The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
This publication presents a framework for an understanding of the connectivity between tropical coastal ecosystems (including mangroves, seagrasses and coral reefs) across environmental, economic, social, and management contexts. It presents innovative approaches to better understand, protect and value ecosystem services across linked habitats, and to allow informed trade-offs between different …
This paper includes: a summary of the systemic nature of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation; Examples of biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and the associated value at risk; Current perceptions of biodiversity loss amongst business leaders and other decision makers; A typology of business risks related to biodiversity loss and ecosystem …
This report explores the evidence of whether payments for watersheds can be good for ecosystems and for reducing poverty too. It describes what the protagonists in a range of watershed sites around the world have learned in their efforts to set up such payment schemes.
Protected area integration entails a two-fold process. The first involves linking protected areas within a broader network of protected and managed lands and waters in order to maintain ecological processes, functions and services. The second involves incorporating protected area design and management into a broader framework of national and regional …
Protected Areas offer a cost effective solution to the impacts of climate change, according to IUCN, The Nature Conservancy, the United Nations Development Programme, Wildlife Conservation Society, the World Bank and WWF.
The loss of natural habitats through destructive anthropogenic activities has been identified as one of the major drivers of environmental degradation. This is even more prevalent in developing countries where poverty and ignorance of the value of biodiversity is rampant. A pilot study was conducted in two highland wetlands in …
Lantana (Lantana camara), one of the world's most troublesome invasive weeds, has become a menace in most of the protected areas located in tropical and subtropical belt of India. The lantana-infested landscapes not only are impoverished as habitats of wildlife but also contribute to human-wildlife conflicts owing to diminished ecosystem …
Biofuels have been promoted as a way to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Besides the claim of mitigating climate change, biofuels have been promoted by many countries as an alternative to imported oil and a way to promote employment and economic growth. Recently, interest in biofuels has changed to include …
In the last two decades, interest in financing sustainable forest management has been gathering momentum. However, most of the approaches have yet to be mainstreamed, and remain either as ideas or experimental in the Asia-Pacific region. On the other hand, some countries, particularly those in Latin America, have seen more …
In this latest report ICIMOD has highlighted the vulnerability of the Eastern Himalayan ecosystems to climate change as a result of their ecological fragility and economic marginality. Supported by the MacArthur Foundation, the ICIMOD undertook a series of research activities together with partners in the Eastern Himalayas from 2007 to …
The paper discusses potential biodiversity implications of different REDD design options that have been put forward in the international climate change negotiations and examines how the creation of additional biodiversity-specific incentives could be used to complement a REDD mechanism, so as to target biodiversity benefits directly.
This report considers the measures that have been and might be undertaken to promote environmental co-benefits from REDD. Such measures may be linked to decisions on financing. The report surveys the measures that are found in existing REDD initiatives, including in the proposed UNFCCC REDD mechanism itself. It considers the …
This State of Forest Report 2009 is the eleventh edition in a biennial series published by the Forest Survey of India. Shows that India's green cover during the period 1997-2007 had grown by 3.13 million hectares. For the first time, India's forests have been mapped into 16 forest type groups …
The overall objective of the conference was to discuss the role of mountains as early indicators of climate change and the impact of global warming on mountain ecosystems. Specially, the actual state and the open gaps of scientific research were presented on several early indicators and in different mountain regions …
This report summarises the study in northern Ganga plains and coastal Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. The objective of the study was to pilot tasks to enable local communities better deal with impacts of climate variability and anthropogenic climate change such as floods and droughts. It pursued a "learning-by-doing" approach to …
This is the summary of State of Forest Report released today. The eleventh edition in a biennial series published by the Forest Survey of India estimates that India's forest and tree cover in 2007 is 78.37 million ha (23.84% of India's geographical area). This is an increase over the previous …
This document explains step-by-step how to develop a joint adaptation strategy, with a special focus on the transboundary context. Based on the concept of integrated water resources management, it provides advice to decision makers and water managers on how to assess impacts of climate change on water quantity and quality, …
This report presents 10 examples of Ecosystem-based Adaptation taking place in both developing and developed countries, at national, regional, and local scales, and in marine, terrestrial, and freshwater environments. The case studies demonstrate how Ecosystem-based Adaptation is being implemented at project and programmatic levels. Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) integrates the use …
In the tortured history of climate-change negotiations, enlightened thinking has translated into positive action all too rarely. But governments have recently seen the light on a crucial issue: they have recognized the vital role that intact natural ecosystems have in limiting the build-up of atmospheric greenhouse gases.
The value of biodiversity must be accounted for, says Pavan Sukhdev. It is time for governments to invest to secure the flow of nature's 'public goods'.
