Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world. Its 144,000 square kilometres are home to an estimated 150 million people. About 45 percent (2004) of them live below the national poverty line and around 36 percent are living on US$ 1 per day.

Forests in Asia-Pacific are under threat. That's not a new story, though it becomes more important with every lost hectare and every family denied their means of survival.

A single word can describe the history of forest management in the region: conflict. Too often this happens because local people are excluded from decision-making and the benefits of forest management. REDD+ is a proposed mechanism to make forests more valuable standing than destroyed.

Land degradation is a major problem in the semi-arid environments of Sub-Saharan Africa. Fighting land degradation is essential to ensure the sustainable and long-term productivity of the habited semiarid lands. In Kenya, grass reseeding technology has been used to combat land degradation.

The study of soils is important for landuse planning, agriculture, and natural resource development programs. Determination of soil characteristics and limitations is one of the most important duties of soil researchers.