This study by the World Bank indicates that forests offer vast potential for poverty reduction and rural economic growth in India while also supporting critical national conservation goals. An estimated 275 million people in rural areas depend on forests for at least part of their livelihoods. Forest dwellers, which include a high proportion of tribals, are among the poorest and most vulnerable groups in society. The government of India has adopted Joint Forest Management as a principal approach for community-based forestry.

The authors use a Ricardian model to
test the relationship between annual net revenues and
climate across Israeli farms. They find that it is important
to include the amount of irrigation water available to each
farm in order to measure the response of farms to climate.
With irrigation water omitted, the model predicts that
climate change is strictly beneficial. But with water
included, the model predicts that only modest climate

This regional study encompasses three
Central American countries: Nicaragua, Guatemala, and
Honduras. The focus of this report is Honduras. The
objective of the study is to understand how broad-based
economic growth can be stimulated and sustained in rural
Central America. The study identifies "drivers" of
sustainable rural growth and poverty reduction. Drivers are
defined as the assets and combinations of assets needed by

Recovering from three decades of conflict, over this last decade, Cambodia has undergone dramatic economic, political, and social transitions. Cambodia experienced rapid institutional changes as it restored peace, moved from a centrally planned to a market-oriented economy, and moved from isolation to regional and global integration. Cambodia has achieved political and macroeconomic stability, and has initiated key structural reforms. Nevertheless, Cambodia's economy remains vulnerable, and economic growth has not translated into widespread poverty reduction.

Country Assistance Strategies (CASs)
have been periodically reviewed from a variety of different
perspectives. This review assesses how environment is
integrated in CASs for 2005 and also compares the progress
made by 37 countries over the period of 1999-2005. Five
themes are used to assess the 23 CASs across an established
methodology also used in previous reviews. The five themes
are: issues identification, treatment, mainstreaming,

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.

This document aims to provide background
information and motivation regarding bioenergy's role
in promoting sustainable rural development. It discusses
ways to support the implementation of bioenergy through
policies, including those that can mobilize private sector
activity. Volume I, the main report provides an overview of
implementation issues for bioenergy projects and programs;
Volume II provides technical information regarding biomass

In this paper, the authors seek to answer three questions about poverty and forests in Malawi: (1) What is the extent of biomass available for meeting the energy needs of the poor in Malawi and how is this distributed? (2) To what extent does fuelwood scarcity affect the welfare of the poor? (3) How do households cope with scarcity? In particular, do households spend more time in fuelwood collection and less time in agriculture in response to scarcity? The authors attempt to answer these questions using household and remote-sensing data.

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 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 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