Based on more than 240 real-life
examples in over 60 countries, Developing Value is the first
large-scale study analyzing the business case for
sustainability in emerging markets, the opportunity for
businesses to achieve benefits such as higher sales, reduced
costs and lower risks from better corporate governance,
improved environmental practices, and investments in social
and economic development. It pinpoints the many

Participatory community-based Natural
Resources Management (NRM) Projects have been implemented
over the last 5-6 years in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, and
Niger with the support of France, Germany, Norway, the
United States, and the World Bank's International
Development Association facility. Furthermore, pilot
operation concentrating on specific NRM issues are underway
in Chad (pastoral perimeters) and Guinea (land tenure

This regional study encompasses three
Central American countries: Nicaragua, Guatemala and
Honduras. The focus of this report is Guatemala. The study
is motivated by several factors: First is the recognition
that sub-national regions are becoming increasingly
heterogeneous, and economically differentiated as part of
ongoing processes of development and diversification, with
some areas advancing, and others being left behind. Second

The study reviews the challenges water
resources management faces, and the opportunities for policy
formulation towards sustainable development in Argentina,
where regardless of prudent public finances management,
water resources management remain disproportionately
backward compared to regional, and international best
practices. Hence, within a frame of reference on the
country's population, institutions, and legal

The objective of the project is to
improve the environmental management capacity in Madagascar
through the implementation of institutional development and
emergency actions. Project components included: (i)
protection and management of biodiversity; (ii)
community-based soil conservation and watershed management;
(iii) mapping and remote sensing for improved natural
resources management; (iv) improved land security through

This review aims to provide the
Government of Madagascar with a situation assessment and
insights and guidance on how to position the rural and
environment sector as an engine for inclusive and
sustainable economic growth. The review has cast the
analytical net quite widely with the aim to come up with a
comprehensive overview of the sector. In view of the
intimate linkages between rural development and the

The majority of Ethiopians depend on
medical plants as their only source of health care,
especially in rural areas where access to villages is
lacking due to the absence of vehicular roads. The
increasing scarcity of medicinal plant species represents a
trend that should be immediately addressed. The health and
drug policies of the Ethiopian Ministry of Health recognize
the important role medical plants and traditional health

The purpose ofthis report is to provide guidance to the staff of the World Bank's
Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region with respect to mobilizing cultural assets to
support socioeconomic development in our country and regional work programs. To this
end it seeks to demonstrate how and when it makes sense for us to get involved in
activities related to cultural asset mobilization. Equally important, it also indicates how
and when we should leave cultural heritage activities to others. In particular, this report
addresses the following questions:

This paper deals with economic rents
arising from the development of hydroelectric generation on
international watercourses. The paper briefly defines the
concept of economic rent and its application to
hydroelectric developments. It explores two areas of
precedents that shows how the concept could be applied in
developments on international watercourses. First, it looks
at international law on the ownership and rights of use of

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and the World Bank introduced the Poverty Reduction Strategy
Paper (PRSP) process in 1999 to strengthen the poverty
alleviation focus of their assistance to low-income
countries. This report reviews Nicaragua s experience with
the PRSP process, focusing on the effectiveness of IMF and
World Bank support to the process and the extent to which
the two institutions lending and non-lending activities in

Forest resources directly contribute to
the livelihoods of 90 percent of the 1.2 billion people
living in extreme poverty and indirectly support the natural
environment that nourishes agriculture and the food supplies
of nearly half the population of the developing world.
Forests also are central to growth in many developing
countries through trade and industrial development. However,
mismanagement of this resource has cost governments revenues

This case study is one of six
evaluations of the implementation of the World Bank's
1991 Forest Strategy. This and the other cases (Brazil,
Cameroon, 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. This OED study finds that while
China's forest program was highly successful, much