Global
Marine industries face a number of risks that necessitate careful analysis prior to making decisions on the siting of operations and facilities. An important emerging regulatory framework on environmental sustainability for business operations is the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standard 6 (IFC PS6). Within PS6, identification of biodiversity significance is articulated through the concept of “Critical Habitat”, a definition developed by the IFC and detailed through criteria aligned with those that support internationally accepted biodiversity designations.
The Coastal Governance Index is an Economist Intelligence Unit report, commissioned by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and California Environmental Associates. Hilary Steiner and Jimena Serrano were the project managers. The quantitative index underlying this report measures the extent of government regulation and management across 20 key ocean economies to assess the state of play in the environment for effective coastal governance.
Approaches to planning and managing marine protected areas (MPAs) have evolved considerably since the first edition of this book was published in 1984. The original version arose from the Workshop on Managing Coastal and Marine Protected Areas, held in October 1982 during the World Congress on National Parks in Bali, Indonesia. A second edition was printed in 1989, with minor revisions. This second edition was exhausted several years ago, but demand for the book remained high.
This dataset displays the extent of our knowledge regarding the distribution of saltmarshes globally, drawing from occurrence data (surveyed and/or remotely sensed). The dataset was developed to provide a baseline inventory of the extent of our knowledge regarding the global distribution of saltmarshes, which are ecosystems located in the intertidal zone of sheltered marine and estuarine coastlines.
Trait-based approaches advance ecological and evolutionary research because traits provide a strong link to an organism’s function and fitness. Trait-based research might lead to a deeper understanding of the functions of, and services provided by, ecosystems, thereby improving management, which is vital in the current era of rapid environmental change.
Transshipment at sea, the offloading of catch from a fishing vessel to a refrigerated cargo vessel far from port, obscures the actual source of the catch and is a significant pathway for illegally caught fish to enter the legitimate seafood market. Occurring out of sight and over the horizon, the practice enables other nefarious activity, ranging from smuggling to human trafficking. Increasing the transparency of transshipment could improve fisheries management and reduce human rights abuses.
The principle purpose of this report is to provide recommendations, advice and practical guidance, for establishing programmes to monitor and assess the distribution and abundance of plastic litter, also referred to as plastic debris, in the ocean.
Pollution from land-based run-off threatens coastal ecosystems and the services they provide, detrimentally affecting the livelihoods of millions people on the world's coasts. Planning for linkages among terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems can help managers mitigate the impacts of land-use change on water quality and coastal ecosystem services.
