- Welcome
- Books
- Databases
- Data & Statistics
- Government Information
- Laws & Legislation
- Maps & GIS
- Websites
- Writing & Citing
Welcome
2010 is the United Nations Year of International Biodiversity. Visit the IBY website, the United Nations Environmental Programme, and the IUCN website for more information.
Definition: Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is usually defined as the variety and variability of living organisms and the biological communities in which they live, plus the ecological and evolutionary processes that keep them functioning. There are four levels of diversity: genetic, species, ecosystem, and landscape. (Library of Congress, Tracer bullet 97-5)
Reference Materials:
For a list of international agreements on this topic see the Joint Web Site of the Biodiversity Related Conventions and the CIESIN thematic guide to the Convention on Biological Diversity
Books
Recommended Books:
- PROTECTING BIODIVERSITY: national laws regulating access to genetic resources in the Americas (IDRC) This book is the first to compare such laws and policies across a range of countries in both the industrialized and developing worlds, including Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru, and the United States. It also presents legal viewpoints, conclusions, and solid recommendations for future action.
Suggested Subject Headings:
Fulltext eBook Collections:
Databases
Data & Statistics
Statistics:
GEO Data portal (UNEP) is the authoritative source for data sets used by UNEP and its partners in the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) report and other integrated environment assessments. Its online database holds more than 500 different variables, as national, subregional, regional and global statistics or as geospatial data sets (maps), covering themes like Freshwater, Population, Forests, Emissions, Climate, Disasters, Health and GDP. Display them on-the-fly as maps, graphs, data tables or download the data in different formats.
Earth Trends a comprehensive online database, maintained by the World Resources Institute, that focuses on the environmental, social, and economic trends that shape our world.
Biodiversity Hotspots maps and statistics from Conservation International, a non-governmental interest group. To qualify as a hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria: it must contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants (> 0.5 percent of the world’s total) as endemics, and it has to have lost at least 70 percent of its original habitat.
Government Information
Canada - Federal:
- Canadian Biodiversity Information Network (CBIN from Environment Canada) with links to related federal, provincial, inter-governmental and non-governmental resources
- Environment Canada Pollution and Waste website includes links to resources for municipal solid waste management
- Environment Canada Biodiversity and the City
- Auditor General of Canada Reports on Environment and Sustainable Development including reports by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
- Library of Parliament Reports on environment and sustainable development
- Canadian Wildlife Service Issues and topics: Species at risk in Canada
- The nature of the Rideau River: Biodiversity (Canadian Museum of Nature) includes a substantial bibliography
- Biodiversity portrait of the St. Lawrence (Environment Canada)
Canada - Provincial:
- Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute conducts world-class biodiversity monitoring of more than 2000 species and habitats to support decision-making with scientific knowledge about provincial biodiversity
- British Columbia Environmental Stewardship Division (Ministry of the Environment) Biodiversity publications online
- British Columbia Integrated Land Management Strategy: CCLUP Biodiversity Conservation program for forest management
- Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
- Ontario Biodiversity Council
Local:
- City of Ottawa: Ottawa 20/20 Environmental Strategy
- Choosing our future: biodiversity, habitats and ecosystem health (City of Ottawa, City of Gatineau and NCC project)
- Building a greener capital: enhancing biodiversity (National Capital Commission)
Foreign:
Australia and New Zealand
- Australia Biodiversity "Australia is the most megadiverse developed country and supports almost 10 per cent of the biological diversity on earth." (website)
- New Zealand Biodiversity Portal (and related links)
United Kingdom
- The UK Environmental Change Network includes Biodiversity indicators (climate change impacts)
United States
- United States Environmental Protection Agency - enter 'biodiversity' in search box
- Biodiversity (Tracer bullet 97-5) Library of Congress
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Program
International:
International intergovernmental organizations with Biodiversity or Sustainable Development mandates:
- Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program
- Commission for Environmental Cooperation
- European Union
- Biodiversity in Europe
- European Commission: Environment: Biodiversity & Nature
- European Community Biodiversity Clearinghouse Mechanism Network managed by the European Environment Agency. This site has been established in order to fulfill the obligation of the European Communities being a signatory party to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
- European Centre for Nature Conservation (ECNC) The conservation and sustainable use of Europe’s nature and biodiversity is ECNC's core business
- FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment and Agricultural biodiversity in the FAO
- OECD Environment
- OECD Biodiversity, water and natural resource management
- Also search the SourceOECD database for relevant monographic and serial publications and statistics. It includes many environmental themes.
- Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (UNEP/Council of Europe)
- International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
- Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN) a forum to foster technical collaboration and coordination among countries of the Americas in collection, sharing, and use of biodiversity information relevant to decision-making on natural resources management and conservation, and education to promote sustainable development in the region.
- IUCN Red List of endangered species
- United Nations
- United Nations Division for Sustainable Development
- World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002) official documents and reports
- the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992)
- Stockholm Declaration (1972) Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre The UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is a collaboration between the United Nations Environment Programme, the world's foremost intergovernmental environmental organization, and WCMC 2000, a UK-based charity.
- "Our common future" (Brundtland Report, 1987) Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development
- World Bank biodiversity resources
- ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability
Laws & Legislation
Canada - Provincial:
Canadian Environmental Regulation and Compliance News - links to provincial and federal regulatory sites
International:
Official texts of international agreements, conventions
- Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) Includes Global biodiversity outlook and Country profiles as well as current status of initiatives to preserve biological diversity
- The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2000) is a supplementary agreement of the Convention on Biological Diversity
- UNEP Multilateral Biodiversity and Biosafety Agreements with links to environmental law web sites
- Convention on Migratory Species (1979) The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (also known as CMS or Bonn Convention) aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their range. It is an intergovernmental treaty, concluded under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme, concerned with the conservation of wildlife and habitats on a global scale. Click for Map of Parties.
- Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources came into force in 1982, as part of the Antarctic Treaty System, in pursuance of the provisions of Article IX of the Treaty.
- International Whaling Commission International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (1946) and annexes
- FAO Conventions, Codes and Instruments on biodiversity relevant to food and agriculture including the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (2001)
- Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (1971) provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (1992)
- Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (1992)
Maps & GIS
Maps:
- Global Biosphere (NASA Earth Observatory) Time series of maps covering 1999 to 2008 showing changes in vegetation, chlorophyll, Antarctic ozone hole, Arctic sea ice, Amazon deforestation and other measures of the changing biosphere.
- UNEP interactive environmental maps and atlases relating to biodiversity protection (UNEP/World Conservation Monitoring Centre)
- Biodiversity and protected areas (World Resources Institute Earth Trends maps)
- Biodiversity and world map (UK Natural History Museum)
- North American environmental atlas (CEC) Through a collaboration of government agencies in Canada, Mexico and the United States and the trilateral Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), the North American Environmental Atlas assembles seamless, accurate cartographic data, including maps, documentation, and interactive map layers at a scale of 1:10,000,000.
- United Nations Atlas of the Oceans
- UNEP/GRID Arendal interactive environmental mapping website includes Biodiversity and Conservation resources and the Arctic environmental atlas
- India Biodiversity Portal a map-based wiki focused on gathering, aggregating and serving biodiversity information on the Indian subcontinent
- Atlas of Canada environmental maps
- Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility Online mapping tools for biodiversity
- Ottawa-Gatineau watershed atlas: a community-based water information hub
Websites
Non-governmental organizations or sites with Biodiversity or Sustainable Development resources:
- International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is a Canadian-based, policy research institute that has a long history of conducting cutting-edge research into sustainable development.
- International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE) a network of government and non-government enforcement and compliance practitioners from more than 150 countries
- World Resources Institute
- GreenFacts Biodiversity links (GreenFacts was created in December 2001 by individuals from different backgrounds, with the aim to bring complex scientific consensus reports on health and the environment to the reach of non-specialists.)
- The Encyclopedia of Earth: biodiversity links
- International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN) is an innovative and dynamic network of many of the world's leading coral reef science and conservation organisations established in 2000 with a historic grant from the United Nations Foundation (UNF)