instructions at: https://rsis.ramsar.org/sites/all/modules/custom/rsiswp_main/data/RSIS_Instructions_E.pdf

The aim of the WILDMEAT Use Database is to ensure that efforts to manage wild meat resources sustainably are based on the best available evidence. The Database holds three types of data, on wild meat consumption, hunting offtakes, and market sales in a standardised format within one database. This allows data from many different sites and studies to be combined and compared, to track changes in wildmeat harvest characteristics and use, and to evaluate the effectiveness of management and policy interventions. Data can be shared under different license agreements, from full open access to access that is dependent on some terms and conditions.

The WILDMEAT Use Database – User Guide provides assistance on using the database, including descriptions of the data structure, metadata descriptions, data limitations, and other useful information. A WILDMEAT Toolkit with guidance on indicators, theories of change, and data collection methods is under development.

How to use

• To WILDMEAT database can be searched through the Database Explorer and the User Guide downloaded at: https://www.wildmeat.org/database/
• The WILDMEAT Toolkit can be accessed at: https://www.wildmeat.org/toolkit/.
• To contribute data and view the options for sharing data contact: info@wildmeat.org.

This document was developed by the IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group (CPSG) to build global capacity to save biodiversity and share and understanding of what effective species conservation planning looks like. The document contains 7 fundamental principles and 8 practical steps, and presents a succinct philosophy and framework for good species planning based on CPSG’s over 40 years of experience in species conservation planning. USER GUIDE SIMPLE AND CLEAR USER GUIDE TO THE BASIC PRINCIPLES AND PROCESS OF

This programme of work contains four interlined, cross-cutting elements and 16 programme goals. It is intended to assist Parties in establishing national programmes of work with targeted goals, actions, specific actors, time frame, inputs and measurable outputs. Parties may select from, adapt, and/or add to the activities suggested in the current programme of work according to national and local conditions and their level of development.

The Group on Earth Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) developed the concept of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) to advance the collection, sharing, and use of biodiversity information to aggregate, harmonise and interpret biodiversity observations collected by different methods such as in situ monitoring or remote sensing. EBVs can be visualised as biodiversity observations at one location over time, or in many locations, aggregated in a time series of maps. Essential variables to understand climate, biodiversity, and other environmental changes have already been developed (e.g. Essential Climate Variables, Essential Ocean Variables).

How to use

Details of the method, the EBVS already developed, and results are available at: https://geobon.org/ebvs/what-are-ebvs/

Species360 is a non-profit NGO working in wildlife care to improve animal welfare and species conservation. It mobilizes a network of more than 1,300 aquarium, zoo, university, research, and governmental members in 102 countries. A central part of is the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), the world’s leading resource for the collection and sharing of data on animals, enabling ex situ institutions to manage their collections effectively and contribute valuable information to global conservation initiatives. ZIMS is the world’s most comprehensive knowledge database on more than 22,000 species. In 2022, Species360 expanded its mission to include flora and extend its operations to horticultural record-keeping, with the addition of Hortis – a specialized software for record-keeping and management of botanical collections.

How to use

Information on Species 360, ZIMS, and Hortis is available at: https://species360.org/about-us/about-species360/

To access Species 360 data it is necessary to register: https://species360.org/become-a-species360-member/