Payments for Environmental Services
(PES) are one of the instruments that countries might use to
try to reduce deforestation, and hence receive payments for
Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation
(REDD). This paper discusses four aspects related to the use
of PES as an instrument to implement an avoided
deforestation program, based on a review of PES experiences
in Latin America. First, the paper discusses the

This operation provides a $70m loan for
a project that would help participating farmers in the Oum
Er Rbia basin increase the productivity of their farming and
to promote more sustainable use of irrigation water to
overcome current and future water deficits. This would be
achieved by providing participating farmers with the level
of irrigation service necessary for high efficiency drip
irrigation. Scarcity and degradation of water resources have

Global concerns about climate change
have led to the development of new market based mechanisms
aimed at reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases
(GHGs) in the atmosphere. These carbon trading schemes
enable countries or entities within countries to trade
'carbon credits' in order to increase the economic
efficiency of transitioning to a low carbon economy. A
sub-set of these markets involve the generation of carbon

Under the Vanuatu constitution, the
'rules of custom shall form the basis of ownership and
use of land.' Implementing this principle after decades
of land alienation, however, has proved to be challenging.
While the leasing arrangement was originally intended to
restore investor confidence and maintain agricultural
development in newly independent Vanuatu, it soon evolved
into the method of acquiring new leases over previously

The World Bank has had a long history of
supporting community driven development and urban upgrading
projects in Indonesia, reaching back to the 1970's. The
primary approach of all program nasional pemberdayaana
masyarakat (PNPM) urban projects is to provide block grants
at the kelurahan level to community trusts (BKM) that work
with their communities to identify, plan, and implement
activities (largely infrastructure) to improve urban

East Sudan has received a continuous
influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees
over the last forty years. Mass influxes were witnessed
during years when the region experienced natural
catastrophes as droughts and floods, or an escalation of
tensions and conflict in neighboring countries, mainly
Eritrea and Ethiopia. Presently there is still a steady but
smaller in numbers influx of refugees, mostly from Eritrea,

At an average above 6.0 percent per year
over the past two decades, Uganda' s growth rate was
impressive by all standards. In parallel, poverty declined
significantly, not only in urban areas, but also to some
extent within the rural areas. This combination was possible
because the key drivers of growth were labor-intensive
services sectors, some of which are agriculture based. In
fact, Uganda's growth process has reduced overall

Although charcoal is the single most
important energy source for millions of urban dwellers in
Tanzania, being used by all tiers of society from laborers
to politicians, it seems to be politically neglected and
even unwanted, given that it is not considered as a possible
mean to achieve long-term sustainable development, for
example as a low-carbon growth option contributing to energy
security, sustainable forest management, and poverty

As donors pledge growing support for
protecting and managing forests to address climate change,
the question of how to pay tropical countries to reduce
their emissions from deforestation and forest degradation
assumes greater urgency. Depending on the detailed
implementation of REDD plus at a national and international
level, forest nations may be able to secure funding from a
range of sources, including donors and multilateral funds (a

This article uses a unique database on 542 villages in southwestern Darfur to analyze patterns of land reallocation and population change that have emerged as a consequence of the recent conflict. The analysis demonstrates that a displacement from this region alone of more than 300,000 people from three targeted African groups has occurred and that villages have been repopulated by Arab and other African groups. Almost a fourth of all villages have been squatted by newly settled populations.

This case study is one of six
evaluations of the implementation of the World Bank's
1991 Forest Strategy. This and the other cases (Cameroon,
China, Costa Rica, India, and Indonesia) complement a review
of the entire set of lending and nonlending activities of
the World Bank Group and the Global Environment Facility.
The World Bank has clearly diminished its lending presence
in the Amazon in the past decade. It has moved from the

After 20 years of neglect by
international donors, agriculture is now again in the
headlines because higher food prices are increasing food
insecurity and poverty. In the coming years it will be
essential to increase food productivity and production in
developing countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and
with smallholders. This however requires finding viable
solutions to a number of complex technical, institutional