Terms & Conditions

Sand dunes in the Sahara Desert, Merzouga, Morocco

Copyright 

© 2022 United Nations Environment Programme 

The UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is a global Centre of excellence on biodiversity. The Centre operates as a collaboration between the UN Environment Programme and the UK-registered charity WCMC. Together we are confronting the global crisis facing nature. 

Terms and Conditions 

1. Use of this Site is governed by the following terms and conditions: 

1.1. United Nations Environment Programme (“UNEP”) maintains this website (the "Site") as a courtesy to those who may choose to access the Site ("Users"). 

1.2. UNEP grants permission to Users to visit the Site and to download and copy the information, documents and materials (collectively, "Materials") from the Site for the non-commercial use, without any right to resell or redistribute them or to compile or create derivative works therefrom, subject to the terms and conditions outlined below, and also subject to more specific restrictions that may apply to specific Materials within this Site. 

1.3. No waiver by UNEP of any provision of these Terms and Conditions shall be binding except as set forth in writing and signed by its duly authorized representative. 

2. Disclaimers 

2.1. The contents of this website do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of UNEP, its contributory organizations or editors or Member States. 

2.2. The designations employed and the presentations of material on this Site do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP or contributory organizations, editors or publishers concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries or the designation of its name, frontiers or boundaries. 

3. The mention of a commercial entity or product on this Site does not imply any endorsement by UNEP. 

4. Materials provided on this Site are provided "as is" and UNEP specifically does not make any warranties or representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any such Materials. 

5. Under no circumstances shall UNEP be liable for any loss, damage, liability or expense incurred or suffered that is claimed to have resulted from the use of this Site, including, without limitation, any fault, error, omission, interruption or delay with respect thereto. 

6. The use of this Site is at the User's sole risk. Under no circumstances, including, but not limited to negligence, shall UNEP or its affiliates be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, even if the UNEP has been advised of the possibility of such damages. 

7. As a condition of use of this Site, the User agrees to indemnify UNEP and its affiliates from and against any and all actions, claims, losses, damages, liabilities and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of the User's use of this Site, including, without limitation, any claims alleging facts that if true would constitute a breach by the User of these Terms and Conditions. If the User is dissatisfied with any Material on this Site or with any of its Terms and Conditions of Use, the User's sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the Site. 

8. This Site may contain links and references to third-party web sites. The linked sites are not under the control of UNEP and UNEP is not responsible for, nor does it endorse, any of their content. 

3. Preservation of immunities 

3.1. Nothing herein shall constitute or be considered to be a limitation upon or a waiver of the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, which are specifically reserved. 

4. General 

4.1. UNEP reserves its exclusive right in its sole discretion to alter, limit or discontinue the Site or any Materials in any respect. UNEP shall have no obligation to take the needs of any User into consideration in connection therewith. 

4.2. UNEP reserves the right to deny in its sole discretion any user access to this Site or any portion thereof without notice. 

5. UNEP-WCMC Privacy Information 

At the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), we are committed to being transparent about the use of your personal data. The purpose of this information is to describe how we collect and use personal data during your engagement with UNEP-WCMC.  

We will never provide your information to third parties without permission. We will never sell your personal data. 

A bit more about WCMC and how WCMC handles personal data. 

  • WCMC are registered with the ICO, reference: ZA320142. 
  • Where WCMC require external legal advice, any personal data relevant to the advice will potentially be shared with the provider, once permission has been requested.  
  • WCMC outsource IT support and have appropriate contract terms in place to ensure GDPR compliance 
  • Employees and Associates who come into contact with your personal Data have obligations to adhere to policies and are regularly trained in security and privacy best practice. 

Applying for a job with WCMC to work at the Centre

The information you provide to WCMC is only shared internally in order to run a fair recruitment process. The steps in this process are:  

  • Shortlisting applicants 
  • Arranging and conducting interviews 
  • Offer and acceptance 
  • Pre-employment vetting 

If you change your mind during the process, your information will be deleted immediately. If your application is unsuccessful, you will be asked if you want your details kept at WCMC in case another opportunity comes up, otherwise, your details will be deleted after 12 months. 

The processing of personal data for the purpose of recruitment is done on the basis of legitimate interests. This is because it’s in your interest if you want to apply for a role with us and for us to follow a fair process, and in WCMC's interest to find high-quality team members to join us. We also have a legal obligation under the immigration act to check your right to work in the UK. 

Donating to WCMC 

If you choose to share your name and contact details with us, then we will store this information securely within a database hosted in the UK. 

Access to personal information is limited to only those members of WCMC staff who need to see it in order to process donations, send acknowledgement letters and copies of our publications, and to make you aware of WCMC events, appeals and news. 

We will only send these communications to you where: 

  1. we have your consent to do so, or 
  1. the processing of your personal information is necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation, or 
  1. there is legitimate interest to contact you 

If you have provided us with your credit or debit card details for the purposes of making a donation, then we will use those details only for the purposes of processing that donation, which we do through secure services provided by Stripe. We do not store card details, electronically or otherwise. 

Downloading products and services  

If you are downloading a product or service, WCMC will use your contact details to manage any relevant license agreements and arrangements, and to inform you of new versions. 

It’s in the interests of WCMC to respect the rights of third-party data providers and manage the IP of products and services we host, and it’s in your interest to get access to relevant products and services, so this is on the basis of legitimate interests.  

Datasets 

WCMC manages and hosts datasets that may include personal data. These personal data relate to the data provider and are stored securely on-site at UNEP-WCMC. The personal data collected are not shared publicly or are only shared where prior agreement has been granted, often to ensure appropriate attribution to the source. 

When you use our website  

We will process your personal data to: 

  • Keep the site secure and problem-free.   

Our web hosting provider keeps logs of connections to this site so that we can detect and prevent malicious activity. The logs contain your IP address (which can reveal your geographical location), the date and time of your connection, the pages you’ve visited in what order and for how long, and the browser you’re using (which can reveal the device you’re using as well). We make no use of this data on an individual level unless the traffic looks like an attack, in which case we will block the connection. 

It’s in our interest – and yours – that our site is secure and working properly, so this processing of personal data is done on the basis of legitimate interests.  

  • Understand how the website is used  

We use cookies to help identify your computer so that we can optimise the user experience by helping us to understand which pages you find most interesting. The use of personal data in relation to the use of cookies is done on the basis of legitimate interests. 

Using cookies, our website will track the pages you visit and record other user data such as how long you spend on each page. We can then view a summary that aggregates the data from all of our visitors (but not your individual behaviour) using, for example, Google Analytics. 

Portions of websites managed by UNEP-WCMC will also allow you to share pages with social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, which you do at your own discretion.   

If we think you'll be interested in UNEP-WCMC's work 

If you've been contacted by UNEP-WCMC to offer a conversation about our work, then it's because our research has indicated that you might be interested in what we have to offer. We want to offer our services to organisations which would benefit from having our support and be able to approach the most suitable person to discuss this with, so this processing of personal data is done on the basis of legitimate interests.   

Contacting us with comments or queries  

We only process personal data where you have given consent for us to do so.  

If, however, you have a comment or query about how we have handled your data or about the contents of this Privacy Statement, please contact us: 

dataprotectionleads@unep-wcmc.org