Traditional Water Harvesting
Rajasthan tackles drought through pokhars
Rajasthan's Karauli district has been reeling under droughts for the last four years. To tackle this, people of this region are reviving pokhar -- a 200-year-old traditional water harvesting system.
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Land Ownership
Land rights and ownership in Orissa: status report
This UNDP study focuses on the situation of land rights and ownership in Orissa. Provides concrete suggestions to improve access of the poor to land and highlights the need to arrest processes that are promoting land alienation.
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Migration
The impact of environmental degradation on migration flows across countries
This paper highlights the impact of environmental degradation on migration. Through a gravity regression model, it assesses the impact of thirteen global environmental factors on migration flows across 172 countries of the world.
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Malaria
World malaria report 2008
This report provides an overview of the global distribution of malaria cases and deaths and documents how control strategies recommended by WHO have been adopted and implemented in endemic countries.
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Rehabilitation and resettlement by Coal India Ltd: standing committee on coal and steel (2008-09)
Coal India’s R&R Policy was first formulated in 1994 and has been
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Forests for climate: developing a hybrid approach for REDD
The Greenpeace Forests for Climate (Tropical Deforestation Emission Reduction Mechanism TDERM) proposal for a hybrid market-linked fund would provide the financing needed to help protect the world’s remaining tropical forests by reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD).
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State of environment Chandigarh 2008
Chandigarh Administration has taken firm steps to control the projected deterioration in the environment of the city by initiating various environment friendly projects like establishment of Botanic Garden, green belts, parks and water-bodies. Administration has imposed a complete ban on the
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Groundwater and human security: case studies
The main objective of this report is to address threats to human security and well-being posed by water scarcity and quality degradation. It also aims to investigate how improved groundwater management can increase human security.
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Global economic prospects 2009: commodities at the crossroads
Global Economic Prospects 2009: Commodities at the Crossroads analyzes the implications of the crisis for low-and middle-income countries, including an in-depth look at long-term prospects for global commodity markets and the policies of both commodity producing and consuming nations. Developing countries face sharply higher borrowing costs and reduced access to capital.
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Green coast for nature and people after the tsunami
Poor people suffered the most from the tsunami as their fragile homes, built along the coasts, were washed away. Many of them also are heavily dependent on coastal nature for their livelihoods and for their safety. Mangroves, coral reefs and other coastal ecosystems provide a range of benefits and resources that support livelihoods like: fishing, agriculture, fuel, fresh water, medicines.
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Rip-offsets: the failure of the Kyoto Protocol's clean development mechanism
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is supposed to catalyze climate-friendly projects in low-income countries by allowing developers to generate revenue by selling “carbon credits” or “offsets.” The offset buyers — industrialized country companies and governments — use the credits to show compliance with Kyoto Protocol-mandated emissions reductions.
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Low-carbon energy: a roadmap
The world is now in the early stages of an energy revolution that over the next few decades could be as momentous as the emergence of oil-and electricity-based economies a century ago. Double-digit market growth, annual capital flows of more than $100 billion, sharp declines in technology costs, and rapid progress in government policies all herald a promising new energy era.
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Establishing resilient marine protected area networks: making it happen
This guide helps us to better understand the role of MPAs and MPA networks at local and regional scales to achieve marine conservation. It utilizes current scientific knowledge, institutional experience and global case studies to outline the latest information pertaining to building resilient and functional MPA networks. It also highlights global commitments
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The impact of climate change on the Russian arctic and paths to solving the problem
This illustrated and compact brochure presents data on the impact of climate change in the Russian Arctic. The text compiles scientific observations, witness accounts from local residents, and data on current and foreseen damage due to climate change. Alas, the situation in the Arctic is alarming, and the forecasts are discouraging.
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A roadmap for a living planet
WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by: conserving the world’s biological diversity; ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable; promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.
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A global financial architecture for climate change
A Global Financial Architecture for Climate Change (Global Financial Architecture) is needed to shift public and private finance and investment flows towards decoupling economic growth from increasing greenhouse gas emissions to a low carbon and
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A closing window of opportunity: global greenhouse reality 2008
Scientific evidence accumulating since the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report reveals that global warming is accelerating, at times far beyond projections outlined in earlier studies, including the latest IPCC Report. New modelling studies are providing updated and more detailed indications of the impacts of continued warming.
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Local politics, political institutions, and public resource allocation
This paper examines how political institutions and local power structures interact with and influence local public resource allocation in the Indian state of Karnataka. It use data from 80 village councils and 225 villages to examine how this local political economy influences the allocation of public resources. The empirical strategy exploits certain features of a policy that
Outside the cap: opportunities and limitations of greenhouse gas offsets
Carbon offset programs require the application of rigorous quantifi cation, verifi cation, and enforcement criteria in order to ensure that the integrity of greenhouse gas (GHG) caps is not compromised. Some types of climate change mitigation activities—especially those involving soil or forest carbon sequestration—are less likely to meet these criteria than others.
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Pakistan’s cotton and textile economy: intersectoral linkages and effects on rural and urban poverty
Pakistan's cotton, textile, and apparel industries are key sectors of the nation's economy; their performance can contribute to either a rise or fall in poverty.
Climate policies improve health
Health savings of up to 25 billion euro could be achieved every year in the European Union if stronger climate policies were implemented, says a new study.
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Eco-friendly indigenous technologies for insect pest management
The study was conducted in three districts of Punjab to find out the indigenous techniques for management of insect-pests and their scientific background. It was revealed that several indigenous practices are useful for pest management and are relevant even in modern agriculture.
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Distribution and population abundance of sloth bear in disturbed and unprotected habitat of North Bilaspur forest division
The sloth bear is a Schedule 1 species in the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and has been listed as "threatened" by IUCN. No systematic information is available on sloth bear distribution and population either in or outside the protected areas in India.
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Anthropogenic threats and biodiversity conservation in Similipal Biosphere Reserve, Orissa, India
To conserve the representative ecosystems, a Biosphere Reserve program is being implemented. Ten biodiversity rich areas of the country have been designated as Biosphere Reserves applying the UNESCO/MAB criteria.
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Good practices and lessons learned in integrating ecosystem conservation and poverty reduction objectives in wetlands
This study was driven by two objectives: to develop a framework and methodology for assessing the outcomes of conservation-poverty reduction initiatives and to apply it to such initiatives in wetlands to understand conditions and methods that can support the integration or balancing of ecosystem
Rapid turns in European renewable energy policy: advocacy and framing in the proposed trading of guarantees of origin
The EU has assumed ambitious targets and strategies for the promotion of renewable sources of energy (RES) binding to all its member states. This report examines the proposed EU-wide policy instrument designed to help achieve the targets on renewable electricity and heat - the trading of Guarantees of Origin
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Status of human-wildlife conflict and mitigation strategies in Marwahi forest division, Bilaspur Chhattisgarh
Marwahi forest division is well known for human-sloth bear conflict. Available forest cover is highly degraded, fragmented and interspersed with agricultural crop fields, and small townships. Data since 1990 onwards reveal 28 cases of human death by wild animals, comprising 13 men and 15 women. Except 2, all casualties were cased by sloth bear.
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Programming risks in wetlands farming: Evidence from Nigerian floodplains
This paper examines the important risk factors and risk management measures as well as optimal farm plans in floodplains farming in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Findings show that the most important risk factors in floodplains farming are flood and drought. Farmers manage these risks through relay/sequential cropping, planting short gestation and flood tolerant crops.
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Ozone: a threat to food security in South Asia
Current day concentrations of ground level ozone (O3) are commonly reducing crop yields by between 5 and 35 % at agriculturally important locations across South Asia. O3 induced economic crop losses could be in the region of $4 billion per annum for staple crops in South Asia; such losses are likely to impact more on poor and vulnerable people.
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Human-elephant conflict in the southern Western Ghats: A case study from the Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala
Human-elephant conflict in Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary and adjacent areas was studied based on observational methods during the year 1993 to 1996 as a part of project studying the large mammals in the sanctuary. Major animals engaged in crop damage were wild boar and elephant. The animals involved in crop damage were mainly lone males, in the case of elephants and most of the raids were at night.
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Energy efficiency requirements in building codes, energy efficiency policies for new buildings
The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse current approaches to encourage energy efficiency in building codes for new buildings. Based on this analysis the paper enumerates policy recommendations for enhancing how energy efficiency is addressed in building codes and other policies for new buildings. This paper forms part of the IEA work for the G8 Gleneagles Plan of Action.
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Targeting regulation in Indian agriculture
At the end of its first three years, the Indo-United States Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture is recommending changes in regulation to suit US commercial interests.
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A study in personal carbon allocation: cap and share
The challenge of climate change demands a response from all sectors of the economy. Importantly, action on the part of individuals will be required if greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are to be cut to the levels necessary to avoid the worst
Bharatpur wetland: future desert?
The Keoladeo National Park (KNP), better known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, is one of the world’s most renowned wetlands, famous for its avifauna. But today KNP is facing a huge shortage of water. With a growing shortage of water and feed, the birds no longer find the Park suitable. (Correspondence)
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Tiruchirappalli shows the way
In most slum communities of South Asia, the sanitation situation is deplorable, healthy living is impossible and the disease burden is heavy, especially for women and children. Lack of basic sanitation and adequate water for bathing and washing clothes
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