Natural Resource and Environmental Information for Decisionmaking

Unless a development project is environmentally sound it is unlikely to experience longterm economic viability. Environmental and natural resource information must therefore be incorporated in development assistance projects. The virtual explosion of information gathering and management tools has been so rapid and the experience of project managers is so limited that the assimilation of new information tools into decision-making processes has been hampered. This report will help project managers to use environmental and natural resource information in project design management monitoring and evaluation and to select the proper technologies to acquire such information in effective ways. Discussions of the use of the information are generic rather than specific and discussions of information are practical rather than technical (technical descriptions are annexed). The report covers World Bank operational experience in using natural resource information with examples from Nepal Indonesia Africa and the Philippines. After a discussion of common information needs and how to determine information needs basic and variable assessment criteria for selecting from existing information sources are introduced and institutional considerations are given. Ways to fill information gaps include processing existing data further and acquiring new data. The generic types of information management are related with a discussion of analytical and management tools. Geographic information systems are described along with their hardware and software and notes on how to implement their capabilities. Institutional aspects of information resources are included with a topology of institutional problems and a discussion of underlying issues. The report ends with a consideration of current trends; the World Bank requirements for environmental information; and the National regional and global outlook. Extensive annexes cover resources information needs and sources as well as resource information generation analysis and management. A bibliography is also included.