The caviar trade reportedly fell by about 70% between 1999 and 2003 but there is still every reason to monitor development of the sturgeon population and keep it on the list of endangered species. However it is not clear to what extent the temporary ban on caviar exports has boosted well established illegal domestic and international trafficking, obviously not accounted for in the official figures.

Vast areas of the West Asia region are sparsely populated, and are showing low fragmentation, but these are the unproductive desert areas, which naturally have quite low biodiversity (although there might be rare species there).

The region, with Australia, New Guinea and Indonesia have unique flora and fauna with high biodiversity and many areas that has seen little human impact. Population pressures, especially in Indonesia, are starting to threaten these unique habitats, with species such as Orangutan.

Vast areas of the West Asia region are sparsely populated, and are showing low fragmentation, but these are the unproductive desert areas, which naturally have quite low biodiversity (although there might be rare species there).

The region, with Australia, New Guinea and Indonesia have unique flora and fauna with high biodiversity and many areas that has seen little human impact. Population pressures, especially in Indonesia, are starting to threaten these unique habitats, with species such as Orangutan.

Fishing activities have various negative impacts on marine ecosystems. The greatest cause for concern is the rapid depletion of fish population due to extensive commercial fishing. In 2002 72% of the world’s marine fish stocks were being harvested faster than they can reproduce. Bycatch – the harvest of fish or shellfish other than the species for which the fishing gear was set – accounts for a quarter of the total catch (27m tonnes in 2003) an...

The graphic shows the protected areas of Albania, the proposed areas for protection and areas with endangered species. Albania is well known for its high diversity of ecosystems and habitats. Within its territory there are maritime ecosystems, coastal zones, lakes, rivers, evergreen and broadleaf bushes, broadleaf forests, pine forests, alpine and sub-alpine pastures and meadows, and high mountain ecosystems. It is rich in forest and pasture reso...

Climate change affect the health of the population, not only through heat waves and waterborne diseases, but also as a result of the expansion of geographical areas conducive to the transmission of vector-borne diseases such as yellow fever, dengue and malaria. Species of mosquitoes, such as the group ‘Anopheles gambiae’, ‘A. funestus’, ‘A. darlingi’, ‘Culex quinquefasciatus’ and ‘Aedes aegypti’, are responsible for propagation of the majority of...

The Barents Sea ecoregion - the part of the World Ocean north of the Nordic countries and Northwest Russia, has a unique environment with major sea bird colonies, rich benthic and plankton fauna and many major sea mammal species. To identify priority areas for conservation, thirty experts delineated sea areas based on ecological criteria in a WWF study. One of the main threats to the region is the development associated with the expansion of foss...

The Barents Sea ecoregion - the part of the World Ocean north of the Nordic countries and Northwest Russia, has a unique environment with major sea bird colonies, rich benthic and plankton fauna and many major sea mammal species. Within this ecoregion, this graphic illustrates the existing coverage of protected areas. One of the main threats to the region is the development associated with the expansion of fossil fuel extraction activities. Russi...

Number of new records of established non-native invertebrate and algal species reported in marine waters of North America, shown by date of first record, and number of new records of non-native marine plant species reported on the European coast, by date of first record.

Comparisons with the rate at which species have disappeared from the planet over a long period of Earth’s history indicate that humans have already increased extinctions levels dramatically. Projections suggest that this rate will take another big leap due to changes over the next 50 years. The bars represent the range of estimates in each case.

Overgrazing and uncontrolled livestock grazing threatens steppe, subalpine and alpine ecosystems. A third of pasturelands in the region are subject to erosion. Sheep grazing in the winter ranges and the steppes and semi-deserts of the eastern Caucasus has nearly tripled in the past decade. Intensive grazing has resulted in reduced species diversity and habitat degradation. Secondary plant communities now occupy 80 percent of grasslands in the sub...

The trade in wild species can contribute significantly to rural incomes, and the effect upon local economies can be substantial. The high value of wildlife products and derivatives can also provide positive economic incentives to provide an alternative to other land use options for the local people - to protect wild species and their habitats, and to maintain the resource for sustainable and profitable use in the medium and long term. Consequent...

Marine turtles have been used for eggs, meat, shell, oil, leather or other products for 7000 years. Modern times have introduced another way for society to profit from these species - to generate economic income as a tourism attraction. Sound turtle management relies on local communities, which – as economic incentive - should receive a fair share of the revenues. In many cases, the bulk of the revenues from the local level end up elsewhere, eve...

Protected areas are very important for conserving biodiversity. In these areas, human activities are managed to achieve specific conservation goals, for example, to protect a certain species or to conserve a representative habitat or ecosystem. The Arctic has many terrestrial protected areas, but is generally lacking in marine protected areas (MPAs). As the climate warms and the sea ice melts, there will be greater access for activities such as f...

Scientists are just beginning to learn about the many species in the remote, deep waters of the polar oceans. Corals, for example, are not limited to the warm, shallow waters of the tropics. They also exist in many cold, deep waters all over the world, including Arctic and sub-Antarctic waters. Coral reefs are marine ridges or mounds, which have formed over millennia as a result of the deposition of calcium carbonate by living organisms, predomin...

Global climate change may impact food production across a range of pathways (Figure 17): 1) By changing overall growing conditions (general rainfall distribution, temperature regime and carbon); 2) By inducing more extreme weather such as floods, drought and storms; and 3) By increasing extent, type and frequency of infestations, including that of invasive alien species (dealt with in a separate section).

Figure 24: Possible individual ranges of yield and cropland area losses by 2050 with climate change (A2 scenario), non-food crops incl. biofuels (six OECD scenarios), land degradation (on yield and area, respectively, see text), water scarcity (including gradual melt of Himalayas glaciers, see box and text) and pests (invasive species of weeds, pathogens and invertebrates such as insects, see text). Although these effects may be considerable, ...

Globally, over 1,000 (87%) of a total of 1,226 threatened bird species are impacted by agriculture. More than 70 species are affected by agricultural pollution, 27 of them seriously. Europe’s farmland birds have declined by 48% in the past 26 years (European Bird Census Council, 2008). Pesticides and herbicides pose a threat to 37 threatened bird species globally (BirdLife, 2008), in addition to deleterious effects of agricultural chemica...