Study of land use/cover change and its driving forces is one of the most significant fields in global environmental change research. Karst land is a type of important and unique terrain on the Earth's surface because of its extensive distribution, impressive landforms, and high ecological fragility.

Questions: Which are the factors that influence forest and shrubland loss and regeneration and their underlying drivers? Location: Central Chile, a world biodiversity hotspot.

Over the last decade, hundreds of payments for ecosystem services (PES) programmes have been initiated around the world, but evidence of their environmental benefits remains limited. In this study, two PES programmes operating in the municipality of Coatepec (Mexico) were evaluated to assess their effectiveness in protecting the region's endangered upland forests.

India's forest policy regime enacted so far had alienated the common users of their property rights in the name of forest and wildlife conservation. However, poor conservation outcomes have forced planners to reconsider the role of the forest community in resource use and conservation.

Carbon finance recognizes the contribution of projects to mitigating climate change. To be able to access carbon finance, projects can certify their emission reductions under a variety of standards, one of which is the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Tanzania's land, local government and forest laws mean that rural communities have well defined rights to own, manage and benefit from forest and woodland resources within their local areas through the establishment of village forests.

The implementation of effective Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programmes in countries emerging from violent conflict are essential for building and maintaining peace and security.

The World Bank is making strides in mainstreaming gender-sensitive approaches to climate action on the ground. Ensuring that men and women have equal access to education, economic opportunities, productive inputs and equal chances to become socially and politically active can generate broad productivity gains, and lead to more inclusive and greener development path for all.

Weather is the term used to describe the atmospheric conditions (heat, wetness, wind, etc.) prevailing at any one place and time. Climate is the sum of the prevailing weather conditions of a given place over a period of time, typically summed over many decades.

This report is intended to provide guidance on best practices in mining licensing, based on examples from low, middle and high income countries in Africa, Asia, North America, and South America.

This report analyzes in some detail the risks to project finance and the performance of real-sector investments. Options, futures, derivatives, foreign exchange and more exotic instruments are not specifically addressed. The objectives of institutional investors, such as pension funds, include creation of sustained revenues over a long period of time.

This report examines whether the recent increase in biofuel feedstock production is resulting in increased deforestation rates and magnitudes within tropical regions. It reviews several methodological challenges for undertaking this analysis, and presents a set of preliminary findings.