In response to the disappointing results of many regulatory or public investment approaches to watershed management, payments for environmental services has emerged as a new mechanism to maintain socially optimal environmental services by compensating people for the services they provide.

This paper examines the policies and practices of the Ethiopian and Tigray Governments in response to environmental issues in the framework of development, and compares these with endogenous efforts to address these same issues. The differences in perception are highlighted. When the Government tries to integrate environment and development, environment is perceived primarily as something to be protected, although these perceptions are gradually changing. In local perceptions, environment and development are inextricably intertwined. The issue of perception is important, as it influences the nature of dialogue between stakeholders. Divergent perceptions can lead to misunderstandings, miscommunication and disregard of the priorities and insights of key stakeholders. The paper takes a closer look at some good local practices in environmental management, and extracts lessons that could guide environmental policy and its application in Tigray Region.

This paper describes the dramatic changes in the size of the world’s urban population and of its largest cities over the last 100 years. This includes the almost tenfold increase in the average size of the world’s 100 largest cities between 1900 and 2000. It also describes the changing distribution of cities between regions.