Over ten million people have been displaced from protected areas by conservation projects. Forced displacement in developing countries is a major obstacle to reducing poverty. It should no longer be considered a mainstream strategy for conservation and only applied in extreme cases following…

This is the first in a series of evidence-based reports on the role of large engineering contractors in strengthening the positive local economic and social impacts of capital investment projects in the oil and gas sector in developing countries. The report looks at the Fluor-AMEC asset support…

This report explores how, across the world, the revenues from oil, gas and mining that should be funding sustainable economic development have often been misappropriated and mismanaged. Specifically, it analyses five major examples of this problem: Kazakhstan, Congo Brazzaville, Angola,…

Water governance in the Philippines is saddled by several problems. The failure to implement laws governing the watershed approach and the absence of institutional mechanisms has seriously undermined any effort to mainstream and integrate water and watershed plans and programmes into the…

This article, a summary of the book sharing the same title, examines issues around the allocation of land and education within families. Based on household surveys in Ghana, Indonesia and the Philippines, the book attempts to answer key questions, including:How do parents allocate land and…

This paper looks at the dynamics of land and violent conflict. It states that conflict situations in rural societies deeply affect the politics of land, and that land requires a careful approach by policy makers because it is a central element in the evolution of societies. As a result, policies…

Indonesia’s forests have been disappearing rapidly since the 1980s: 1.8 million hectares per year are estimated to have been deforested between 1985 and 1997. Consequently, there is a possibility that in some areas, the forests will cease to function as a viable resource base in the near future.…

Mountains of the world cover about one-fifth of the land surface, are home to one-tenth of the world's population, and provide livelihood to some of the poorest communities in the world. Mountain lakes and streams are a source of freshwater for countless riparian human communities, support…

Overproduction of coffee and low coffee prices have resulted in a global crisis affecting the people and biodiversity of many tropical countries. The authors, from the Wildlife Conservation Society in Indonesia, describe expanding production of low-quality robusta coffee, which contributes to…

Singapore has been dependent on Malaysia for nearly forty percent of its water supply, and water has been a source of dispute between the two countries. This paper examines the water issues between Singapore and Malaysia.The paper describes the water agreements signed in 1961 and 1962. It…

This report reviews the experience and outcomes of the funding by International Financial Institutions (IFIs) of projects in the extractive industries. It presents short case studies of experiences in the Philippines, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Romania, Colombia, Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria,…

The paper begins by outlining Chinese grassland policy in the reform period and then describes key aspects of actual local level arrangements for grassland management. This description is based on the authors’ field studies at different sites on the Tibetan plateau (within Sichuan and Yunnan…