Despite the all-out efforts currently being made by the Myanmar Government to conserve and improve its forest resources, forest degradation and depletion are continuing at an alarming rate, mainly due to shifting cultivation, agricultural encroachment and illicit cutting. The heavy reliance on woodfuel has eroded its supply source in numerous areas and it is clear that unless urgent remedial measures are undertaken the more accessible forests will soon be exhausted and remote areas will have to be exploited instead, involving rising market prices.

La présente stratégie s’inscrit dans le cadre de la Convention Internationale sur la Diversité Biologique. Les objectifs de la stratégie sont de deux ordres, l’un de développement dont l’essence est la recherche de la sécurité alimentaire, et l’autre spécifique pour pallier cette recherche de la productivité avec la gestion rationnelle des ressources.

Brief analysis of the situation within Cambodia’s forestry sector, and a round up of information obtained during Global Witness’ investigations.

Road network expansion is strongly associated with increased deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Pfaff analyzes the determinants of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Using a model of optimal land use, he derives and estimates an equation for deforestation using (1) country level data for 197888 and (2) measures of deforestation from satellite images.The evidence suggests that: Increased road density in a county leads to more deforestation there and in neighboring counties. Development projects were associated with deforestation in the 1970s but not in the 1980s.

Presents some preliminary results on the impact of the economic crisis on farmers’ livelihood and forest use, based on fieldwork in four provinces in Indonesia (Riau, West and East Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi). Stresses the great variation throughout the country, and the volatility of the situation. Price data reveal that some groups of export crops-oriented farmers enjoyed a short-term gain during the first 2-3 quarters of 1998. Soaring food prices and a stronger rupiah since October 1998 have, however, gradually made real prices move towards their pre-crisis levels.

An historical record of concessionaire activity in Cambodian forests since 1995, and a critique of the ADB-funded concession review carried out in late 1999.Available in Word and Text verisons and in Khmer at: http://www.fatbeehive.com/globalwitness/text/campaigns/forests/cambodia/...

Synthesizes the results of more than 140 economic models analyzing the causes of tropical deforestation. Raises significant doubts about many conventional hypotheses in the debate about deforestation. More roads, higher agricultural prices, lower wages, and a shortage of off-farm employment generally lead to more deforestation. How technical change, agricultural input prices, household income levels, and tenure security affect deforestation—if at all—is unknown.

Land and forestry-based activities could in principle play important roles as climate change mitigation strategies. In practice, however, several questions have been raised about their feasibility. Therefore, understanding the processes and determinants of land use changes is critical. This paper aims to contribute to such understanding in the larger part of a larger project on sustainable development and economic growth. It begins with a dynamic model of land use.

The advance of the agricultural frontier constitutes the biggest source of deforestation in Central America today. This conversion of tropical forests into agricultural land and pasture is the direct result of individual land use decisions. This paper presents a simple analytical model of household land use, followed by an econometric analysis of household survey data from the Río San Juan region of Nicaragua in order to test for consistency with the model.

Why is it important to incorporate gender into the agriculture-related work of the World Bank and borrower countries, and how can this be achieved' Women are integral to farming systems, yet their productivity remains low compared to their potential. Gender-neutral programming which does not take into account the differences in the needs and constraints of men and women farmers can bypass and even be detrimental to women.