The conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are issues that have been high on the policy agenda since the first Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. As part of efforts to implement in situ conservation, a methodology referred to as community biodiversity management (CBM) has been developed by those engaged in this arena. CBM contributes to the empowerment of farming communities to manage their biological resources and make informed decisions on the conservation and use of agrobiodiversity.

 In this volume of the Earthscan’s TEEB publication series, the key concepts of the project are applied to local and regional policy and public management.

Biodiversity encompasses genes, species, ecosystems and their relative abundance. International awareness of the need to conserve biodiversity has been growing steadily since the first "Earth Summit" in 1992. The development of ecological networks can connect the fragmented habitats of wild animals, stem biodiversity loss, and promote dispersal and genetic exchanges of wild species.

Biodiversity essentially refers to all aspects of variability evident in the living world, including diversity within and between individuals, populations, species, communities and ecosystems. Biodiversity trends are mainly assessed in terms of declining populations and species, either individually or collectively, when manifest of loss of habitants or reduction in the area of ecosystems.

The TEEB study is underpinned by an assessment of state-of-the-art science and economics.  The goal is to provide the conceptual foundation to link economics and ecology and to posit a paradigm of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem services. 

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study is a major international initiative drawing attention to local, national and global economic benefits of biodiversity, to highlight the growing costs of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, the benefits of investing in natural capital, and to draw together expertise from the fields of science, economics and policy to enable practical actions.

This book is a further key output of TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity). It provides important new evidence of growing corporate concern about biodiversity loss and offers examples of how some leading companies are taking action to conserve biodiversity and to restore ecosystems.

Drawing on experience in Europe and wider literature, this paper offers some critical reflections on how—and under what conditions—the EU might support the development of innovative participatory approaches for the management of agricultural biodiversity in Europe.

This important and timely book provides a rigorous overview of the defining issues presently facing conservation at international level.

Business and ecosystem services are inextricably linked. Corporations not only impact
ecosystems and the services they provide, but also depend upon them.

Despite widely voiced concerns about some of the negative implications of protected areas, and growing pressures to ensure that they fulfil social as well as ecological objectives, no standard methods exist to assess social impacts.

This report is a contribution to the UN's International Year of Biodiversity and is a complement of the UNEP-hosted Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) which is bringing visibility to the wealth of the world's natural capital.