Land degradation is a major problem undermining land productivity in the highlands of Ethiopia. This study explores the factors that affect farm households’ decisions at the plot level to invest in land conservation and how much to invest, focusing on the roles of poverty, land tenure security, and market access. Unlike most other studies, we used a double-hurdle model in the analysis with panel data collected in a household survey of 6,408 plots in the Amhara region of Ethiopia.

Wetlands play a significant role in removal of organic agricultural pollutants from rivers. A study conducted in the Western Cape, South Africa, shows that small wetlands can play a significant cumulative role in the amelioration of the quality of water emanating from their catchment areas, and that the value of this service is high enough to warrant their protection.

This paper uses a bioeconomic modelling approach to show that for some optimal allocation of the mopane forest stock, the restrictive harvest period policy advocated by community leaders may not lead to sustainable harvesting of the worm.

Tanzania recognises the potential of international tourism in accelerating socio-economic development, particularly as a supplier of foreign exchange, investment and employment. This paper investigates the factors affecting international tourism demand for Tanzania.

National parks attract tourists to developing countries. However, there are only rare cases where the full economic rent from tourism in protected areas has been captured by these countries. This severely limits the capacity of developing countries to sustain these protected areas. The present study investigates the efficiency of the current pricing policies of Kakum National Park in Ghana.

In this paper, we investigate what the literature has found by analyzing the relationship between trade liberalization and deforestation

Our goals are to identify the areas where the literature has reached agreements, where it still has not, and the areas where more research is required.

Trees have both economic and ecological purposes in rural Ethiopia, supplying households with wood products for consumption and sale, and decreasing soil degradation.

This paper uses a 2003 household survey to examine implementation and impacts of China's Sloping Land Conversion Program. We find that land targeting has been strongly influenced by program goals, but that mistargeting also occurred.

A new EfD/RFF Book titled "Land Reforms in Asia and Africa - Impacts on Poverty and Natural Resource Management" is planned for 2012. Editors are Professors Stein Holden and Keijiro Otsuka.

The research project on land reforms is ongoing, and a first book workshop was held on Jan 24-25, 2010, at Peking University.