This study answers the key questions on marine protected areas (MPAs) by assessing country experience with these and other tools along the marine management area continuum that have been adopted to address loss of biodiversity and fisheries and other marine resource degradation, which have eroded traditional use rights and cultural identify.

Using recent advances in modeling
climate-related risks and adjusting state of the art
catastrophic risk modeling techniques to drought, the study
conducts an innovative long-term assessment of drought risks
in Andhra Pradesh, India, and suggests strategies to reduce
their impact, under several economic, drought management and
climate change scenarios. The analysis deepens an
understanding of climate risk adaptation strategies,

Many African countries have thin energy and industrial sectors with limited opportunities to reduce carbon emissions, certainly relative to countries such as China and India. Carbon sequestration from avoided deforestation and from agriculture--potentially important areas for climate mitigation and important in many African economies--has been systematically excluded from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

This paper examines how farmers have
adapted their livestock operation to the current climate in
each agro-ecological zone in Africa. The authors examine how
climate has affected the farmer's choice to raise
livestock or not and the choice of animal species. To
measure adaptation, the analysis regresses the farmer's
choice on climate, soil, water flow, and socio-economic
variables. The findings show that climate does in fact

"From Vision to Action", the
Bank's previous rural development strategy launched in
1997, had a decisive influence on global thinking - but
disappointing results on the ground. In 2001, lending for
agricultural projects was the lowest in the Bank's
history. The new strategy is results oriented:
"Reaching the Rural Poor" stresses practice,
implementation, monitoring, and empowerment of the people it

Reliable supplies of water for
agriculture have helped meet rapidly rising demand for food
in developing countries, making farms more profitable,
reducing poverty, and helping vast regions of the world
develop more dynamic and diversified economies. Can these
successes be sustained with demand for food rising and water
resources waning? That is the challenge now facing policy
makers, planners, and practitioners in agricultural water

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 present report was prepared upon the
request of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic to inform
policy decisions on reforming the existing safety net. The
report aims at providing analytical underpinning of the
country's ongoing safety net reform, along with venue
for policy discussions with the Government and stakeholders
on the immediate as well as on the longer-term challenges
related to designing and implementing of a modern national

The power sector in India plays a
fundamental role in the economic development process. The
country faces formidable challenges in meeting its energy
needs in an environmentally sustainable manner and at
reasonable costs. The planning and operation of the sector
has hitherto been conducted without due regard to the
environmental consequences. As a result, additions to
capacity in recent years have been sub-optimal. Moreover

The results of the alpha survey on
administrative barriers completed in 2006 indicate that,
notwithstanding recent government reforms to reduce
regulations affecting firms, administrative burdens are
still substantial impediments to doing business. Based on
the survey, the Bulgarian Government has commissioned an
in-depth analysis of the procedure affecting three sectors:
tourism, food, and transport. This report recommends the

Population growth combined with economic growth will increasingly stress water resources and this has the potential to be the dominant environmental and possibly the most important development issue facing Bangladesh in the coming half century.

The overall goal of this report is to
give strategic focus to implementation of the agricultural
water management (AWM) components of the corporate
strategies. Its specific objectives are to set out the
changing context of demand and supply for agricultural
water; to identify the policy, institutional, and incentive
reform options that will accelerate productivity
improvements and pro-poor growth; and to articulate