Water

Lake Matters: Paying to protect watersheds

Bhopal city, capital of Madhya Pradesh, India, is considering assisting rural communities in the catchment of the Upper Lake (Bhoj Wetland) to change land management practices and reduce the flow o

Water ecosystem services and poverty reduction under climate change

Freshwater ecosystem services – the benefits obtained by people from rivers, swamps, floodplains and groundwater systems – are central to human well-being.

Land and water rights in the Sahel

In the Sahel, rain-fed farming and pastoralism are the main livelihood sources. In the past few decades, efforts have been made to improve the water infrastructure in rural areas – for example through the creation of new water points and irrigation schemes. These efforts have often failed to consider governance and property rights issues - who decides what and how, and who has right over what before and after the water development project.

Global water initiative

Launched to address the declining state of the world's fresh water supply and the lack of access to clean water services, the Global Water Initiative comes at a time when more than one billion people lack access to improved water sources, and more than 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation.

Developing markets for watershed services

The services that watersheds provide - such as quantity and quality of water - are decreasing, yet demand for these services is increasing.

Gatekeeper Series

The Gatekeeper series aims to highlight key topics in sustainable natural resource management. Each paper reviews a selected issue of contemporary importance and draws preliminary conclusions for development that are particularly relevant for policymakers, researchers and planners.