In a modeling study we examine vulnerability of income from mobile (transhumant) pastoralism and sedentary pastoralism to reduced mean annual precipitation (MAP) and droughts. The study is based on empirical data of a 3410 km2 research region in southern, semi-arid Morocco. The land use decision model integrates a meta-model of the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) simulator to depict perennial and annual forage plant development. It also includes livestock dynamics and forward-looking decision making under uncertain weather.

The Adelaide-Mt Lofty Region of South Australia is an exemplar, in microcosm, of the issues confronting biodiversity conservation in a world of increasing population and a drying, fire-prone environment. At just 0.1% of Australia’s terrestrial land mass, this area is largely peninsular and oriented along a spine of ranges to 730-m elevation. Annual average rainfall varies from over 1100 mm in the hills to less than 500 mm on the plains in the north.

Climatic stress and anthropogenic disturbances have caused significant environmental changes in the Sahel. In this context, the importance of soil is often underrepresented. Thus, we analyze and discuss the interdependency of soil and vegetation by classifying soil types and its woody cover for a region in the Senegalese Ferlo. Clustering of 28 soil parameters led to four soil types which correspond with local Wolof denotations: Dek, Bowel, Dior and Bardial.

Climate change and agriculture influence each other. The effects of climate change on agriculture seem to be predominantly negative, although studies show a large variation in impacts between crops and regions. To compensate for these effects, agriculture can either intensify or expand in area; both of these options increase greenhouse gas emissions. It is therefore likely that such negative effects will increase agriculture’s contribution to climate change, making this feedback a positive, self-reinforcing one.

Corruption is a continuing feature of the Philippines’ natural resource sectors. Given keen interest in the country’s REDD+ potential, it is useful to consider corruption risks related to REDD+ from a political economy perspective. This U4 Issue draws on fieldwork from two REDD+ pilot sites to assess current governance and anti-corruption safeguards related to benefit-sharing, land tenure rights for indigenous peoples, and private sector involvement. Many anti-corruption actions are in place in the pilot sites, but they are weakly embedded in social relations at the local level.

Recognizing the importance and
uniqueness of the Sundarbans, the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
declared the Indian portion of the forest a World Heritage
Site in 1987, and the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program
has included the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve in the Global
Network of Island and Coastal Biosphere Reserves
Contributing to Action on Climate Change and Sustainable

Although poverty has declined rapidly
over the past three decades, humanity still faces urgent and
complex challenges. The World Bank Group has established
ambitious but achievable goals to anchor its overarching
mission and to galvanize international and national efforts
in this endeavor. Accordingly, the institution will strive
to: (i) end extreme poverty at the global level within a
generation, and (ii) promote what may be called shared

The report focuses on the two decades
of the World Bank - Global Environment Facility (GEF)
partnership with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
countries. This partnership has had a global environmental
impact by working both at the local and national level and
engaging all relevant partners and stakeholders. In
addition, many GEF financed operations stand as examples of
what a more holistic approach can achieve in terms of

The Government of Ceará has asked for
the Bank s support in implementing its multi-year plan
(Plano Plurianual or PPA) for 2012-15. The objectives of the
Plan are to promote equitable social development,
sustainable economic development and to contribute to the
emergence of a more efficient and participatory public
sector.The activities to be supported have been chosen on
the basis of the importance to these goals, the state s

Given the broad array of issues and
the complexity faced by the water sector as a whole (from
irrigation to flood protection, to water conservation and
hydropower), there is great demand for future exploring the
potential of RBF and tackling the questions still unanswered
about many of its operational dimensions. This document
takes a closer look at some of the practical aspects of
implementing various RBF water schemes. Chapter 2 provides

Climate change presents significant
threats to sustainable poverty reduction in Tajikistan. The
primary impacts on rural livelihoods are expected to stem
from reduced water quantity and quality (affecting
agriculture), and increased frequency and severity of
disasters. Options for farming households to autonomously
adapt (and thereby move from climate vulnerability to
resilience) include adoption of on-farm and off-farm

Mexico has started a number of
efforts to develop adequate policy frameworks in several
areas including the energy sector, transportation and
industrial policies, and forestry and natural resources
management. Its Climate Change Law and the National
Strategy on Climate Change envision is changing the upward
trend of its carbon dioxide emissions towards a total
decline of emission of thirty percent by 2020, and fifty