Bio-ORACLE is a set of GIS rasters providing geophysical, biotic and environmental data for surface and benthic marine realms. The data are available for global-scale applications at a spatial resolution of 5 arcmin (approximately 9.2 km at the equator).
Linking biodiversity occurrence data to the physical and biotic environment provides a framework to formulate hypotheses about the ecological processes governing spatial and temporal patterns in biodiversity, which can be useful for marine ecosystem management and conservation.
GEBCO's aim is to provide the most authoritative publicly-available bathymetry of the world's oceans. It operates under the joint auspices of the International Hydrographic Organization(IHO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) (of UNESCO).
GEBCO produces and makes available a range of bathymetric data sets and products. This includes a global bathymetric grid; gazetteer of undersea feature names, a Web Map Service and printable maps of ocean bathymetry.
Conservation International, GRID-Arendal and Geoscience Australia recently collaborated to produce a map of the global distribution of seafloor geomorphic features. The global seafloor geomorphic features map represents an important contribution towards the understanding of the distribution of blue habitats. Certain geomorphic feature are known to be good surrogates for biodiversity. For example, seamounts support a different suite of species to abyssal plains.
This dataset shows the global distribution of seamounts and knolls identified using global bathymetric data at 30 arc-sec resolution. A total of 33,452 seamounts and 138,412 knolls were identified, representing the largest global set of identified seamounts and knolls to date. Seamount habitat was found to constitute approximately 4.7% of the ocean floor, whilst knolls covered 16.3%.
The research leading to these results received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme, and from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (GVP) is housed in the Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, in Washington D.C. We are devoted to a better understanding of Earth's active volcanoes and their eruptions during the last 10,000 years.
The Global Mangrove Watch (GMW) is a collaboration between Aberystwyth University (U.K.), solo Earth Observation (soloEO; Japan), Wetlands International the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Reefs at Risk Revisited is a high-resolution update of the original global analysis, Reefs at Risk: A Map-Based Indicator of Threats to the World’s Coral Reefs. Reefs at Risk Revisited uses a global map of coral reefs at 500-m resolution, which is 64 times more detailed than the 4-km resolution map used in the 1998 analysis, and benefits from improvements in many global data sets used to evaluate threats to reefs (most threat data are at 1 km resolution, which is 16 times more detailed than those used in the 1998 analysis).
The InterRidge Vents Database is a global database of submarine hydrothermal vent fields. The InterRidge Vents Database is supported by the InterRidge program for international cooperation in ridge-crest studies (www.interridge.org).
Pacific environments require global commitments to sustainable consumption and production because waste and pollution produced elsewhere is transported into and impacts the Pacific region. This factsheet highlights briefly the consumption and production practices that affect Pacific environments and species directly and indirectly
Fact Sheet - Pacific tourism depends on healthy marine ecosystems for aesthetic appeal and for the ecosystem services that support human occupation. This fact sheet links it to SDGs and brief background info on how the Pacific island countries face challenges in planning for sustainable development of infrastructure as well as sea and land uses related to tourism
This “Reference Manual” is the No. 3 of the FAO Pacific Farm Management and Marketing Series. Its content is based on material developed for FAO funded technical cooperation projects in Vanuatu, Palau, Fiji and Papua New Guinea as well as material prepared by the Agriculture Management, Marketing and Finance Service (AGSF) at FAO Headquarters, Rome. It is designed to help trainers and advisors guide small farmers in their efforts to grow and market their agriculture so as to earn more cash from their labor, their land and their capital
This study first presents the general knowledge on shark exploitation and vulnerability. Then, the status of coastal shark fisheries in the Pacific Islands is addressed from the angle of the data available for this region and on the basis of information collected through a questionnaire that was sent to the fisheries department of the Pacific countries. In the last part, prospects for management and regulation are discussed.
This document represents a synthesis of the expertise, knowledge and views of leading experts in marine protected area (MPA) network design and implementation. It is intended to be useful to countries and their various organizations in helping them build effective networks of MPAs. Not only does it provide a wealth of real-life examples from around the globe, it outlines the steps necessary to turn political ambitions into reality.
This paper provides information on degradable plastics and is intended to provide guidance on potential mechanisms for achieving reductions in plastic bag consumption. It is anticipated that this paper can be used in the Pacific region as a source of information, when trying to devise a strategy for dealing with plastic bags.
A series of publication on the status of coral reefs of the world
The Science of Marine Reserves Project is an international collaboration to study, synthesize, and share the scientific information about marine reserves and other types of marine protected areas around the world.
This study seek to address the following 5 main questions:
The Helping Islands Adapt workshop was held in Auckland, New Zealand between the 11th and 16th of April 2010 to support regional action against invasive species on islands, in order to preserve biodiversity and adapt to climate change. It arose from decisions under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) relating to invasive alien species and island biodiversity.
This paper focuses on the environmental challenges of sustainable development issues with particular attention to natural resource management, environment and climate change in the food and agriculture sector (including crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry).
This study, commissioned by the UNEP/CMS Secretariat, aims to identify how climate change is likely to affect individual migratory species, and the degree of threat that they face.