Over the past few years there has been a
growing interest in the role that forests play in supporting
the poor, in reducing their vulnerability to economic and
environmental shocks, and in reducing poverty itself.
International workshops in Italy, Scotland, Finland and
Germany have focused on the contribution of forests to
livelihoods and the policies needed to strengthen that
contribution. At the same time, Forestry Ministries, though

This overview paper positions the
question of benefit sharing in the context of REDD plus. It
shares findings from a cursory review of a sample of
Readiness Preparation Proposals (RPP) for REDD plus
submitted to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF).
It deconstructs the concept of benefit sharing. It also
provides a summary of the main findings from three recent
studies on benefit sharing that were financed by the Program

It is in this context that this study
has been undertaken to document BRT case studies in terms of
the political setting, institutions/governance, public
involvement and communications,
service/operations/management and planning and their
relationship to investment performance. The study has been
undertaken in recognition of the fact that successful
implementation and operation of BRT systems often reflects

This paper presents the strategy vision
for Africa of promoting tourism. The strategy relies on four
pillars: policy reforms, capacity building, private sector
linkages, and product competitiveness. Working closely with
client countries, implementation of the Africa Region
Tourism Strategy, will focus interventions in these four
areas in order to address the persistent constraints to the
growth of tourism in Africa. Combined, these interventions

Expert statements indicate that annually
approximately 20 billion dollars will be needed to prevent
90 percent deforestation in tropical countries. Development
practitioners are eager to see the benefits from REDD plus
initiatives shared with local partners. Equally important to
understanding how local partners might benefit are questions
such as, who should derive benefits from REDD plus
initiatives, and how to ensure these initiatives reach the

A reform in Burundi's coffee sector
is currently under way. Even though the reform was launched
by the government of Burundi in 1992, it was only in 2008
that implementation fully started. The purpose of the reform
is to restructure the coffee sector, focusing on the
following processes: privatization of the industrial units
(especially washing and hulling units), liberalization of
government control among the production and export agencies,

The World Bank's 2004 Water
Resources Sector Strategy focused on the need for both water
resources management and development in dealing with growth
and poverty alleviation. Planning and design of new
hydraulic infrastructure for water supply and sanitation,
food production, hydropower generation, flood protection,
ecosystem restoration or other such purposes require dealing
with all elements in the interaction among land, water,

This study was commissioned to analyse
the cost efficiency and economic viability of an ethanol
programme, for reducing disease, and protecting the forests
in Madagascar. This information is also expected to be of
interest regionally and internationally, given that the
World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are
nearly two million deaths per annum globally due to
Household Air Pollution (HAP), representing 2.7 percent of

This report summarizes the findings of a
study aimed at exploring key elements of a benchmarking
framework for urban transport. Unlike many industries where
benchmarking has proven to be successful and
straightforward, the multitude of the actors and
interactions involved in urban transport systems may make
benchmarking a complex endeavor. It was therefore important
to analyze what has been done so far, propose basic

Ningbo serves as the Chinese pilot city
for the World Bank Climate Resilient Cities (CRC) Program.
The CRC program aims to, prepare local governments in the
East Asia region to better understand the concepts and
consequences of climate change; how climate change
consequences contribute to urban vulnerabilities; and what
is being done by city governments in East Asia and around
the world to actively engage in learning capacity building,

In Japan, the sustainable development of
cities and provinces has been vigorously pursued since the
late 1990s under various programs through the initiative of
the central government and local authorities. In 2009, the
World Bank launched an urban development initiative called
Eco2 Cities: Ecological Cities as Economic Cities (Eco2
Cities Initiative) to help cities in developing countries
achieve greater synergistic ecological and economic

Housing development has direct and
indirect impacts on the environment. Through its design,
construction, and operation, housing represents a
significant point of direct consumption of natural
materials, water, and energy. Therefore, greenhouse gas
emissions embodied in housing can be very significant.
Moreover, in Brazil, civil construction is responsible for
the largest percentage of solid waste volume generated in