Mangrove ecosystems play a critical role in harbouring biodiversity and providing a variety of ecosystem services. The need for developing better techniques for classifying and monitoring mangroves is increasing, especially with the growing demand in blue carbon markets. However, many countries are challenged by the need to improve their mangrove cover estimates to inform decision-making on coastal land use and to guide local conservation efforts including restoration planning. This manual was developed to help overcome this problem by providing guidance, specifically targeted to build capacity for mangrove resource managers on how to use and take advantage of the latest technologies in mapping and monitoring mangroves. It enables collection of data that informs conservation decision-making, guiding the planning of mangrove restoration and protection activities that will ultimately lead to enhanced management and conservation of mangroves. In addition, case studies are presented on estimating mangrove extent, structure, condition and change, using a range of remote sensing-derived sources that are focused on < 5-m spatial resolution.

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Biophysically Special, Unique Marine Areas of Solomon Islands

In April 2016, the Cabinet of the Solomon Islands Government endorsed the establishment of the Ocean12 National Steering Committee (comprising the twelve Ministries relevant to ocean management and use) with the mandate to progress Integrated Ocean Governance for the Solomon Islands.

Biophysically Special, Unique Marine Areas of Tonga

In 2015, the Tongan Cabinet embarked upon a National Marine Spatial Planning process, establishing a marine spatial planning technical working group comprising seven Ministries (the “Ocean 7”). One of their tasks was to identify Tonga’s special, unique marine areas.

Biophysically Special, Unique Marine Areas of Vanuatu

In 2014, the Vanuatu Council of Ministers (Decision No. 172/2014) supported the development of a national ocean policy and marine spatial plan, and in doing so, established an Ocean Policy Subcommittee to guide these processes.

Biophysically Special, Unique Marines Areas of Fiji

Fiji is committed to, and is embarking upon, a process to significantly increase the number and coverage of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) within the country.

BioTIME hourglass logo BioTIME

BioTIME is designed especially for scientific synthesis studies with research questions about global biodiversity. We believe that data is valuable and should be made usable.

Birds and bats reduce herbivory damage in Papua New Guinean highland forests

Insectivorous predators, including birds and bats, play crucial roles in trophic cascades.

Blue Carbon Finance Toolbox

The  Blue  Carbon  Finance  Toolbox  aims  to  provide  the  global  blue  carbon  community  with  an  overall  guide  to  understanding  and  leveraging  finance  mechanisms  that

Blue Carbon Finance Toolbox First edition: June 2025

The     Blue     Carbon     Finance     Toolbox     provides     a     comprehensive  overview  of  financial  mechanisms  and  strategies  to  support  the  conservation, &nbsp

Capacity Development for Protected and Other Conserved Areas in the Pacific Islands Region

This document is an important tool for promoting action. It highlights the importance of culturally‐responsive capacity development, with Pacific Islanders defining the most appropriate approaches to be used.

Capacity for Conservation

Capacity for Conservation relates to organisational ability to deliver effective protected area management.  Operated by several conservation organisations, Capacity for Conservation believes that building strong conservation organisations is one of the most effective means of making a lasti

Catchment Management and Restoration Plan for Rarotonga Cloud Forest Ecosystems, Cook Islands

This document provides a plan to protect and enhance the cloud forests of Rarotonga so that their indigenous ecosystems, habitats for endemic species, and water supply functions are preserved in perpetuity.

Challenges and opportunities integrating remote sensing for mangrove conservation in Papua New Guinea's complex natural and human landscapes.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is home to one of the largest mangrove habitats (6% of the world’s mangrove area), which plays a crucial role in coastal protection, carbon sequestration and supporting biodiversity and livelihoods.

CITES Sharks and Rays - Implementing and Enforcing Listings: Volume II - Processed Carcass ID

This guide forms part of a three-volume series of identification guides: Volume I – Full Carcass ID, Volume II – Processed Carcass ID [this guide], and Volume III – Dried Product ID.

Climate Change, Coral Reef Ecosystems, and Management Options for Marine Protected Areas

Marine protected areas (MPAs) provide place-based management of marine ecosystems through various degrees and types of protective actions.

Closing Window of Opportunity: Mapping Threats to Important Areas for Conservation in the Pantropics

The global race to safeguard irreplaceable ecosystems is nearing a critical threshold, and the window to protect vital areas for climate stability, biodiversity, and human wellbeing is rapidly closing.

Coastal wetland resilience through local, regional and global conservation

Coastal wetlands, including tidal marshes, mangrove forests and tidal flats, support the livelihoods of millions of people.

Common misconceptions of ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’ (OECMs) and implications for global conservation targets

The commitment to protect 30% of the Earth’s terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine areas by 2030 under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework has seen growing attention paid to ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’ (OECMs) to help achieve this target.

Community Biological Monitoring Training Video

Community Biological Monitoring Training Video. University of the South Pacific (USP) and the Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area Network (FLMMA). 2006. Suva, Fiji.

Community Synthesis Report - Ecosystem and Socio-economic Resilience Analysis and Mapping (ESRAM) Central Province, Solomon Islands

This publication is a simplified summary version of the report ‘Ecosystem and Socio-economic Resilience Analysis and Mapping (ESRAM) for Central Province, Solomon Islands’.

Community Synthesis Report - Ecosystem and Socio-economic Resilience Analysis and Mapping (ESRAM) Central Province, Solomon Islands

This publication is a simplified summary version of the report ‘Ecosystem and Socio-economic Resilience Analysis and Mapping (ESRAM) for Central Province, Solomon Islands’.

Community-based Biological Monitoring Training Guide (Applied at FLMMA Project Sites)

Tawake, A., Meo, S., Cakacaka, A. and Aalbersberg, W.G.L. 2004. Institute of Applied Sciences,  USP

Community-Based Management

Community Based Management resources

Community-Based Management through Special Management Areas

Community Information Pamphlet; unkown date. Department of Fisheries, Tonga

Community-Based Marine Resource Management in Solomon Islands: A Facilitator’s Guide

WorldFish. 2013.  CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems. Penang, Malaysia. 

Comparison of historical (1980s) and contemporary (2023–2024) microplastic contamination of arc clams (Anadara spp.) from tidal flats in Suva, Fiji

Microplastic pollution threatens marine ecosystems, especially in vulnerable regions like the Pacific Islands. This study examines temporal trends by comparing Anadara spp. specimens from Fiji's tidal flats in the 1980s and 2023–2024.

Conservation Finance for Coral Reefs

Coral reefs face threats from climate change and local pressures, but many initiatives designed to deliver conservation outcomes for them and the social-economic systems they support are limited by sustainable finance and the availability of funds over the long term.

Conservation Imperatives: securing the last unprotected terrestrial sites harboring irreplaceable biodiversity

Ambitious biodiversity goals to protect 30% or more of the Earth’s surface by 2030 (30x30) require strategic near-term targets.

Conserving our sea of islands State of protected and conserved areas in Oceania

Conserving our sea of islands: State of protected and conserved areas in Oceania report is the first comprehensive regional assessment of protected and conserved areas.

Convention on Biological Diversity – Protected Areas Management Effectiveness

Convention on Biological Diversity – Protected Areas Management Effectiveness

Coral Health and Disease in the Pacific: Vision for Action

Galloway, S.B., Bruckner, A.W. and Woodley, C.M. (eds.).  Coral Health and Disease in the Pacific: Vision for Action. 2009. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS 97 and CRCP 7.

COVID-19 and protected areas: Impacts, conflicts, and possible management solutions

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, management authorities of numerous Protected Areas (PAs) had to discourage visitors from accessing them in order to reduce the virus transmission rate and protect local communities.

COVID-ERA POLICIES AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLANS: ARE GOVERNMENTS BUILDING BACK BETTER FOR PROTECTED AND CONSERVED AREAS?

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a major impact on conservation policies and practice at multiple scales, including protected and conserved areas (PCAs). There is a need to understand the implications for PCAs of recent actions, enacted or promoted in the wake of COVID-19.

Cultural ecosystem services and the conservation challenges for an Indigenous people's aquatic protected area practice.

Globally, protected areas associated with sacred sites and cemeteries are an emerging area of research. However, they are biased toward terrestrial systems.

Decent Work in Nature-Based Solutions 2024: Unlocking jobs through investment in skills and nature-based infrastructure

This report – the second in a series of International Labour Organization (ILO)–United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)–International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) publications on decent work in nature-based solutions (NbS) – aims to improve the understanding of the role of NbS

Defining ‘science-based targets’

Setting targets for addressing major planetary concerns is an essential prerequisite for concerted global action (both inside and outside multilateral environmental agreements) and is necessarily a societal and political process, requiring negotiation and convergence among oftenconflicting intere

Delimiting Surveys for Invasive Ants

Pacific Invasives Network. Delimiting Surveys for Invasive Ants. 2013. Auckland, New Zealand.

Designing and managing protected and conserved areas to support inland water ecosystems and biodiversity

Inland waters – such as rivers, lakes and other wetlands – are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. They are also the most threatened; almost one in three species is at risk of extinction and monitored populations of freshwater species have declined by 85% since 1970.

Downlisting and recovery of species assessed by the IUCN

Despite the increasing number of species assessed for extinction risk by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (163,040 species as of 2024), only about 1 in 1,000 have been downlisted due to genuine population improvement.

Draft for Discussion : Issues for consideration in the development of a Marine Protected Area Policy for Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is a Member of the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF), and in order to support the marine biodiversity goals of the CTI Regional and National Plans of Action, one action they have prioritised, is the need to strengthen marine governanc

Draft Marine Bioregions of the Southwest Pacific

Marine spatial planning is underway now, or starting, in many Pacific Island countries.

Ecological functional diversity predicts nutritional functional diversity in complex agroforests

Biodiversity loss and rising noncommunicable disease incidences are among the greatest global challenges we face.

Ecosystem and Socio-Economic Resilience Analysis and Mapping (ESRAM) : Solomon Islands, Vol 3 : Honiara

This report Volume 3 (of three volumes) prepared as part of the Solomon Islands Ecosystems and Socio-economic Resilience Analysis and Mapping (ESRAM) to assess and priortise climate change-related ecosystem-based adaptaton options for selected locations in Solomon Islands.

Ecosystem and socio-economic resilience analysis and mapping (ESRAM) : Solomon Islands, Volume 1 : introduction and national assessment

This report presents Volume 1 (of three volumes) prepared as part of the Solomon Islands Ecosystems and Socio-economic Resilience Analysis and Mapping (ESRAM) to assess and prioritise climate change-related ecosystem-based adapation options for selected locations in Solomon Islands.

Ecosystem and socio-economic resilience analysis and mapping (ESRAM) : Solomon Islands, Volume 2 : Wagina Island (Choiseul Province)

This report presents Volume 2 (of three volumes) prepared as part of the Solomon Islands Ecosystems and Socio-economic Resilience Analysis and Mapping (ESRAM) to assess and climate change-related ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) options in Solomon Islands.

Ecosystem and Socio-economic Resilience Analysis and Mapping (ESRAM) for Central Islands Province, Solomon Islands

The target area for the ESRAM assessment is the land- and seascape comprising Nggela Islands, Russell Islands and Savo Island. This is largely due to the very high biodiversity values of their terrestrial and marine areas.

Ecosystem and Socio-economic Resilience Analysis and Mapping (ESRAM) for Central Islands Province, Solomon Islands

The target area for the ESRAM assessment is the land- and seascape comprising Nggela Islands, Russell Islands and Savo Island. This is largely due to the very high biodiversity values of their terrestrial and marine areas.

Ecosystem and socio-economic resilience analysis and mapping Macuata Province Fiji

The ecosystem and socio-economic resilience analysis and mapping (ESRAM) is a baseline study to identify vulnerabilities in ecosystem services at national, provincial and community scales in Fiji.

Ecosystem and socio-economic resilience analysis and mapping Taveuni Island, Fiji

The ecosystem and socio-economic resilience analysis and mapping (ESRAM) is a baseline study to identify vulnerabilities in ecosystem services at national, provincial and community scales in Fiji.