About Us

CBM provides comprehensive advice to clients in environmental management, with a strong focus on biodiversity assessment and training in rapid survey methods.

CBM Mission

Expertise is available to capture biophysical and socioeconomic information that is fundamental to integrated natural resource management. This information can be used directly by managers and planners to forecast impacts of specific resource use on biodiversity and productivity and to develop sustainable options for adaptive management.

'NBL participants'

Our team has experience worldwide especially in developing countries, both in establishing regional frameworks for biodiversity research, implementing rapid baseline surveys and in technology transfer.

Current Activities

Sustainable Land Management. CBM's contribution to a new World Bank initiative

The World Bank is examining new approaches to integrating its various sectors in a way that will help improve efficiency in its commitment to support sustainable land management (SLM) in developing countries. As a member of an international team of experts in various aspects of SLM, CBM is contributing towards approaches that we hope will lead to a more integrative and sustainable approach to biodiversity. A first draft has been submitted and after internal review, will be followed by a final proposal in late 2004.

WWF-INDIA to publish the results of a WWF-CBM Biodiversity survey in Arunachal Pradesh

As a result of a training course and field survey in NE India conducted by CBM in conjunction with WWF-India and the USA Smithsonian Institution, WWF intends to publish the results of the survey in a popular magazine format. As well as contributing towards more informed forest management in the lands to the north of the Brahmaputra river, this will be one of the first steps in an international initiative to establish an Eastern Himalayas Conservation Alliance.

Global database development and spatial modelling

From its inception, CBM has taken on the task of building a unique global database using a standard of data recording protocol. To date 1800 sites worldwide have been recorded in 25 countries using this approach.

Sites range from tundra to tropical alpine and continental deserts and humid tropical forests. Our best estimates indicate our sites represent approximately 95% of key global climatic environments. The methodology ensures uniform comparison of data within and between regions- a feature that is unique among global vegetation databases.

A recently completed cross-country survey of Mongolia from Siberian Taiga to Gobi desert has helped to fill some key information gaps that will assist in compiling a global database for modelling how vegetation may vary with environmental change.

'Gobi Desert'