Arable land, deserts, mountains, forests, rivers, and coastal zones characterize the diverse regions in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA). As varied as the geography is so are the policy directions taken by the region's governments concerning natural resource management. A lack of...

This paper summarizes the World Bank assistance strategy for rural development in the ECA region. The rural sector includes the people; economic; development activities; institutional, economic, and social infrastructure; and natural resources in rural areas and is thus not confined to agriculture....

Oil and energy markets have experienced dramatic changes over the past two decades-steep price increases in the 1970s and 1980s followed by a decrease in 1986 and large declines in demand in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. But despite considerable uncertainty about future...

Unlocking Nature-Smart Development: An Approach Paper on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is part of a series of papers by the World Bank Group that outlines the development challenges and opportunities associated with blue and green biodiversity and ecosystem services. The paper makes the...

This report examines perceived and actual gender differences in the use and management of natural resources and the challenges of integrating women into activities related to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) or other natural resource management projects in...

Somalia's natural capital is under substantial pressure from inappropriate land uses, conflict, and climate change. In its Ninth National Development Plan (Somalia NDP-9), the government of Somalia has identified vulnerability to environmental shocks as one of the six major causes of poverty....