With 16 percent of the world’s population, India has 2.45 percent of the world’s land resources and 4 percent of its water resources. It is obvious that supply will barely match future demand. Around 50 percent of irrigated agriculture and 85 percent of rural drinking water comes from groundwater. Sustainable management of groundwater plays a major role in the agriculture sector, contributing to the economic development of a mainly agrarian country. Half of farmer households in India are indebted and the average outstanding loan increases with the size of the landholding.

The present issue of Nature & Faune looks at the theme “Promoting good governance in natural resource management in Africa”. It is made up of some 17 articles, a good number of which dwell on structures and processes. They describe and analyse how projects and programs were designed and how committees etc. were composed; how transparent the governance is, whether adequately decentralized or participatory etc.

Tigerpaper is a quarterly news bulletin dedicated to the exchange of information relating to wildlife and natural resources management for the Asia-Pacific region. Forest News reports on FAO forestry activities in the Asia-Pacific region.

Tigerpaper is a quarterly news bulletin dedicated to the exchange of information relating to wildlife and natural resources management for the Asia-Pacific region. Forest News reports on FAO forestry activities in the Asia-Pacific region.

The global economic cost of food wastage, based on 2009 producer prices, is 750 billion USD, approximately the 2011 GDP of Turkey or Switzerland. The lost grain in sub-Saharan Africa only could meet the minimum annual food requirement of 48 million people. Lost and wasted food represents a missed opportunity to feed the growing world population. It also comes at a steep environmental price, as land quality, water quantity, biodiversity are adversely affected. Wasted food also has a strong impact on global climate change.

Bioenergy accounted for roughly ten percent of the world total primary energy supply in 2009. Most of this is consumed in developing countries, where between two and three billion people rely on solid biomass (wood, charcoal, agricultural residues and animal waste) for cooking and heating, often in open fireplaces or traditional cook stoves. Biomass refers to non-fossil material of biological origin, such as energy crops, agricultural and forestry wastes and by-products, manure or microbial biomass.

Este informe presenta los principales resultados sobre el uso de las tierras forestales y el cambio de uso de la tierra entre 1990 y 2005 de la Encuesta por teledetección de la Evaluación de los Recursos Forestales Mundiales 2010 de la FAO. Este es el primer informe de su género en presentar estimaciones sistemáticas sobre el uso y cambio de las tierras forestales mundiales.

联合国挑战徽章训练手册的目的旨在提高认识和教育、最重 要的是鼓励年轻人改变他们的行为并成为改变当地社区的积 极推动者。挑战徽章训练手册适合在学校班级和青少年团体 中使用并获得世界女童子军协会和世界童子军运动组织的认 可。手册包括广泛的活动且提供很容易由教师或领队进行调 整的想法。其他可用的或正在开发的一系列有关其他主题的 挑战徽章训练手册，包括：农业、生物多样性、气候变化、 能源、森林、管理、饥饿、营养、土壤和水。 海洋挑战徽章训练手册旨在帮助教育孩子和青少年海洋在支 持地球生命中扮演的重要角色。本挑战徽章训练探讨人们怎 样居住、探索和使用海岸、海洋和海洋产品，描述这对于海 洋环境的影响并提供个人能采取怎样的行动帮助使这一密切 关系变得更加可持续。