When it comes to public services like access to water and sanitation, it has been proved that turning to the private sector is hardly the solution. Public Public Partnerships (PUPs), on the other hand, have achieved remarkable successes worldwide by forging open, democratic and dynamic relationships between State institutions and communities.

Photo: K. R. Deepak

Dutch born nature photographer Frans Lanting has, with his recent photography, brought to life the jungles of South America. Currently on exhibition at the Yale Peabody Museum, Connecticut, usa and funded partly by the National Geographic Society it is entitled

The first chapter depicts the status of and the global trends in the biofuels industry and markets. It traces the history of the production programme of biofuels and the efforts to promote them in Japan, Canada, the European Union, the United States, Brazil, Latin America, South-East Asia, India, China and some African countries.

Protected areas attract human settlements? globally, creating protected areas (pas) has been a preferred method of biodiversity conservation. Such areas with their mandate of providing refuge to wildlife are usually assumed to have negative impact on local communities since their access to natural resources is restricted. But a study from the University of California, Berkeley, shows that