All publications and documents

Increasing interest in measuring, modelling and valuing ecosystem services (ES), the benefits that ecosystems provide to people, has resulted in the development of an array of ES assessment tools in recent years. Selecting an appropriate tool for measuring and modelling ES can be challenging. This document provides guidance for practitioners on existing tools that can be applied to…

The Restoration Opportunities Optimization Tool (ROOT) was developed out of a need to more efficiently and effectively communicate the importance of ecosystem services to decision makers. IUCN’s collective experience working to increase ecological productivity and improve human well-being through forest landscape restoration (FLR) demonstrated that although stakeholders were…

Investing in Africa is in the headlines. There is a growing consensus on the need for more African companies to invest in the continent at a time when global FDI flows are falling and an uncertain international landscape prevails. Investment can be shorthand for economic development: more capital and connectivity, more projects and prosperity, more employment and earnings. Yet, do the results…

The key purpose of this report is to provide factual data on the management of contaminated sites in Europe, necessary to implement the 7th Environment Action Programme (EAP), based on replies to the questionnaire by countries in a voluntary basis. It also aims to increase awareness on soil contamination and identify knowledge gaps to enable effective decision and policymaking within the European…

Migration is a global phenomenon that impacts the lives of most people. An estimated 258 million people are international migrants (UN DESA, 2017), and in our increasingly interconnected world, millions more are impacted through family ties, economic exchanges and cultural connections. Migration is a powerful driver of sustainable development, for migrants themselves and their communities…

Agriculture is crucial to Africa’s development, but the sector is performing well below its potential. Today, about 60 percent of Africa’s population depends on agriculture for jobs and livelihoods, yet its contribution to the gross domestic product was a paltry 21 percent in 2016. While Africa has the highest area of uncultivated arable land (202 million ha) in the world, which is about 50…