Integrating environment into agriculture and forestry

Abstract

As part of its contribution to the Environment for Europe meeting in Belgrade in October 2007, the World Bank has undertaken a review of the Europe and Central Asia Region4 with the objective of raising awareness among policy makers of the need to accelerate and enhance implementation of environmentally sustainable practices in the agricultural and forestry sectors in SEE and EECCA, and of providing recommendations for doing so. This paper provides a synthesis of major regional issues and trends, with broad recommendations for future directions and priorities. In addition to the local specialist inputs, the study benefited from World Bank country, sector, and project documents, other IFI documents, country publications, UNECE Country Environmental Profiles, and other accessible documents, as well as the advice of numerous World Bank staff working in the region. Advance copies of this legislation plus executive summaries of the respective Country Reviews were distributed to ministries responsible for environment, agriculture, and forestry in each subject country; comments received have been reflected in this paper. Agriculture and forestry continue to be very important for economic growth and poverty reduction in transition countries. The share of these sectors in national income is much higher in transition countries than in the West, representing on average 14% of GDP (compared to the OECD average of 2.2%. Agriculture and forestry are also the main sources of income in rural areas, where 35% of the population of transition countries still resides.