The Biodiversity Observation Network in the Asia-Pacific Region
The Biodiversity Observation Network in the Asia-Pacific Region

Author: Shin-ichi Nakano

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-07-26

Total Pages: 478

ISBN-13: 4431540326

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Biological diversity is important for ecosystem function and services, which in turn is essential for human well-being. Under the Convention on Biological Diversity, international efforts have been made to achieve a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss. The loss continues, however. The Asia-Pacific region includes both developing countries with high biodiversity and developed countries with sophisticated data collection and analyses, but only limited information about the status quo of biodiversity in this region has been available. Many Asia-Pacific countries have rapidly grown their economies and social infrastructures, causing a loss of biodiversity and requiring an urgent mandate to achieve a balance between development and conservation in the region. In December 2009, scientists successfully organized the Asia-Pacific Biodiversity Observation Network in the region, to establish a network for research and monitoring of ecosystems and biodiversity and to build a cooperative framework. The present volume is the first collection of information on biodiversity in the Asia-Pacific and represents a quantum step forward in science that optimizes the synergy between development and biodiversity conservation.

Aquatic Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Services
Aquatic Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Services

Author: Shin-ichi Nakano

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-06-07

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789811092497

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This volume examines the topic of local biodiversity conservation in the Asia-Pacific region, one of the most rapidly changing areas in the world. With a focus on aquatic systems, this book offers insight on the state of local biodiversity, challenges in management and conservation of biodiversity, and newly developed methods for monitoring biodiversity. In addition, because the service provided by an ecosystem for humans is interlinked with conservation, the final part is dedicated to evaluating the socioeconomic aspect of ecosystem services, with special reference to local biodiversity. In effect, all contributions provide information that is invaluable for effective conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. This work will interest all stakeholders in biodiversity conservation, including policy makers, NPOs, NGOs, environment-related industries, and biodiversity researchers, not only in the Asia-Pacific region, but also across the entire globe.

Biodiversity for Sustainable Development
Biodiversity for Sustainable Development

Author: K.P. Laladhas

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-11-15

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 331942162X

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Divided into three sections, this book explores the three main pillars of sustainable development, namely economy, environment and society, and their interlinkages at the regional level. The first section, Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) for sustainable development, focuses on international agreements and national legislation, as well as the challenges in implementing ABS in e.g. India. In turn, the second section examines the process of forming Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at the Local Self Government (LSG) level to promote environmental sustainability, highlighting local and community-level conservation initiatives that have led to the conservation of habitats and species. The third section addresses poverty eradication and food security. The case studies included demonstrate how the combination of traditional knowledge and modern techniques can enhance the productivity of traditional crop varieties, yielding greater benefits for communities. The aim of this volume is to disseminate the lessons learned from these case studies, as well as the findings from projects already in place, which can offer recommendations that can be applied to similar problems elsewhere in an attempt to find environmental solutions for sustainable development. Further, it introduces readers to new approaches to inclusive development, demonstrating that participation and grass root empowerment are key drivers of equitable and sustainable development.

Conserving Biological Diversity
Conserving Biological Diversity

Author: Susan M. Braatz

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1992-01-01

Total Pages: 92

ISBN-13: 9780821323076

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Loss of biological diversity through the extinction of species, the conversion and degradation of natural habitats, and the disruption of ecological processes, is occurring throughout the world at an unprecendented rate. As species and their habitats disappear, so do products of present and future value, genes with which to improve crop varieties and livestock, and the natural resiliencies of the world's living resources to respond to climatic and enviornmental change. Nowhere else is the loss of biodiversity expected to be higher during the coming decades than in the Asia-Pacific region. The loss of biodiversity is irreversible. Recognizing this, the Asia Environment Division prepared this paper which is intended to identify priority areas of investment in the Asia-Pacific region. The paper accepts the importance of biodiversity conservation and suggests that policy change coupled with the establishment of protected area systems will be critical to success. A wide range of interventions will be needed to support these efforts toward conserving biodiversity - interventions involving national and local governments, national and international nongovernmental organizations and, most importantly, local people. The strategy defined in this paper is intended to complement existing national and international initiatives and to build partnerships in conservation for the 1990s.

Biodiversity and Biogeographic Patterns in Asia-Pacific Region I: Statistical Methods and Case Studies
Biodiversity and Biogeographic Patterns in Asia-Pacific Region I: Statistical Methods and Case Studies

Author: Youhua Chen

Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers

Published: 2015-07-15

Total Pages: 154

ISBN-13: 168108015X

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This brief book is dedicated to the quantitative analyses and systematic discussion of spatial biodiversity and biogeographic patterns in the Asia‐pacific region comprised of China, India and adjacent countries. The book is split into two sections. The first section presents readers with detailed statistical methods to conduct spatial macro‐biodiversity and biogeography analyses. Step-by-step instructions on how to perform these statistical methods by using the statistical program R are also provided. In the second part, different quantitative case studies are presented covering several topics, including phylogenetics, spatial statistics, multivariate statistics and ecological genomics. Each case study concludes with a detailed interpretation of the quantitative results and how these results are relevant to local and regional ecological processes. This reference is suitable for academics interested in biostatistics biodiversity and ecological studies specific to the Asia Pacific region and China.

Regreening the Bare Hills
Regreening the Bare Hills

Author: David Lamb

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-10-14

Total Pages: 560

ISBN-13: 9048198704

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In Regreening the Bare Hills: Tropical Forest Restoration in the Asia-Pacific Region, David Lamb explores how reforestation might be carried out both to conserve biological diversity and to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor. While both issues have attracted considerable attention in recent years, this book takes a significant step, by integrating ecological and silvicultural knowledge within the context of the social and economic issues that can determine the success or failure of tropical forest landscape restoration. Describing new approaches to the reforestation of degraded lands in the Asia-Pacific tropics, the book reviews current approaches to reforestation throughout the region, paying particular attention to those which incorporate native species – including in multi-species plantations. It presents case studies from across the Asia-Pacific region and discusses how the silvicultural methods needed to manage these ‘new’ plantations will differ from conventional methods. It also explores how reforestation might be made more attractive to smallholders and how trade-offs between production and conservation are most easily made at a landscape scale. The book concludes with a discussion of how future forest restoration may be affected by some current ecological and socio-economic trends now underway. The book represents a valuable resource for reforestation managers and policy makers wishing to promote these new silvicultural approaches, as well as for conservationists, development experts and researchers with an interest in forest restoration. Combining a theoretical-research perspective with practical aspects of restoration, the book will be equally valuable to practitioners and academics, while the lessons drawn from these discussions will have relevance elsewhere throughout the tropics.

Conservation Biology
Conservation Biology

Author: Navjot S. Sodhi

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-07-03

Total Pages: 1

ISBN-13: 1118679806

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The late Navjot Sodhi conceived this book as a way of bringing to the forefront of our conservation planning for the tropics the views of people who were actually working and living there. In its 31 chapters, 55 authors present their views on the conservation problems they face and how they deal with them. Effective long term conservation in the tropics requires the full participation of local people, organizations and governments. The human population of tropical countries is expected to grow by more than 2.5 billion people over the next several decades, with expectations of increased consumption levels growing even more rapidly than population levels; clearly there will be a need for more trained conservationists and biologists. Significant levels of local involvement are essential to conservation success, with the rights of local people fully recognized, protected and fostered by governmental and international assistance. Overarching conservation plans are necessary, but cannot in themselves lead to success. The individual experiences presented in the pages of this book will provide useful models that may serve to build better and more sustainable lives for the people who live in the tropics and lead to the continued survival of as many species and functioning ecosystems as possible.

Protection of the Three Poles
Protection of the Three Poles

Author: Falk Huettmann

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-03-19

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 4431540067

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The Arctic, the Antarctic, and the Hindu Kush-Himalayas form a trio of terrains sometimes called “the three poles”. Mainly composed of rock, snow, and ice, these precious regions, which are home to many unique species such as the polar bear, the emperor penguin, and the snow leopard, contain the primary water resource of this planet and directly shape our climate. This book presents a first-ever global assessment and progressive review of the three poles and demonstrates the urgent need for their protection. Sins of the past have irrevocably harmed and threatened many of the unique qualities of these regions, and the future looks bleak with the global population forecast to reach 9 billion by 2060, and with climate change on the rise. Presented here is a wide-reaching and coherent overview of the three poles’ biodiversity, habitats, and ongoing destruction. Failed protection and social targets set by the United Nations and other bodies are exposed while economic growth, unconstrained or inappropriate development, and urban sprawl are promoted unabated. Polar regions play a major role in the global agenda as they are rich in oil and other resources, marking them for contamination, overfishing, and further degradation. Tourism in the Antarctic has benefited from enlightened self-regulation, but there are signs that this is changing, too. The chapters of this book are written by experts in their fields, and their evidence leaves no doubt that we already live beyond our carrying capacity on a finite but decaying space. A global protection role model and several outlook scenarios are proposed to help set in motion polar protection priorities that are actually valid. Humanity has demonstrated through international treaties such as the Antarctic Treaty and the Madrid Protocol that we can put the interests of the planet as a whole first. This must become the norm, not the exception.