The World Bank's revised forest
policy came into being in 2002 and covers all types of
forests. It has the following key objectives: (i) harnessing
the potential of forests to reduce poverty in a sustainable
manner; (ii) integrating forests effectively into
sustainable development; and (iii) protecting vital local
and global environmental services and values. The policy
enables the bank to fully engage in forestry throughout the

Conservation of high-biodiversity tropical forests is sometimes justified on the basis of assumed hydrological benefits - in particular, the reduction of flooding hazards for downstream floodplain populations. However, the "far-field" link between deforestation and distant flooding has been difficult to demonstrate empirically. This simulation study assesses the relationship between forest cover and hydrology for all river basins intersecting the world's tropical forest biomes.

Madagascar has an impressive array of
biodiversity, natural beauty and cultural resources to
support tourism. The world's fourth largest island,
Madagascar is home to many species found nowhere else on the
planet, among them 30 species of lemur - currently the main
tourist attraction. Madagascar's nearly 5,000 km of
coastline is coupled with a continental shelf equal to 20
percent of the island's land area which presents

The developing world has made remarkable
progress. The number of people living in extreme poverty on
less than $1 a day has fallen by about 400 million in the
last 25 years. Many more children, particularly girls, are
completing primary school. Illiteracy rates have fallen by
half in 30 years. And life expectancy is nearly 15 years
longer, on average, than it was 40 years ago. The demand for
statistics to measure progress and demonstrate the

The book clarifies many policy, and
technical issues that confront resettlement policymakers,
and practitioners. It provides guidance on resettlement
design, implementation, and monitoring, and, it discusses
resettlement issues particular to development projects in
different sectors, such as urban development, natural
resource management, and the building of dams. Construction
of infrastructure, a prerequisite for sustained

The important role of biomass fuels
today. Timor Leste is a relatively small country located in
the eastern part of Timor Island with an area of about 1.5
million ha and an estimated 2007 population of 1.0 million.
At about US$550 GDP per capita, it is one of the least
developed countries in the world, with an estimated 40
percent of the population in poverty. However, the
development of offshore oil and gas resources in partnership

The report highlights the GEF's
work with small island developing states (SIDS) on key
natural resource issues -climate change, biodiversity,
international waters, and land degradation. It also
describes the GEF's strategic priorities for SIDS over
the next five years, recognizing the interrelatedness of
SIDS' global environmental problems and their links to
economic and social development. The Global Environment

The Forest Concession Management and Control Pilot Project (FCMCPP) overall objective was developed in the early 2000s and aims at 'testing and demonstrating, through implementation, a comprehensive set of forest planning and management guidelines and control procedures and establishing an effective forest management compliance monitoring and enforcement capability'. According to the planning handbook a separate and specific document was supposed to be prepared with regard to the social issues of the forest concession planning process in order to complete the planning process.

This Policy Note discusses the status of
Forestry in the Middle East and North Africa Region (MNA) of
the Bank. The Policy Note is a product of the FAO Investment
Center in Rome, the International Food Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI) and the Bank. Experience in natural
resource management shows that to adequately address
sustainable development, solutions must go beyond any single
sector, and be cross-sectoral. They must also go beyond

The provision of public goods and the amelioration of market failure are the classical justifications for government intervention in the economy. In reality, (1) governments intervene in markets that are not affected by failure, and (2) a large share of the government resources is spent in private goods, not in public goods. In contrast to issue 1, issue 2 has received little attention in the literature, in spite of the potentially large efficiency and equity losses arising from misguided allocations of public expenditures.

This article focuses mainly on the five
primary case study countries. For forest impacts, the
concentration is on forest conversion to other land uses and
deforestation, defined as a (temporary or permanent) removal
of trees to less than 10 percent crown cover, which is
similar to the Food and Agricultural Organization's
(FAO's) definition. Selective logging is thus not
deforestation but may degrade forests and enable conversion.

The authors describe and analyze an unconventional approach to river basin management in a developing country undergoing rapid economic, political, and institutional change. The founding of the Brantas River Basin Management Corporation (Perum Jasa Tirta I - PJT 1), a national state-owned company for river basin management, initiated an emphasis on river basin management to operate and maintain existing infrastructure, plan and implement the allocation of water, and address problems that affect basin-level water resources.