The World Bank Group (WBG) has a long
experience in engaging in biodiversity with world-class
expertise in the field. It has been the single largest
funder of biodiversity investments since the late 1980s. The
WBG investments have largely been of two kinds: (1)
investments in biodiversity, aimed at the conservation and
sustainable use of species, habitats, and ecosystems that
sustain healthy ecosystems, while enhancing people's

This issue of Handshake focuses on
natural resource PPPs that are making a difference. In
Cartagena, Colombia, a hybrid public-private agency is
profiled that has standardized water service to residents
while restoring the coast, and in the process, contributed
to political stabilization. Around Africas Lake Victoria, an
environmental management initiative with the potential to
reduce the pollution and resource footprint of industrial

Changes in climate and their impact on agricultural systems and rural economies are already evident throughout Europe and Central Asia (ECA). Adaptation measures now in use in Albania, largely piecemeal efforts, will be insufficient to prevent impacts on agricultural production over the coming decades. There is growing interest at the country and development partner levels to have a better understanding of the exposure, sensitivities, and impacts of climate change at farm level, and to develop and prioritize adaptation measures to mitigate the adverse consequences.

Philippines currently experience and
will continue to face significant impacts from climate
change. To ensure climate resilience, build a low-carbon
economy, and increase its role in the global climate change
dialogue, the Philippine government has launched strong
climate policy and institutional and financing reforms,
supported by a clear rationale for no-regrets action.
However, transformative progress toward a more climate

This roadmap for environmental and
natural resources law enforcement (ENRLE) sets forth a
course of action for the World Bank's ENRLE community
of practice for FY2013-15. It outlines for senior management
a strategy to mobilize and strengthen the Bank's
engagement in the fight against environmental and natural
resource crime. The roadmap also serves as a mobilizing tool
for staff and management in regional departments to

This paper explains the major issues and
lessons derived from the national forest management program
and REDD+ initiatives in Tanzania. It finds that addressing
the most important drivers of forest degradation and
deforestation, in particular the country energy needs and
landownership, is essential for success in reducing
emissions regardless of the type of program implemented. It
also finds that, through the national program, forest users

The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN)
and the World Bank have agreed to carry out a Climate Change
Assessment (CCA) within the framework of the Bank's
Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Nigeria (2010-13).
The CCA includes an analysis of options for low-carbon
development in selected sectors, including power, oil and
gas, transport, and agriculture. The goal of the low-carbon
analysis is to define likely trends in carbon emissions up

This report provides estimates of social
and financial costs of environmental damage in India from
three pollution damage categories: (i) urban air pollution,
including particulate matter and lead; (ii) inadequate water
supply, poor sanitation, and hygiene; (iii) indoor air
pollution; and four natural resource damage categories: (a)
agricultural damage from soil salinity, water logging, and
soil erosion; (b) rangeland degradation; (c) deforestation;

The Congo Basin represents 70 percent of
the African continent's forest cover and constitutes a
large portion of Africa's biodiversity. Agricultural
development is a central lever to help people out of
poverty, as well as a key driver of deforestation.
Forest-friendly agricultural development is a challenge for
the region. This report describes some ways forest-friendly
agricultural development can materialize in the Congo Basin.

This study, policy and investment
priorities to reduce environmental degradation of the Lake
Nicaragua watershed, has assessed the sources and the
magnitude of the pressures that threaten Lake Cocibolca. It
was accomplished by applying a hydrological and land use
model to the lake's watershed and by conducting
additional estimates of nutrients generated from wastewater
sources and tilapia farming. The study has confirmed that

Since 2006, there has been an explosion
of Payments for Environmental Services (PES) projects in
Brazil, as well as efforts to pass PES laws at federal,
state, and municipal levels. Even in this short period, an
extraordinarily rich range of experiences has developed,
with examples of the application of PES at a variety of
scales, ranging from microwatersheds to entire states; in a
variety of contexts, from remote forest frontier areas to

The major environmental and social
management challenges that we face today, climate change,
loss of biodiversity, the decline of ocean fisheries,
limitations on food security, the scarcity of usable
freshwater resources, displacement of communities with
consequent increases in urban poverty, and inviability of
traditional local livelihoods, are all the result of
cumulative impacts from a large number of activities that