Protecting Europe’s veteran tree hoverflies – IUCN SOS

The IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions lists the Criteria and Indicators, as adopted by the 98th Meeting of the IUCN Council in 2020.

This Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy reaffirms and further strengthens IUCN’s commitment to realising gender equality and women’s rights and empowerment and puts into place requirements for embedding a gender-responsive approach into its Programme and project portfolio. Another publication Gender equality for greener and bluer futures: why women’s leadership matters for realising environmental goals includes new IUCN data on the number of women leading environmental ministries, compared with previous data. It also highlights data on why gender equality and women’s empowerment are essential for global goals on achieving an inclusive and sustainable future.

The Guidelines aim to be equally relevant for any taxon on Earth. Recent experience has shown that no two planning situations are the same. So while the principles of planning may be constant, the purpose of the planning and the circumstances, the information available and its accuracy, and other factors, all combine to make every situation unique. This then demands a planning process that is both rigorous in analysis but flexible in its application. These Guidelines are very much an evolution based on experience, rather than a fundamental replacement of the 2008 Handbook (Strategic Planning for Species: A Handbook).

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is one of the main tools available to achieve integration of the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes, involving a range of analytical and participatory approaches. SEAs are becoming more urgent and necessary but moving from concept to action and towards results has varied. The OECD has produced guidance notes that promote a more harmonised, effective approach to SEA, working alongside key donor and development agencies. The Guidance explains the benefits of using SEA in development co-operation, sets out key steps for its application based on recent experiences, and presents the nine most interesting case studies of SEA in progress.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has 10 principles that are relevant to different kinds of forest ecosystems and in diverse cultural, political, and legal settings. These require management of certified forests to be legal, maintain or improve the social and economic well-being of workers and local communities; uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples; maintain, conserve, or restore the ecosystem services and environmental values of managed forests; establish a management plan; and maintain or improve high conservation values. The FSC label verifies sustainable sourcing of products from the forest to store shelves.

How to use

Complete descriptions of the FSC principles, criteria, and certification can be accessed and downloaded at: https://connect.fsc.org/document-centre/documents/resource/392

To register for the FSC newsletter: https://fsc.org

The MSC Fisheries Standard is used to assess if a fishery is well-managed and sustainable.

To become MSC certified, fisheries voluntarily apply to be assessed against the Standard. It is open to all fisheries that catch marine or freshwater organisms in the wild. The fishery must meet all three principles of the MSC Standard: sustainable stocks; minimal environmental impact; and effective management. A certified catch can be sold with the MSC blue fish label. The Fisheries Certification Process (FCP) is the instruction manual for assessors and sets out how the MSC Fisheries Standard should be interpreted during assessments.

The Terra Viva Grants Directory is an online information service on funding opportunities for the developing world in (1) Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry; (2) Biodiversity, Conservation, Wildlife; (3) Energy, Climate Change; (4) Water Resources; and (5) Cross-Cutting Subjects. The platform lists current grant opportunities and profiles of over 800 grant programs, including application deadlines by month, subject area, and form of grant support. Funding News is a blog of open calls for proposals that is updated regularly.

Basic access for project funding or scholarships is free resources. Full access requires a paid subscription.

UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) is an intergovernmental programme that aims to establish a scientific basis for enhancing the relationship between people and their environments. The World Network of Biosphere Reserves is an interactive network of sites of excellence that foster harmony between people and nature for sustainable development, respect for cultural values, and society’s ability to cope with change. There are 748 biosphere reserves in 134 countries, including 23 transboundary sites. Sites can be proposed by all Member States and Associate Members of UNESCO. Biosphere reserves are nominated by national governments and designated under the intergovernmental MAB Programme following the decisions of the MAB International Coordinating Council.

How to use

To obtain further information on the MAB programme and existing MAB sites, or to download the  Requirements and Nomination forms, visit: https://en.unesco.org/biosphere

The IPBES Thematic Assessment of Invasive Alien Species and their Control was adopted in September 2023 and synthesizes information from over 13,000 references on IAS into a comprehensive scientific assessment and a concise summary document for policy makers. The assessment assesses the current status and trends of invasive alien species, their impacts, drivers, management, and policy options to address the challenges they pose. It results from four years of work by experts from 49 countries.

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.

The IUCN Restoration Barometer is designed for use by countries that have committed to restore landscapes under international goals or agreements. It is used by governments to track the progress of restoration targets across all terrestrial ecosystems including coastal and inland waters. The Barometer allows governments to simplify and streamline reporting on their restoration commitments and it to track and record progress towards global goals, including The Bonn Challenge, the 30×30 target under the Post-2020 GBF, the Paris Agreement, and the Land Degradation Neutrality Target. Ecosystem restoration interventions are classified according to the IUCN Restoration Intervention Typology for Terrestrial Ecosystems (RITTE) and categorization of ecosystems by the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The Barometer has eight indicators and records the size of the area being brought under restoration as well as the corresponding climate, biodiversity, and socio-economic benefits. Currently, only government focal points can create accounts on the Barometer website. New users can request an account and after verification, restoration related data can be entered securely. A set of simple tutorials is provided to assist the process.

Research on cetaceans indicates that many classes of chemical pollutants, particularly persistent organic pollutants, are so-called ‘endocrine disrupters,’ meaning that they interfere with the hormone system and can increase susceptibility to disease and reduce reproductive success. The huge number of synthetic chemicals released into the environment and their interactions makes quantifying impacts on whale populations a complex task.

The IWC Scientific Committee has initiated four programmes, Pollution 2000, Pollution 2000+, Pollution 2020 and Pollution 2025. The first two initiatives examined tissue concentrations of priority pollutants in key cetacean species and determined toxicological markers and health assessment endpoints to determine adverse health effects, culminating in the development of tools and techniques to estimate population level effects.

The IWC Scientific Committee has also initiated work on the sources of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) which pose a significant ongoing threat to some cetacean populations long after their production was banned. Pollution 2020, assessed the risk to cetaceans from microplastics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Pollution 2025 is focused on cumulative effects and multiple stressors. Pollution 2025 is also setting out a multi-disciplinary, ‘One Health’ approach, recognising that the health of people, animals and the environment are closely connected.