The international target to slow and even halt the decline in biodiversity by the end of 2010 has been included in the Nordic Council of Ministers' Environmental Action Plan for 2009-2012. We already know that this goal will not be reached, in spite of the many actions big and small taken around the Nordic Region to help preserve and protect biodiversity. During the UN International Year of Biodiversity 2010 new goals will be defined and campaigns will be conducted to emphasise the importance of biodiversity to nature and people. The task of conserving biodiversity will also continue after the theme year 2010. The project Nordic nature - trends towards 2010 has presented examples illustrating the threats facing biodiversity together with conservation success stories, and also descriptions of conservation efforts that have not always produced the desired results. These reviews have been published as fact sheets in electronic format on the project's websites in all of the Nordic languages and in English. This publication compiles these published fact sheets, together with a summary of current trends in biodiversity in the Nordic Countries, as part of our region's contribution towards the 2010 biodiversity target and the goal of increasing awareness of the special significance of biodiversity.

Natural resource depletion and adverse impacts from environmental degradation, including loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services and their associated knowledge, add to and exacerbate the list of challenges which humanity faces. In order to address these challenges, policy makers need credible and independent information that take into account the complex relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem services and people. To meet these needs the "Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services" (IPBES) was established in 2012. Its purpose is to assess the state of the planet's biodiversity, its ecosystems and essential services they provide for human well-being. This report is the result of an introductory and scoping study, laying the foundation for a Nordic Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services based on IPBES methods and procedures.

In the project we show that climate change is not only affecting a few individual species or habitats in the Nordic region, but that number of changes occur concurrently and at many scales.

This report describes the status and trends of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Nordic region, the drivers and pressures affecting them, interactions and effects on people and society, and options for governance. The main report consists of two volumes. Volume 1 The general overview (this report) and Volume 2 The geographical case studies. This study has been inspired by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services (IPBES). It departs from case studies (Volume 2, the geographical case studies) from ten geographical areas in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden) and the autonomous areas of Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland. The aim was to describe status and trends of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Nordic region, including the drivers and pressures affecting these ecosystems, the effects on people and society and options for governance. The Nordic study is structured as closely as possible to the framework for the regional assessments currently being finalized within IPBES. The report highlights environmental differences and similarities in the Nordic coastal areas, like the inhabitants´ relation to nature and the environment as well as similarities in social and policy instruments between the Nordic countries. This study provides background material for decision-making and it is shown that Nordic cooperation is of great importance for sustainable coastal management and should be strengthened in future work.

Nature-based tourism (NBT) is a sector where entrepreneurial success is highly knowledge driven. This insightful book offers a comprehensive evaluation of NBT in a Nordic context, highlighting how long-established Nordic traditions of outdoor recreation practices can reveal lessons for the field more broadly. Chapters explore Nordic and international perspectives, local communities, market dynamics, firms, creativity, innovations and value-added experience products.

This handbook offers a comprehensive overview of the themes and concepts related to nature-based tourism development. Providing interdisciplinary insights from leading researchers, academics, and practitioners across the globe, it delivers a critical and timely contribution to the knowledge around nature-based tourism. Nature-based tourism is currently the fastest-growing tourism sector globally and for many destinations, the most significant tourism segment. Organized into five parts, this handbook provides contemporary and cutting-edge perspectives on core topics and explores their linkages. It considers, among others, various natural settings and natural attractions where nature-based tourism can be exercised, including: protected and conserved areas, islands, and mountains; the emerging themes shaping the contemporary nature-based tourism development, including ethics, Sustainable Development Goals, COVID-19 crisis, over-tourism, climate change, resilience; and new approaches toward the visitor management and low-impact experience design, including regenerative and transformative tourism, destination stewardship and pro-environmental behaviour. Part I introduces the concept of nature-based tourism and the emerging challenges in the field. Part II explores the key components in the management and planning of nature-based tourism development. In Part III the handbook focuses on visitor experience design and management and Part IV highlights the impacts of nature-based tourism. Part V examines the future of nature-based tourism and possible solutions to mitigate associated challenges in the field. The handbook offers a valuable contribution with a systematic outlook of the phenomenon of nature-based tourism and critical perspectives on key concepts, policy, and practice. It shares current knowledge, innovative tools, and sustainable solutions with substantial evidence and societal impact. The book will appeal to students, researchers, and professionals in the fields of tourism, human geography, leisure studies, business studies, and sociology. Chapter 12 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.