Integrating conservation and development is central to the mission of many protected areas in the tropics, yet there is limited empirical evidence on the effectiveness of alternative strategies for ICDPs (Integrated Conservation and Development Projects). We evaluate an enterprise-based...

Tropical forests may contribute to the well-being of local people by providing a form of ``natural insurance.’ ’ We draw on microeconomic theory to conceptualize a model relating agricultural risks to collection of non-timber forest products. Forest collection trips are positively correlated...

Payments for environmental services (PES) are popular despite little empirical evidence of their effectiveness. We estimate the impact of PES on forest cover in a region known for exemplary implementation of one of the best-known and longest-lived PES programs. Our evaluation design combines...

This paper evaluates public investments in forest-based microenterprises as part of an integrated conservation and development project (ICDP) in the Brazilian Amazon. We combine matching with regression to quantify the effects of program participation on household income, wealth, and...

The on-going degradation of global public goods such as biodiversity and climate regulation due to the loss of natural tropical ecosystems has generated demand for evidence on the effectiveness of alternative policy instruments for environmental conservation. Economists initially responded with...

This report reviews the literature on the links between energy access, welfare, and gender in order to provide evidence on where gender considerations in the energy sector matter and how they might be addressed. Prepared as a background document for the 2012 World Development Report on Gender...