Ecosystem Management
| GRID products corresponding to the "Ecosystems Management" UNEP priority | |||||
| Projects (30) | Publications (56) | Maps & Graphics (146) | Geospatial dataset (181) | Posters (96) | Multimedia (7) |
This is the page for the Ecosystems Management maps & graphics made by UNEP/DEWA/GRID-Geneva.
 | Certified Forest Area (Keeping Track) (2011-11) Only about 10% of global forests are under certified sustainable management The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), the two largest forest certification bodies worldwide with slightly different approaches to management and certification, certify socially and environmentally responsible forestry. An impressive annual 20% growth rate of labeled forests indicates that both producers and consumers are actively influencing timber production. Nevertheless, in 2010 still only about 10% of the total forest extent was managed under FSC and PEFC practices. This graphic is part of the publication Keeping Track of Our Changing Environment. |
 | Forest and Mangrove Area (Keeping Track) (2011-11) Forest area has decreased by 300 million ha since 1990, or an area larger than Argentina Forests currently cover around 30% of the Earth’s land mass. Although the rate of deforestation is slowing down, large areas of primary forest and other naturally regenerated forests are declining, especially in South America and Africa, while forested areas in Europe and Asia are stable or increasing due to large- scale afforestation programmes. Around 13 million hectares of forest were converted to other uses or lost through natural causes each year between 2000 and 2010, compared to 16 million hectares per year during the preceding decade (FAO 2010). This results not only in biodiversity loss, but also contributes 12-15% to global warming by releasing CO2 into the atmosphere and hampering further CO2 storage (van der Werf and others 2009, UCSUSA 2011). “Millions of hectares of tropical forest are cleared every year to make way for agriculture, pastures and other non-forest uses, or are degraded by unsustainable or illegal logging and other poor land-use practices” (ITTO 2011). Also in decline since several decades ago are mangrove forests—important from social, economic and biological points of view. For example, “mangrove forests act as extremely effective carbon sinks, able to absorb [nearly 100] tonnes of carbon per hectare, or more than three times the absorptive capacity of non-mangrove forests” (UNDP 2011b). Between 1990 and 2010, 3% of mangrove extent was lost, mostly as a result of coastal development and conversions to agriculture and aquaculture (rice fields, shrimp farms). Using high-resolution satellite imagery, the extent of mangroves in 2000 was even found to be 13% less (blue point on the graph) than country statistics show (Giri and others 2010). This graphic is part of the publication Keeping Track of Our Changing Environment. |
 | Mesopotamian Marshlands (Keeping Track) (2011-11) The Mesopotamian Marshlands, nearly destroyed in the 1990s, have been partially restored but remain at risk The Mesopotamian Marshlands are the largest wetland ecosystem in the Middle East (Partow 2001). Construction of numerous dams, water diversions and hydropower facilities on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers over the past century and the deliberate draining of the marshes by the Iraqi regime in the early 1990s had almost destroyed the wetlands by 2000 (Aoki and Kugaprasatham 2009). Reflooding beginning in 2003 helped restore many ecosystem functions for a large portion of the marshes (Richardson and Hussain 2006). In 2008, the eastern Hawizeh marshes were designated as Iraq’s first Ramsar Wetland Convention site and preparations are underway to inscribe the entire marshes as a joint cultural and natural site under the World Heritage Convention (Garsteck and Amr 2011). Ecosystem recovery, however, has been seriously undermined by a severe drought (2008-2010) and uncoordinated water-related developments in the Tigris-Euphrates basin (Garsteck and Amr 2011). The lack of a water sharing agreement between riparian countries and potential declines in Euphrates flows are a major threat to the wetlands’ survival. This graphic is part of the publication Keeping Track of Our Changing Environment. |
 | 2006 global dead zones (2008-06) The number of coastal dead zones has doubled every decade since 1960(1). Many are seasonal, but some of the low-oxygen areas persist year-round. More than 100 000 km2 of marginal sea are affected, plus numerous bays and estuaries which are the most altered(1, 3). The world’s largest dead zone is found in the Baltic Sea, and the second is the Gulf of Mexico. Oxygen-depleted zones shown are associated with either major population concentration or with watersheds that deliver large quantities of nutrients to coastal waters (such as fertilizers). Out of 350 areas spotted in 2006, 175 are of concern, 161 are documented and only 13 have shown improvement. |
 | Fishkills linked to HABs worldwide as of 2006 (2008-06) Harmful algal blooms can result in extensive fishkills. For example, during the night of 19-20 August 2003, millions of young menhaden were killed on the west shore of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island USA, probably because of oxygen depletion resulting from an algal bloom. The map shows the location where extensive fishkills were reported as of 2006. |
 | Reefs at risk and deforestation (2008-02) This map shows that in general, risk related to sedimentation is either linked with land clearing and deforestation leading to high runoff rates, or discharges from major water systems. |
 | Tourism in the Caribbean (2008-02) |
 | Share of internal freight transport type (2007-11) |
 | Share of internal rail freight transport (2007-11) |
