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.

Agricultural water management is a vital
practice in ensuring reduction, and environmental
protection. After decades of successfully expanding
irrigation and improving productivity, farmers and managers
face an emerging crisis in the form of poorly performing
irrigation schemes, slow modernization, declining
investment, constrained water availability, and
environmental degradation. More and better investments in

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

Climate change is a very serious
environmental challenge that affects prospects for
sustainable development. Since the Industrial Revolution,
the mean surface temperature of Earth has increased an
average of one degree Celsius per century mainly due to the
accumulation of greenhouse gases (CHGs) in the atmosphere.
Furthermore, most of this change has occurred in the past 30
to 40 years, and the rate of increase is accelerating. A

The purpose of the Third Overall
Performance Study (OPS3), commissioned by the Global
Environment Facility (GEF) Council, is "to assess the
extent to which GEF has achieved, or is on its way towards
achieving its main objectives, as laid down in the GEF
Instrument and subsequent decisions by the GEF Council and
the Assembly, including key documents such as the
Operational Strategy and the Policy Recommendations agreed

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

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

This paper tells a story about
conditions in Tanzania's hidden economy, the parts of
the natural resource sector often ignored in conventional
economic analyses and studies, and makes recommendations for
future policy actions. The paper draws primarily from
extensive background studies undertaken of the forestry,
fishery, wildlife, mining, and tourism sub sectors (COWI
2005) as well as a wide range of complementary studies

This report focuses on one specific
interaction: the role of forests, and particularly protected
forests, in maintaining quality of drinking water for large
cities. There are many reasons for this focus: many city
dwellers already face a crisis of water quality, and
contaminated water spreads a vast and largely unnecessary
burden in terms of short and long-term health impacts
including infant mortality, with knock-on effects on ability