Executive summary Far-reaching changes to the structure and function of the Earth's natural
systems represent a growing threat to human health. And yet, global health has mainly …

Environmental quality in many developing countries is poor and generates substantial
health and productivity costs. However, the few existing measures of marginal willingness to …

We are part of Nature, not separate from it. We rely on Nature to provide us with food, water
and shelter; regulate our climate and disease; maintain nutrient cycles and oxygen …

Limiting climate warming to< 2° C requires increased mitigation efforts, including land
stewardship, whose potential in the United States is poorly understood. We quantified the …

Protected areas in tropical countries are managed under different governance regimes, the
relative effectiveness of which in avoiding deforestation has been the subject of recent …

Research about ecosystem services (ES) often aims to generate knowledge that influences
policies and institutions for conservation and human development. However, we have …

We review and confirm the claim that credible evaluations of common conservation
instruments continue to be rare. The limited set of rigorous studies suggests that protected …

To develop effective environmental policies, we must understand the mechanisms through
which the policies affect social and environmental outcomes. Unfortunately, empirical …

Current attention to improved cook stoves (ICS) focuses on the “triple benefits” they provide,
in improved health and time savings for households, in preservation of forests and …

Ecosystem services valuation has achieved considerable prominence in research and
policy circles in recent years, especially since the publication of the Millennium Ecosystem …