In Zimbabwe, trends in economic growth have been linked to rainfall variability, which can be attributed to sensitivity in the agricultural sector. Improved water resources management is critical to the stability and security that is required for economic development. The recent decline in growth can be caused by other factors such as land reform policies (starting in 2000).

Pro-poor growth is a term used for primarily national policies to stimulate economic growth for the benefit of poor people (primarily in the economic sense of poverty). Pro-poor growth can be defined as absolute, where the poor benefits from overall growth in the conomy, or relative - which refers to targeted efforts to increase the growth specifically among poor people.

Marine fisheries represent a significant, but finite, natural resource for coastal countries. The majority of the catches in some of the areas of the coast are not primarily by the coastal countries, but rather as in this example, where countries from Europe and Asia (Japan and South Korea are in the ‘others’ group) represent the majority. According to this estimation Mauritania only landed about 10% of the total catch in 2002, with Netherlands a...

For some African countries, particularly in West-Africa and to lesser extent also countries along the Indian Ocean, fisheries contribute significantly to exports. Remarkable is also that the fish sector is important for a landlocked country like Uganda bordering Victoria Lake.

Irrigated land currently produces 40% of the world’s food on 17% of the world’s land. A broadening of irrigation and more effective rain fed agriculture will be necessary to meet the need for increasing agricultural outputs – for domestic use and exports.

A study of households (rich and poor) in the Masvingo Province in southeastern Zimbabwe provides a good example of how agricultural income complements wild income and how it compares with other income sources such as wages and remittances. Agricultural income—from crops and home gardens—contributed 30 percent of total household income (cash and subsistence income combined). Livestock rearing—a modified form of agriculture that relies on wild fora...

About 6.3 million people work in the travel and tourism industry in Africa, where tourism is highly dependent on natural and cultural environment. However, since travel & tourism touches all sectors of the economy, its real impact is even greater.

There is 1.5 million small-scale miners estimated to work within whole SADC region. Main countries for small-scale mining activities are Tanzania miners and Zimbabwe, where more people are involved in the small-scale, rather than in the large- and medium-scale mining industry.

The requirements for water in agriculture in developing countries will need to increase in order to meet the Millennium Development Goal 1, target 2 'Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger'. To decrease hunger the outputs in agriculture will need to increase, and thus the water use. The data has been calculated for developing countries with minimum set of calories.

In low-income countries, the natural section represents a quarter of the total wealth, this represents the land that is managed either by household, individual or communally, and the potential for generating income. Physical capital, represents a much smaller share as people will have less potential, compared to higher income countries, to acquire equipment, structures and infrastructure.

The government of Sierra Leone saw a total of USD 5.2 million (2004) in revenues from diamond related activities. This comes in the form of mining, dealer and export license fees and from export taxes. To feed some of the revenues back to poor communities, the Diamond Areas Community Development Fund (DACDF) has been set up, with an annual commitment of 25% of revenue from export taxes. The intention is that this money will be dedicated to commun...

Fisheries activities by European Union countries in the seas of West Africa contribute EUR 120 million annually in government revenues. A part of the contribution is set for “targeted actions” to promote local resource management and sustainable development. For some of the poorest countries under these agreements – like Guinea-Bissau, the EU payments represent a significant part of the government revenues.

Forestry provides more than 8% of the GDP in some of the poorest countries. In most of the developing country production is consumed domestically, but for some countries forestry contributes significantly to total exports like in Liberia and the Central African Republic.

The Mackenzie Valley in Arctic Canada, Northwest Territories, represents one of the main sites for development of fuels extraction in North America. Activities, including the development of pipelines, impact indigenous peoples, as well as sensity environment.

Wilderness areas in the Arctic, representing vast expanses of tundra and taiga that sees very little human disturbance and stress have been determined by an analysis prepared by the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre in 2001. Overlaid with protected areas, this graphic highlights the areas that are currently not under International protection, and thus should be made a priority for conservation.

Ecoregions represent large areas with geographically characteristic fauna, flora and climate - both marine and terrestrial. This graphic presents the ecoregion definitions identified by the World Wildlife Fund and associated experts, and specifically those ecoregions that have been designated as priority areas (Global 200 database) for conservation. This means that these ecoregions represent unique biodiversity characteristics, and also that ther...

Areas that are vulnerable to pollution from oil and chemical spills where identified using a multiple index in a geographical analysis. Factors, including shoreline sensitivity, corals, benthic conditions, sea birds, marine mammals, fish and fisheries and other sea resources where taken into account and weighed for their importance.

The Arctic covers around 33.5 million km2 and holds the largest continuous expanses of unfragmented wilderness in the world, outside of Antarctica. Indeed, seven of the ten largest wilderness areas in the world outside Antarctica are found in the high north. (UNEP/WWF 2001: 25 Largest Wilderness Areas in the Arctic). But in contrast with Antarctica, the Arctic is not uninhabited. Human cultures are and have been a part of these vast and rich ecos...

Many POPs (persistent organic pollutants), heavy metals and other contaminants from emissions further south are accumulated in Arctic food chains and ultimately in indigenous peoples. This process is often referred to as long-range pollution or long-range transport of pollutants. While fear of these compounds sometimes has resulted in abandonment of traditional foods, this has also led to more unhealthy food habits acquired from non-indigenous pe...

The scenarios from the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) project that temperatures will increase dramatically in the Arctic, more than in many other parts of the world. This leads to effects, such as the decrease of area (e.g. tundra) under continous permafrost, the northward move of the tree line and the decrease of Arctic Sea Ice. The synthesis is based on several different models and ensables and this map depicts the situation at the end...