This book is the result of a joint research effort led by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and involving the Royal Scientific Society of Jordan, the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and the Palestine Health Council. It discusses opportunities for enhancement of water supplies and avoidance of overexploitation of water resources in the Middle East. Based on the concept that ecosystem goods and services are essential to maintaining water quality and quantity, the book emphasizes conservation, improved use of current technologies, and water management approaches that are compatible with environmental quality.

Population, Land Use, and Environment: Research Directions offers recommendations for future research to improve understanding of how changes in human populations affect the natural environment by means of changes in land use, such as deforestation, urban development, and development of coastal zones. It also features a set of state-of-the-art papers by leading researchers that analyze population-land useenvironment relationships in urban and rural settings in developed and underdeveloped countries and that show how remote sensing and other observational methods are being applied to these issues. This book will serve as a resource for researchers, research funders, and students.

This White Paper sets out the Government's detailed proposals for the reform of the planning system, in light of the recommendations made by the Barker Review of Land Use Planning (2006, ISBN 9780118404853) and the Eddington Transport Study (2006, ISBN 9780118404877). These proposals are designed to ensure the planning system can meet a number of challenges including: climate change, supporting sustainable economic development, increasing the supply of housing, protecting and enhancing the environment and natural resources, improving local and national infrastructure and maintaining security of energy supply. For the first time, the reforms cover all development consent regimes, including those for major energy, water, transport and waste development, as well as the town and country planning system. The proposals are based on five core principles: i) responsiveness and integration of economic, social and environmental objectives to deliver sustainable development; ii) a planning system which is streamlined efficient and predictable; iii) full and fair opportunities for public consultation and community engagement; iv) transparency and accountability; and v) planning decisions taken at the right level of government, whether national, regional or local.