Human intrusions & disturbance

Changes in the above-ground biomass stock in forest indicate the balance between gains in biomass stock due to forest growth and losses due to wood removals, natural losses, fire, wind, pests and diseases. At country level and over a longer period, sustainable forest management would imply a stable or increasing biomass stock per hectare, while a long-term reduction of biomass stock per hectare would imply either unsustainable management of the forests and degradation or unexpected major losses due to fire, wind, pests or diseases.

How much potential impact may humans living in a protected area have on that protected area and on the habitats, species and ecological processes therein? How much of this potential impact is due to recent (15-year) increases in human population density? By identifying protected areas with low population density, it is possible to highlight locations that are likely to better conserve the species and ecological processes that are associated to more pristine conditions and that are more sensitive to the direct and indirect impacts from human activities.

A new study quantified how the consumption habits of people in each country, through trade and supply networks, imperil threatened and near-threatened terrestrial species of amphibians, mammals and birds. For the study, recently published in Scientific Reports, researchers used a metric called the extinction-risk footprint. The team found that 76 countries are net “importers” of this footprint, meaning they drive demand for products that contribute to the decline of endangered species abroad.

This sub-indicator is the forest area that is certified by an independently verified forest management certification scheme. Such certification schemes apply standards that generally are higher than those established by the countries’ own normative frameworks, and compliance is verified by an independent and accredited certifier. An increase in certified forest area therefore provides an additional indication of progress towards sustainable forest management.

Net forest-related greenhouses gas flux represents the net exchange of greenhouses gas between forests and the atmosphere between 2001 and 2020. This net flux layer is part of the forest carbon flux model described in Harris et al. (2021). Here, the average annual net fluxes in MtCO₂e is shown at global level and the average annual net fluxes in MtCO₂e/ha in protected areas and outside protected areas at national level.

MIKE sites distribution and longevity

Map of the normalised average Percentage of Illegal Killing of Elephants (PIKE) by MIKE sites over the reporting period.

The indicator is calculated as the average percentage of illegal killing in observed carcasses over the reporting period, normalized by yearly mean carcasses number (= total carcasses/years of reporting) to account for the different magnitude of carcass numbers found across sites.

Indicator of potential human pressure in and around protected areas derived from indices of forest loss, population and agriculture pressures (DOPA 4.0).

A new paper published in Nature Sustainability mapped the irrecoveral carbon in earth's ecosystems. It shows how manageable, vulnerable and irrecoverable carbon are distributed among ecosystems. Petland, mangrove forests, old-growth forests are the most important- reserve of irrecoverable carbon.

Protected Areas in MIKE programme

All MIKE sites but one overlap with protected areas included in the World Database of Protected Areas (UNEP-WCMC), either entirely or partly. 

Check the Regional and National tabs for more details.

Percentage of Illegal Killing of Elephants (PIKE) by protected areas in MIKE programme.

In the regional and national tabs, maps show the normalised average PIKE over the activity period for each protected area in MIKE programme and included in the selected region/s or country/ies. 

In the local tab, the time series of annual PIKE is presented for each protected area in MIKE programme.

Total number of elephant carcasses reported in MIKE programme over the monitoring period.

The global map shows total number of carcasses by MIKE site.

The regional and national tabs report aggregated statistics and the local tab shows the number of carcasses by protected areas involved in MIKE programme.

How much potential impact may humans living in a protected area have on that protected area and on the habitats, species and ecological processes therein? How much of this potential impact is due to recent (15-year) increases in human population density? By identifying protected areas with low population density, it is possible to highlight locations that are likely to better conserve the species and ecological processes that are associated to more pristine conditions and that are more sensitive to the direct and indirect impacts from human activities.

The Indicator 15.2.1. "Progress towards sustainable forest management" for the target 15.2, is composed of five sub-indicators that measure progress towards all dimensions of sustainable forest management. 

The sub-indicators are:

1. Forest area annual net change rate

2. Above-ground biomass stock in forest

3. Proportion of forest area located within legally established protect areas

4. Proportion of forest area under a long term forest management plan

The West African Manatee, Trichechus senegalensis, listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, inhabits shallow coastal waters, wetland systems and rivers from Senegal to Angola.

Some of the most threats to this species include incidental capture in nets, hunting for meat, skin, bones and oil, and moreover habitat loss as a result of the damming of rivers, cutting of mangroves for firewood, coastal development, and the destruction of wetlands for agricultural development.

Trends in forest area are crucial for monitoring SFM. The first sub-indicator focuses on both the direction of change (whether there is a loss or gain in forest area) and how the change rate is changing over time; the latter is important in order to capture progress among countries that are losing forest area, but have managed to reduce the rate of annual forest area loss.

A fundamental requirement for productive fisheries is maintenance of the biodiversity that offers natural systems resilience against changing conditions.(FAO, State of World Fishery and Aquaculture 2020). Threatened marine fish species can be legally caught in industrial fisheries and moreover according to FAO, annual estimate of fisheries interactions with at least 20 million individuals of endangered, threatened and/or protected species. Here we show the catch records (tonnes) of globally threatened species in the EEZ by country in the last 10 years.

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