Valuing Tropical Forests: Methodology and Case Study of Madagascar

World Bank Discussion Paper No. 289. This paper critically reviews three major approaches to land degradation and conservation--the classic, populist, and neo-liberal--and examines the implications of shifting from one to the other in the context of research needs. The paper discusses the role of science and technology and the origins and substance of differences in the perception, evaluation, and diagnosis of degradation. The authors also analyze ways in which farmers and pastoralists make decisions about resource use and management and suggest a research approach to the analysis of decisionmaking. An appendix presents case studies on land degradation in Nepal and ZimbabweMunasinghe, Mohan is the author of 'Valuing Tropical Forests: Methodology and Case Study of Madagascar' with ISBN 9780821334072 and ISBN 0821334077.