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Brazil has 12 percent of the global forest area, being the second largest forest area in the world (4,935,380 km2).Robust efforts by multiple government agencies have contributed to the reduction of annual deforestation rates in the Amazon by nearly 80 percent since 2004, to the lowest levels recorded since annual recordkeeping began in the late 1980s.The Native Vegetation Protection Law (NVPL), or Forest Code, created in 1934 and last modified in 2012, was established to protect natural vegetation in forest and non-forest biomes, conserve biological diversity, protect water resources, and prevent soil erosion on private lands. The law established Areas of Permanent Protection (APP), and stipulates a minimum proportion of native vegetation to be conserved as a Legal Reserve. APPs are mandatory on hilltops, steep slopes, coastal shrublands, mangroves, wetlands, around springs, and along watercourses and reservoirs.The legal mandate to reforest or recover natural non-forest vegetation in Brazil is closely aligned with several international conventions and commitments focusing on biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation, especially the Aichi Target 15 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD),and national climate mitigation commitments under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Land-use targets are an important component of Brazil's Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) under the recent (2015) Paris agreement under the UNFCCC.Recovery of forest vegetation provides many social, economic, and environmental benefits, even if all of the qualities and components of the original forests are ultimately not restored.A major economic benefit of forest restoration is the development of supply chains for tree-planting activities and plantation maintenance, which generates employment and business opportunities.Forest restoration also provides increased protection (insurance) against flooding, landslides and other extreme climate events, with incalculable benefits for human life and wellbeing.

Agriculture --- Environment and Natural Resource Management --- Environmental Economics & Policies --- Environmental Policies and Institutions

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Forests have been receiving increased attention over the past few years, particularly through international climate change negotiations and efforts to develop a mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. In many forest-rich countries, the implementation of the recently declared COP21 INDC1 targets builds significantly on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and emission avoidance related to forests. Most of these countries will require considerable new investments in forestry that can be realized only through an increased level of financing over the next few years. Given the scale of the financing requirements, prevailing macroeconomic conditions, and fiscal constraints, it is unlikely that these countries will be able to fund these programs alone.

Capital Markets and Capital Flows --- Environment --- Environment and Natural Resource Management

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The Ganges Basin in South Asia is home to some of the world's poorest and most vulnerable communities. Impacted by catastrophic annual floods, the region is recognized as highly disaster prone, causing widespread human suffering and economic losses. In recognition of these challenges, many groups are actively and cooperatively engaged in reducing South Asia's vulnerability to flooding. As a contribution to these efforts, the World Bank recently commissioned specialist teams to assess and map flood risk across the Ganges River basin and to design and evaluate flood forecasting tools for the greater Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin. Flood Risk Assessment and Forecasting for the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River Basins summarizes the technical findings, includes highlights of the work, and links to the full technical reports and new interactive online resources. The report provides, for the first time, a numbers-based view of the impacts of floods of different severities across the Ganges basin, helping identify priority areas for addressing flood risks (for example, relocating levees, improving flood warning systems, and boosting overall economic resilience). This report on the flood forecasting system provides probability-based flood forecasts for more than 85 Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin locations along with near-real-time data maps of rainfall (predicted and actual) and river levels.

Environment and Natural Resource Management --- River Basin Management --- Water Resource Management --- Water Resources

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Transboundary river basins cover 62 percent of Africa's total area and, with the exception of island states, every African country has at least one international river in its territory. Thus, transboundary water governance in Africa is central to any national or regional water strategy and any economic, poverty reduction, and environmental strategy. Despite the potential payoff from water cooperation, forging meaningful agreements for shared water management faces numerous challenges. Impediments to negotiated cooperation include differences in up- and downstream views on water rights and histories of water use; negotiating philosophies focused on the belief that water is a zero-sum game; geographic and political power differentials that conflict with basin-wide solutions; and uncertainty over basic water resources data that increase the perceived risks of cooperation. For cooperation to occur, riparian states, other stakeholders, and the facilitators of negotiation must be aware of the possible benefits of cooperation, whether benefit distribution will be shared, and what pathways are most likely to overcome potential barriers to negotiation. Economic theory and empirical analysis can play a productive role in providing the necessary information. This paper provides a review of the challenges to transboundary water cooperation, pathways for overcoming those challenges, and the role of economics in facilitating the discovery of those pathways. While it is written to focus on African transboundary waters, the report draws from broader transboundary water literature. Appendices include case studies on both game theory and hydro-economic analysis in transboundary cooperation for several river basins, including some from Africa. The limited studies that have quantified the gains from cooperation or costs of noncooperation show that the potential benefits are substantial. Recognizing the potential gains and costs for all parties provides a motivation for cooperation. The likelihood of cooperation around river basins is minimal if cooperation does not benefit the respective actors involved. In the final analysis, cooperation should be voluntary based on the self-interest of riparian states.

Energy --- Environment and Natural Resource Management --- Hydro Power --- Hydrology --- Hydropower --- International Waters --- Transboundary Water Management --- Water Resource Management --- Water Resources

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The Aral Sea Basin consists of the drainage area of two major rivers, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya. The rivers originate in the Tien Shan Mountains and the Pamirs, and run through Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. An estimated 116 k

Agricultural Irrigation and Drainage --- Agriculture --- Climate Change and Agriculture --- Crop Yields --- Environment and Natural Resource Management --- Hydrology --- Irrigation --- Irrigation and Drainage --- Water Resource Management --- Water Resources