The Canary Islands are home to a unique and diverse range of species, including several pollinators found nowhere else in the world. These pollinators, which include specialised bees, butterflies, and hoverflies, are crucial for maintaining the region’s delicate ecosystems, particularly the Laurel Forest.
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Primary tools and resources
A global register of competences for protected area practitioners
As the global coverage of protected areas increases, it is becoming more important to ensure that today's managers have the necessary qualifications and skills to effectively manage protected areas. This publication defines all the possible skills, knowledge and personal qualities required by people working in protected areas around the world. It is an ideal reference and starting point for managers and human resource professionals to plan and manage staffing of protected areas, for educators to identify and meet capacity needs, and for individuals to assess and develop their own skills.
FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF)
The purpose of 1995 FAO Code of Conduct is to set international standards of behaviour for responsible practices to ensure the effective conservation, management and development of aquatic resources, the ecosystem, and biodiversity. These standards may be implemented at the national, subregional, and regional levels.
Species Recovery Manual for Plants
Botanic Gardens Conservation International and the International Association of Botanic Gardens have jointly published the BGCI and IABG Recovery Manual for Plants to guide projects on plant species recovery. The manual sets out the aims and purpose of species recovery and the steps involved, and indicates good practice. The manual is aimed at conservation practitioners but also includes comprehensive bibliographic references, which enable more in depth reading on the topics covered.
Farming with Biodiversity: Towards nature-positive production at scale
This WWF report is part their contribution to boosting nature-positive production at scale. The report outlines changes that are needed to create food systems that support rather than exploit nature, with a focus on agricultural production systems. It also feeds into the advocacy for the UNFCCC 26 (Climate CoP). The report highlights that nature positive production of food can and must be part of the solution for addressing biodiversity loss.
IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas Standard
A protected or conserved area that reaches the IUCN Green List Standard is certified and recognised as achieving ongoing results for people and nature in a fair and effective way. A site that gains ‘Green List’ status demonstrates: Respect: for the local community through fair and meaningful engagement of rights-holders and stakeholders; Design: planning that identifies the needs to secure the important values of the area; Effective management: monitoring of the status of these important values; Successful conservation results: for nature and for people; Clear contribution: to climate change responses, health and well-being and other challenges. The seventeen criteria collectively describe the efforts needed to fully achieve the global Sustainability Standard and all must be achieved for a site to be green-listed. The indicators can be adapted to suit the local context. Any site can join, and work towards achieving verified success, and then attain the Standard or further improve.
GEOBON Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV)
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/
Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA)
An ESIA is a statement about the likely impacts of a proposal and how the identified negative impacts can be mitigated and managed and how the positive impacts can be enhanced. The purpose of this review procedure is to ensure that the Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports provide adequate assessment and protection measures to manage environmental and social impacts. A systematic approach to review is needed to ensure that the environmental and social impact assessment reports comply with requirements, are consistent with standards of good practice, and provide good quality information to support decision making.
IUCN Guidelines for conserving connectivity through ecological networks and corridors
Connectivity conservation is essential for managing healthy ecosystems, conserving biodiversity and adapting to climate change across all biomes and spatial scales. Well-connected ecosystems support a diversity of ecological functions such as migration, hydrology, nutrient cycling, pollination, seed dispersal, food security, climate resilience and disease resistance. These Guidelines are based on the best available science and practice for maintaining, enhancing and restoring ecological connectivity among and between protected areas, other effective areas based conservation measures (OECMs) and other intact ecosystems. For the first time, this publication introduces a common definition and recommends formal recognition of ecological corridors to serve as critical building blocks of ecological networks in conjunction with protected areas and OECMs. Furthermore, these Guidelines also include 25 case studies that demonstrate current approaches to conserving ecological connectivity and ecological networks for different ecosystems and species, and at different spatial and temporal scales.
Global Invasive Alien Species Information Partnership
Global Invasive Alien Species Information Partnership (GIASI Partnership) supports CBD Parties who are committed to implementing the various decisions under the CBD pertaining to the prevention, eradication, and control of invasive alien species.
Fonseca Species Conservation Fund (FSCF)
The Fonseca Species Conservation Fund (FSCF) was established in 2024 by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Re:wild to honor the passion of the late Gustavo Fonseca, long-standing GEF director of programs, for species conservation and building capacity of the next generation of conservationists.
The FSCF draws on the expertise of IUCN Species Survival Commission Specialist Groups and other key partners to ensure all funding goes toward priority projects. Through the FSCF, grantees will access funding support, the expertise of the selection committees, and connections with partner organizations.
Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP)
CLP is an international capacity building programme that supports young conservationists in to undertake applied biodiversity projects. Each year, CLP calls for project applications in low- and middle-income countries and some high-income islands in the Caribbean and Pacific. Funding is awarded to teams of early-career conservationists to conduct scientific research, promote pro-conservation attitudes, and deliver tangible results to conserve and manage biodiversity.
There are three grant levels. Starting with a Future Conservationist Award, teams are supported to undertake small-scale research and awareness-raising projects. Then through Follow-up and Leadership awards, teams can implement larger projects over a longer period of time and implement deliver practical solutions while learning more complex decision-making, communication, and leadership skills. As part of the award, winning teams can access expertise from within the partner organisations and via our global Alumni Network, which includes past award-winners.
Programme staff members are also available to advise on project implementation, including guidance required during the planning and team training stages. Each year CLP runs a two-week Conservation Management & Leadership Course for recent award winners. CLP is a partnership of three leading biodiversity conservation organisations, BirdLife International, Fauna & Flora International, and Wildlife Conservation Society.
The IUCN Red List of Ecosystems (RLE)
This introductory guide draws on a number of key IUCN Red List of Ecosystems (RLE) papers, case studies and background documents to provide a practical introduction to the RLE. It targets those who wish to gain a deeper understanding of the RLE as a risk assessment tool and those who wish to learn more about its possible applications in implementing conservation action. This document draws heavily on Version 1 of the Guidelines for the application of the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Criteria and Categories and provides an overview of the scientific foundations supporting the RLE categories and criteria.
TRAFFIC Wildlife Trade Portal
The TRAFFIC Wildlife Trade Portal is an interactive tool that displays TRAFFIC’s wildlife seizure and incident database. The results are displayed as a list and as a dashboard, showing, for example, a summary in a chart or on a map. Clicking on individual records shows more in-depth information about a specific incident, such as the species, commodities and locations involved. The results can be exported to CSV format for further analysis. Relevant data or files can be uploaded and checked by TRAFFIC before their inclusion in the Portal.
The Species Conservation Toolkit Initiative (SCTI)
SCTI is a partnership initiative between several NGOs and ex situ organizations to ensure that new innovations and tools needed for species risk assessment, conservation planning, and population management are developed, globally available, and used effectively. SCTI combines expertise in population biology, computer programming, and planning to build modelling tools essential to guide conservation actions for threatened species in the wild, to facilitate the intensive management of species in ex situ programmes, and to integrate conservation efforts across all types of management approaches.
IUCN Standard on Indigenous Peoples
The Standard represents IUCN’s policy objectives with respect to indigenous peoples. It contains eight policy objectives for projects undertaken or supported by IUCN to support indigenous peoples and promote their role in conservation and management of sustainable resources.
The purpose of this Standard is to ensure that IUCN projects anticipate and avoid negative impacts on indigenous peoples or to minimise and/or compensate for impacts; take all rights and needs of indigenous peoples fully into account in project planning and implementation; and ensure that their customs, cultural and spiritual values, and perspectives on the environment are included.
Species Threat Abatement and Restoration (STAR) metric
The STAR metric assesses the potential of particular actions at a specific location to contribute to reduce species extinction risk / global targets for species. It measures the potential contribution of two kinds of action: threat abatement / reduction and habitat restoration using data on the distribution, threats, and extinction risk of threatened species contained in the IUCN Red List. It helps governments, the finance industry, investors, and companies to target their investments and activities to achieve conservation outcomes for threatened species. The STAR metric can be applied to any location. It is maintained under the authority of the IUCN Red List Committee.
The Wiki CITES Identification Manual
This new tool has been developed by the CITES Secretariat and the United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) to support CITES Management and Scientific Authorities, Customs officials, and all others involved in implementing and enforcing CITES. It contains six volumes: Mammals, Birds, Reptiles-Amphibians-Fish-Invertebrates, Plants, and Parts and Derivatives (2 volumes).
In addition, over 4000 identification resources are available in different formats.
CBD Capacity Development tools and resources
CBD in a Nutshell: A Guidebook to the CBD Process
1st edition (Dec. 2016) 2nd edition (Nov. 2018)
Training Manual for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities on the Convention on Biological Diversity English Spanish
CBD Technical Series No.96: The Global Taxonomic Initiative: Examples of Capacity Development Activities (pg. 43)
CBD Technical Series No.94: Step-by-step guide for developing DNA-barcoding capacity
CBD Capacity-Building Handbook: Designing and Delivering Effective Training
The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA)
The WDPA is a comprehensive global database on terrestrial and marine protected areas and Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs). It is a joint project between the UN Environment Programme and IUCN, and is managed by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). The WDPA is updated on a monthly basis and site data and maps are available through the Protected Planet platform. About 261,766 officially recognised protected areas are listed, covering over 15% of the of the earth’s land surface and 7.4% of the world’s oceans. Protected Planet contains interactive maps and has eight thematic areas. Every two years, UNEP-WCMC releases the Protected Planet Report on the status of the world’s protected areas and makes recommendations on how to meet international goals and targets.
How to use
- To access the Protected Planet website and explore the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), World Database on OECMs, Global Database on Protected Area Management Effectiveness (GD-PAME), and associated information: https://www.protectedplanet.net
- To contribute information on a site to the WDPA: https://www.protectedplanet.net/en/thematic-areas/wdpa?tab=WDPA
The Checklist of CITES Species
This checklist provides the official list of species listed on the CITES appendices and associated information, including scientific names and synonyms; common names in English, French and Spanish (where available), the CITES Appendix in which they are currently listed, distribution, and history of listings. Over 4000 Identification resources sourced from the CITES Identification Manual and the CITES Virtual College are also available. Users can search and filter by name (including higher taxa), CITES Appendix and country/territory/region of occurrence (“All locations”).
How to use
- The checklist, CITES listing information, and Identification materials can be viewed or downloaded in different formats at: https://checklist.cites.org
- A full guide to all the materials can be found on the “About” page of the CITES Checklist at: https://checklist.cites.org/#/en/about
International Principles & Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration
These principles were developed by the FAO, IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management, and the Society for Ecological Restoration to support implementation of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The second edition of was produced by the Society Ecological Restoration in 2019. These Standards provide a guide for everyone involved in restoring degraded ecosystems — whether terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, or marine. They present a robust framework for restoration projects including effective design and implementation. The Standards support development of ecological restoration plans, contracts, consent conditions, and monitoring and auditing criteria. The Standards establish eight principles that underpin ecological restoration and recommend performance measures for restoration activities for industries, communities, and governments to consider. The second edition also includes an expanded glossary of restoration terminology.
IUCN SSC guidelines on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence : first edition
As human-wildlife conflicts become more frequent, serious and widespread worldwide, they are notoriously challenging to resolve, and many efforts to address these conflicts struggle to make progress. These Guidelines provide an essential guide to understanding and resolving human-wildlife conflict. The Guidelines aim to provide foundations and principles for good practice, with clear, practical guidance on how best to tackle conflicts and enable coexistence with wildlife. They have been developed for use by conservation practitioners, community leaders, decision-makers, researchers, government officers and others. Focusing on approaches and tools for analysis and decision-making, they are not limited to any particular species or region of the world.
Planning Principles and Steps
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
Indigenous Peoples and Local Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs)
ICCAs are territories and areas that are conserved by indigenous peoples and local communities. They have three main characteristics: (i) the community has a close connection with the territory or area; (ii) the community makes and enforces management rules; (iii) the management of the area results in positive conservation outcomes. The ICCA Registry is an online platform for territories and areas conserved by indigenous peoples and local communities (ICCAs), where communities themselves provide data, case studies, maps, photos and stories. There are currently over 1,500 protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) reported to Protected Planet under the governance of indigenous peoples and local communities.
How to use
To access the ICCA Registry: https://doi.org/10.34892/an6v-a590
To explore sites, visit the WDPA OECM search page and filter by governance type: https://www.protectedplanet.net/en/thematic-areas/oecms?tab=OECMs