Cbd Water Wetlands Forest Ecol Econ Pol Linkages En

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47CBD Techncal Seres N. 47Secretarat f the

Cnentn nBlcal Derst

Water, Wetlands and FrestsA Reew f Eclcal,Ecnc and PlcLnaes


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Waer, Wela a Fre

A Reew f Elal, E a Pl Lae

CBD Techncal Seres N. 47


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Published jointly by the Secretariat o the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Secretariat o the Ramsar

Convention on Wetlands ISBN: 92-9225-186-4

Copyright 2010, Secretariat o the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

Te designations employed and the presentation o material in this publication do not imply the expression oany opinion whatsoever on the part o the Secretariat o the Convention on Biological Diversity concerning the

legal status o any country, territory, city or area or o its authorities, or concerning the delimitation o its rontiers

or boundaries.

Te views reported in this publication do not necessarily represent those o the Convention on Biological

Diversity nor the Secretariat o the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

Tis publication may be reproduced or educational or non-prot purposes without special permission rom

the copyright holders, provided acknowledgement o the source is made. Te Secretariat o the Convention on

Biological Diversity and the Secretariat o the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands would appreciate receiving a

copy o any publications that use this document as a source.

Ctatn

Blumeneld, S., Lu, C., Christophersen, . and Coates, D. (2009). Water, Wetlands and Forests. A Review o

Ecological, Economic and Policy Linkages. Secretariat o the Convention on Biological Diversity and Secretariat o

the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Montreal and Gland. CBD echnical Series No. 47.

Tis document has been produced with the nancial assistance o the Government o Norway. Te views ex-

pressed herein do not necessarily reect the ocial opinion o the Government o Norway.

For urther inormation, please contact:

Secretariat o the Convention on Biological Diversity

World rade Centre

413 St. Jacques Street, Suite 800

Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 1N9

Phone: +1 514 288 2220

Fax: +1 514 288 6588

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.cbd.int

Secretariat o the Ramsar Convention

rue Mauvernay, 28

1196 Gland

Switzerland

Phone: 41 (0) 22 999 0171Fax: 41 (0) 22 999 0169

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.ramsar.org

Edtral assstance: Jacqueline Grekin, Secretariat o the Convention on Biological Diversity

Tpesettn: Em Dash Design

Cer phts: op to bottom: David Coates; Eduardo Augusto Muylaert AntunesUNEP/Still Pictures, Vlasta

JuricekFlickr.com, Britta JaschinskiFlickr.com


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Water, Wetlands and Forests: A Review o Ecological, Economic and Policy Linkages

CoNTENTS

3

FoREWoRD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

ExECuTivE SummARy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

i. iNTRoDuCTioN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Raising the tides o consciousness around our water resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

ii. ECoLogiCAL LiNkAgES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Te hydrological c ycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Results o orest and wetland ecosystem interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Human linkages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

iii. ECoNomiC LiNkAgES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Watershed management programmes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Payments or ecological services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

iv. PoLiCy LiNkAgES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Holistic approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Te ecosystem approach (EA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Sustainable orest management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Integrated water resource management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Framing issues within holistic approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Policy overview: Convention on Biological Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Policy overview: Ramsar Convention on Wetlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Te Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and its coverage o orested ecosystems .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Complementarity between the Convention on Biological Diversity and

the Ramsar Convention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Gaps between the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Ramsar Convention . . . . . . . . . . . 36

APPENDix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Summary o key decisions on orest and water management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

CBD decision IV/4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

CBD decision V/6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

CBD decision VI/22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

CBD decision IX/5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

CBD decision IX/19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Ramsar Convention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Ramsar Wise Use Handbooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Fourth Joint Work Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38


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FoREWoRD

Te linkages between water, wetlands and orests exempliy the im-

portance o managing ecosystems in their entirety to protect theirecological character as well as the reshwater resources and related

ecological services that are so vital to human activity on Earth. Inland

waters are amongst the most threatened ecosystem types o all, and

it is estimated that hal o the worlds wetlands have been lost since

1900. Deorestation is also posing a major threat to water catchments

and the quantity and quality o available resh water. With water use

growing at more than twice the rate o population growth, it is vital

that we properly understand the linkages between water, wetlands

and orests, and manage our ecosystems accordingly.

Tis echnical Series publication addresses a request by the Conerence

o the Parties (decision IX/5 3(e)) to examine linkages between theConvention on Biological Diversity and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. o provide adequate

context, this document summarizes inormation on the crucial linkages between water, wetlands and

orests, and how these linkages are recognized and accounted or in terms o ecology, economics and

policy. Based on an analysis o complementarities between both Conventions with regard to orests and

wetlands, this publication highlights topical synergies that may benet rom increased collaboration.

We would like to thank our partners who contributed to the development and review o this publica-

tion, including the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),

Forest Europe, the International Union or Conservation o Nature (IUCN), UN-Water, and the United

Nations Educational, Scientic and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). We trust that this publication

will provide useul inormation on this topic and encourage urther and strengthened cooperation be-

tween the multitudes o stakeholders involved in protecting our planets reshwater resources and its

interdependent ecosystems.

Dr. Ahmed Djoghla

Executive Secretary

Convention on Biological Diversity


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ExECuTivE SummARy

Te ecological linkages between water, wetlands and orests represent the intricate interdependence

o our ecosystems and our resources. Forests play a pivotal role in the hydrological cycle by aectingrates o transpiration and evaporation, and inuencing how water is routed and stored in a watershed.

Tis consequently plays a vital role in the preservation o our wetlands, which act as natural reservoirs

and are extremely rich in terms o both biodiversity and the ecological services that they provide, or

example, within the realms o agriculture, sanitation, and energy.

Te importance and scarcity o our reshwater resources cannot be overstated; it is estimated that by

2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in regions with absolute water scarcity and two-thirds o the

worlds population could experience water-stress conditions. Tere are also crucial economic linkages

that need to be understood, such as the water storage unction o orests, which can ofen be signi-

cantly higher than the potential timber value o those orests.

Watershed management programmes and payment or ecological service mechanisms have been de-signed and implemented to help correct some o the market ailures that result in actions that are harm-

ul to both the aected ecosystem and economy. From a policy aspect, it is crucial that the linkages be-

tween water, wetlands and orests are taken into consideration to adequately protect our water resources

and related ecosystems. Tis holistic approach is highlighted by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

wise use practices, as well as the Convention on Biological Diversitys ecosystem approach. Te joint

work plan between these two conventions signies both the congruency o their respective approaches

as well as the importance o ensuring that the ecological linkages are not neglected in the policy realm.

Tis document rst addresses the issue o reshwater scarcity as an introduction to the importance o

orest and wetland linkages. Ecological linkages are then described, with specic note o the hydrologi-

cal cycle, the results o orest and water ecosystem interaction and human linkages to both ecosystems.

Te economic linkages are then described, with particular attention given to watershed management

programmes and payments or ecological services. Finally, the policy linkages are explored both in a

holistic sense through the ecosystem approach, sustainable orest management and integrated water

resource management, but also through a policy overview o the Convention on Biological Diversity

and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, along with a brie review o synergies and gaps between the

two conventions.

Tese linkages highlight the importance o utilizing proper scope to ensure ull stakeholder involve-

ment and cooperation across a multitude o sectors when dealing with our planets water resources. Tis

can be acilitated in part by enhanced collaboration between the Convention on Biological Diversity

and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands to assist their respective member Parties in implementing

management policies in accordance with the ecosystem approach and wise use practices.


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i. iNTRoDuCTioN

RAising thE tidEs oF consciousnEss ARound ouR WAtER REsouRcEs

Water is a simple yet perect substance that is the cornerstone o lie on Earth. Its countless uses al-

low or our ourishing biodiversity, while its uniormity connects us with the rest o the living world

around us. Water is, in itsel, a living processwith its same molecules cycling through their dierent

phases to sustain lie on Earth. Tese ancient molecules run through our veins today and will continue

to sustain us into the uture, provided we take the necessary care to maintain this invaluable resource.

Te importance o water is apparent, but the current state o this resource is something that must be

discussed, understood and acted upon to ensure its sustainability. Proper care can ensure its sustain-

ability, but continued mismanagement and depletion o our water resources will lead to nothing short

o a crisis or lie on our planet.

While, or many o us, potable water can be obtained at any time o day or night just by turning a aucet,

more than one in six people worldwide do not have access to their daily requirement o sae resh water.It is estimated that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water

scarcity and that two-thirds o the world population could experience water-stress conditions. Water

use has been growing at more than twice the rate o population growth, with 70% used or irrigation,

22% or industry, and 8% or domestic use. Despite the crucial importance o this resource, we continue

to mistreat this reservoir o lie. We dump 2 million tonnes o human waste into watercourses each day,

and 70% o industrial waste in developing countries is dumped untreated into waters, polluting the us-

able water supply.

Te importance o water and the current plight o this resource are highlighted in the United Nations

Millennium Development Goals. One major target is to halve, by 2015, the proportion o the population

without sustainable access to sae drinking water and basic sanitation. Another target aims to achieve a

signicant improvement in the lives o at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020, by ocusing on improv-

ing sanitation and water acilities. Water is also inextricably linked to the target to halve, between 1990

and 2015, the proportion o people who suer rom hunger, since water quality, availability and use are

major actors in agriculture and ood prices. Te target to reduce biodiversity loss also directly incorpo-

rates the protection o water resources, both in and o themselves and as part o ecosystems. While the

protection o our water resources is highlighted in these targets directly, the importance o resh water

makes its preservation a crucial component o all o the Millennium Development Goals (Figure 1).


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FiguRE 1: Millennium Development Goals

Source: Compiled by authors using original image o the Millennium Development Goals

Te increasing awareness o the importance o our reshwater resources has not only pervaded our en-

vironmental and public health sectors, it has also reached the business world. Water Worries was the

theme o a May 2009 Citigroup Global Markets publication.1 Te publication ocused on the act that

unsustainable water usage has caused water scarcity to become an economic constraint in major growth

markets such as China, India, and Indonesia, as well as commercial centres in Australia and the western

United States. It went on to cite the World Economic Forum, which stated:

Worsening water security will soon tear into various parts o the global economic system. It

will start to emerge as a headline geopolitical issue. () We are now on the verge o water

bankruptcy.2

Tis inormation, coupled with the act that a survey o Fortune 1000 companies revealed that 40% said

the impact o a water shortage would have severe or catastrophic impacts on their business, indicates

that water is a crucial part o both our economic and environmental systems.3

It is necessary, however, that we view water not as a mere commodity, but as a vital aspect o our natural

ecosystems. It is estimated that hal o the worlds wetlands have been lost since 1900, and more than

20% o the worlds 10,000 known reshwater species have become extinct, threatened or endangered. 4

1 Water Worries: Update #2, Edward M. Kershner and Michael Geraghty, Citigroup Global Markets, 20 May 2009.

2 World Economic Forum. 2009. Te Bubble is Close to Bursting: A Forecase o the Main Economic and Geopolitical Water IssuesLikely to Arise in the World during the Next wo Decades. Draf or Discussion at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting,January 2009, p. 5.

3 Water Worries: Update #2, Edward M. Kershner and Michael Geraghty, Citigroup Global Markets, 20 May 2009.

4 Fact Sheet on Water and Sanitation, Water or Lie. http://www.un.org/waterorliedecade/actsheet.html


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It is thereore crucial to consider the preservation o reshwater resources as an essential component

or the preservation o biological diversity, healthy ecosystem unction, and biological resources. Te

Convention on Biological Diversity gives the ollowing denitions or biological diversity, ecosys-

tem, and biological resources, respectively:5

Biological diversity means the variability among living organisms rom all sources including,

inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes o

which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and o ecosystems.

Ecosystem means a dynamic complex o plant, animal and micro-organism communities and

their non-living environment interacting as a unctional unit.

Biological resources includes genetic resources, organisms or parts thereo, populations, or any

other biotic component o ecosystems with actual or potential use or value or humanity.

We now nd ourselves at the crossroads o how we have treated our water resources and their capacity

to serve us in the uture. We cannot continue our unsustainable practices and urther strain the dimin-ishing supply o resh water. We must heed this call and work towards a better understanding o how

to manage our water resources to ensure that our ecosystems will continue to provide us with the vital

sustenance that water has granted us thus ar, and which we will continue to require indenitely.

5 Article 2. Use o erms. Convention ext, Convention on Biological Diversity

JacquelineGrekin


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ii. ECoLogiCAL LiNkAgES

Water, wetlands and orests are constantly interacting to produce healthy and productive ecosystems.

Forests, or example, play a critical role in the well-being and proper unction o the hydrological cycle.An examination o the hydrological cycle reveals how orest conservation and management are inti-

mately linked to the health o water basins and the quality o water downstream. Forests also regulate

soil erosion and pollution, and prevent desertication and salinization. Te capacity o orests to help

capture and store water helps to mitigate oods in periods o heavy rain and ensures steady water ow

during drier seasons. In return, many orests depend on groundwater or survival, and rely on wetlands

to support their ora and auna. Wetlands also play a critical role in maintaining many natural cycles

and supporting a wide range o biological diversity.

thE hydRoLogicAL cycLE

We cannot act properly to preserve our water resources without rst understanding how water circulates

throughout the environment. Te same water that we depend on today has been circulated throughoutits various orms in the hydrological cycle since water rst appeared on this planet. Te hydrological

cycle describes the movement o water on, above, and below the surace o the Earth as ice, liquid water,

and water vapour (Figure 2). Tis cycle is urther inuenced by natural processes, such as transpiration

rom plants and human activities.

Te hydrological cycle is the undamental building block o reshwater resources, which comprise only

2.5% o the total water on Earth. O these reshwater resources, about 70% is in the orm o ice and

permanent snow cover, 30% is stored underground, and 0.3% comprises the worlds reshwater lakes

and rivers. Consequently, the total reshwater supply or use by humans and ecosystems is less than 1%

o all reshwater resources and less than 0.015% o all water on the planet.6 It is this small portion o the

Earths water that we rely on so heavily or ood production, industry, drinking water, and the main-

tenance o healthy ecosystems. Trough the hydrological cycle, water is transerred between surace,

subsurace and atmospheric regions through the multitude o processes shown in gures 2 and 3.

In brie, water travels rom the Earths surace to the atmosphere as water vapour through evaporation

(the process o turning water rom a liquid to a gas) rom surace water and runo, or transpiration

through plants. ranspiration describes the movement o water through soil and vegetation, and ac-

counts or 62% o annual globally renewable resh water (Figure 2). In the hydrological cycle, the results

o transpiration are known as green water, whereas the liquid water moving above and below the

ground is known as blue water. (Figure 3). Te vapour accumulated through these processes, together

reerred to as evapotranspiration, represents 10% o the worlds resh water and cycles in the atmosphere

in a global dynamic envelope.7 Tis vapour then condenses to orm clouds, where it later returns to

the Earths surace through precipitation. Precipitation is the main source o resh water, afer which thewater either returns to the atmosphere through evaporation or transpiration, recharges groundwater, or

provides surace and subsurace runo, which ultimately ows into larger bodies o water.8

6 UN Water Statistics, http://www.unwater.org/statistics_res.html

7 UNESCO Water Portal bi-monthly newsletter No. 213

8 World Water Assessment Programme. 2009. Te United Nations World Water Development Report 3: Water in a Changing World.Paris: UNESCO, and London: Earthscan, pp. 166-7. http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/wwdr/wwdr3/.


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FiguRE 2: The hydrological cycle

Source: L. S. Hamilton 2008. Forests and Water. FAO Forestry Paper 155, Rome: FAO, 3.

FiguRE 3: Interrelations among environmental components o the global water cycle

Source: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Wetlands and Water Synthesis. World

Resources Institute, Washington, D.C.


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REsuLts oF FoREst And WEtLAnd EcosystEm intERAction

Given the crucial importance o water to lie on Earth, it is necessary to consider how various ecosys-

tems are linked through the hydrological cycle. One key example is the relationship between orests and

wetlands. Far too ofen, these interdependent ecosystems are viewed as completely separate entities in-stead o a linked unit that plays a crucial role in the hydrological cycle and the preservation o our water

resources. A better understanding o the role that these bodies play in the hydrological cycle will enable

us to more eectively consider these ecosystems when ormulating policies and management practices

to protect our water resources.

Box 1: Forests and Water: Key Messages for Policy-makers

WATER USE BY FORESTS

Factors inuencing water use by orests includeclimate, orest and soil type, among others. Ingeneral, orests use more water than shorter types

o vegetation because o higher evaporation;they also have lower surace runo, groundwaterrecharge and water yield. Forest management prac-tices can have a marked impact on orest water useby inuencing the mix o tree species and ages, theorest structure and the size o the area harvestedand let open.

DRY-SEASON FLOWS

Forests reduce dry-season ows as much or morethan they reduce annual water yields. It is theo-retically possible that in degraded agriculturalcatchments the extra inltration associated withaorested land might outweigh the extra evapora-tion loss rom orests, resulting in increased rather

than reduced dry-season owsbut this has rarelybeen seen.

FLOOD FLOWS

Forests can mitigate small, local oods but do notappear to inuence either extreme oods or thoseat the large catchment scale. One possible exceptionis reduction o downstream ooding by oodplainorest, where hydraulic roughness (the combinationo all elements that may cause ow resistance, suchas orest litter, dead wood, twigs and tree trunk) mayslow down and desynchronize ood ows.

WATER QUALITY

Natural orests and well-managed plantations canprotect drinking-water supplies. Managed orestsusually have lower input o nutrients, pesticidesand other chemicals than more intensive land uses,such as agriculture. Forests planted in agriculturaland urban areas can reduce pollutants, especiallywhen located on runo pathways or in riparianzones. However, trees exposed to high levels o airpollution capture sulphur and nitrogen and canincrease water acidication.

EROSION

Forests protect soils and reduce erosion rates andsediment delivery to rivers. Forestry operationssuch as cultivation, drainage, road constructionand timber harvesting may increase sediment

losses, but best management practices can controlthis risk. Planting orests on erosion-prone soilsand runo pathways can reduce and interceptsediment.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Global climate models predict marked changes inseasonal snowall, rainall and evaporation in manyparts o the world. In the context o these changes,the inuence o orests on water quantity and qual-ity may be negative or positive. Where large-scaleorest planting is contemplated or climate changemitigation, it is essential to ensure that it will notaccentuate water shortages. Shade provided byriparian orests may help reduce thermal stress to

aquatic lie as climate warming intensies.

ENERGY FORESTS

Fast-growing orest crops have potential or highwater demand, which can lead to reduced wateryields. The local trade-o between energy genera-tion opportunities and water impacts may be a keyissue in regions where climate change threatenswater resources.

Source: IUFRO 2007. How do Forests Inuence Water? IUFRO Fact Sheet No. 2, cited by I. Calder, T. Hoer, S. Vermont and P. Warren

2007. Towards a new understanding o orests and water. Unasylva 58 (229). Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization.

AndrDuchesne


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Forests play a very important role in the hydrological cycle

by directly aecting rates o evapotranspiration and by in-

uencing how water is routed and stored in a watershed.

Forest soils readily absorb water and, as a result, surace

runo rarely occurs outside o stream channels in or-ested areas, causing important water catchments to orm

beneath orests.9 Tese catchments not only help store

valuable resh water, but they also increase the quality o

water since orest cover reduces erosion and keeps rainwa-

ter within the enriched soil o orest beds and away rom

pollutants. Other aspects o the role that orests play with

respect to water are expanded in Box 1.

As a result o the key role that orests play both in the hy-

drological cycle and in the natural supply o resh water,

it is no surprise that a recent review revealed that about

one-third o the worlds largest cities obtain a signicantportion o their drinking-water directly rom orested pro-

tected areas. Te proportion increases to about 44% when

including water sources originating in distant protected

orested watersheds and other orests managed in a way

that prioritizes their unctions in providing water.10

Coastal ecosystems are among the most productive in the

world, and have strong linkages to both habitats and settle-

ments that extend beyond their importance in the hydro-

logical cycle. Forested riparian wetlands, or example, play

a vital role as buers to ameliorate the impacts o oods.

Te wetlands along the Mississippi River had the capac-

ity to store about 60 days o river discharge, but their re-

moval to create canals and levees has reduced ood stor-

age capacity to only 12 days o dischargea reduction o

80%.11Forested wetlands also have tremendous value with

regards to their biodiversity since the varying habitat types

result in a signicant array o biological communities. One

prime example o the unique biodiversity that results rom

orested wetlands is the relationship between trees and sh

in the ooded orests o the Amazon. At least 200 dierent species o sh have developed molars to

crush seeds, nuts, and ruit, and these sh, in turn, help to disperse the trees seeds 12 (Box 2).

Forest mismanagement can have adverse implications on water quality and biological diversity inboth the orests and the nearby wetlands, and mismanagement o wetlands can adversely impact the

surrounding orests. It is thereore imperative that policy-makers consider ecosystems in their entirety

to properly account or the impacts that management and practices will have throughout the ecosys-

tem. Tis approach was highlighted in a 2002 meeting o international experts held in Shiga, Japan.

9 Pike, Robin. Forest Hydrologic Cycle Basics. Streamline Watershed Management Bulletin, 7(1) 2003, 15

10 Stolton, S., and Dudley, N. Managing orests or cleaner water or urban populations. Unasylva. FAO. 229. 401.

11 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005: Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Wetlands and Water. Island Press, Washington, DC.

12 Adlon, Jacob. Flooded Forests o the Amazon. Associated Content. 30 April 2009. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1690185/ooded_orests_o_the_amazon.html?singlepage=true

Box 2: The Tambaqui

The tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) isuniquely adapted to the ooded orests othe Amazon. It eeds on seeds and ruit ormost o the year, a practice that has yieldedsignicant adaptations in both the plants andsh in the area. The tambaqui has developedmolars to help crush ruit and seeds, as wellas nasal aps to help it nd allen ruit in thewater. Since many trees rely on these sh todisperse their seeds, they have evolved tomake their ruit easy or the sh to nd byproducing ragrant oils, resins, latexes, andacids that attract the sh. Some other shspecies spit out the seeds intact or deecatethem whole in a new location where they canthen grow into new trees.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica, Piranha,

Supplemental Inormation http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/461541/

piranha/461541suppino/Supplemental-Inormation

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Te purpose o the meeting was to contribute to the discussion and outcomes o the upcoming Tird

World Water Forum. About 100 orest and watershed management experts rom 18 countries and

16 international organizations and NGOs met in Shiga, Japan under the organization o the Forestry

Agency o Japan and the Shiga Preectural Government. Among its recommendations, the group

declared the ollowing:

Eective orest and watershed management are valuable or long-term sustainability o

water resources. Governments and other stakeholders should develop policies and implement

programmes that promote holistic, multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder approaches that

link orests, water, watersheds, the environment and people.13

humAn LinkAgEs

Human actions may not only drastically alter

their own immediate environment, but impacts

may be elt in other areas as well as a result o the

ecosystem linkages. Tis is important to consid-er with regards to orests and wetlands because

o the nature o upstream/downstream relations

and how that impacts water resources.

Te actions taken by upstream orest managers

may greatly impact communities living down-

stream in terms o water resources, ooding,

and erosion. As a result, great strides have been

made in many areas to ensure hydrosolidarity

between upstream orest managers and down-

stream water users. Te government o Costa

Rica, or example, has sponsored mechanisms

to create economic incentives or conserving

orests and to compensate those whose land

or land uses generate environmental services.14

Such arrangements are vital to ensure that up-

stream dwellers can benet rom their natural

resources without jeopardizing the ecological

saety o resources or downstream users.

I, or example, upstream oresters were to cut down their trees to sell the timber, downstream users

would suer rom decreased water quality, lower catchments, and increased ooding and erosion. It is

thereore very important to consider interactions between various communities and the impacts thattheir actions have on the ecosystems around them (Box 3).

Human actions in orests and wetlands also have impacts that extend beyond the hydrological cycle and

alter both the surrounding ecosystems as well as the role o humans in that ecosystem. Deorestation

in the Amazon ood plains, or example, has decreased the sh available or ood. 15 Perhaps more

13 Shiga Declaration, 2002

14 Calder et al. 2007. owards a new understanding o orests and water. Unasylva 229. Food and Agricultural Organization o theUnited Nations.3-10.

15 Simons, Marlise. In the Quiet World o Fruit-Eating Fish, a Biologist Feels oo Alone. New York imes. 2 February 1988

Deorestation in the Amazon or cattle arming

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alarming is the impact that deorestation in other parts

o the world is seen to have on Malariathe most preva-

lent cause o death in the world.16 An article in Newsweek

noted that the rise in Malaria can be ascribed almost

entirely to human acts o deorestation, which produc-es stagnant pools o water and allows more sunlight to

reach water suraces.17 Tese human-created environ-

ments resulting rom deorestation create perect nurs-

eries orAnopheles mosquitoes that can then transer the

mosquito parasite to humanswhereas prior to the deorestation, these mosquitoes made up an insig-

nicant part o the ecosystem. A study ound that an increase in human-biting rates o the Anopheles

mosquito was directly correlated to deorestationeven afer controlling or the presence o humans.18

Tis exemplies the great impacts that humans can inadvertently have on the ecosystems around them

and how those changes can, in turn, have deadly consequences or human populations as well as other

aspects o the ecosystem. What is perhaps most worrisome is that this does not appear to be an isolated

incident, but a trend that is arising as decreasing biodiversity gives way to more deadly pathogens with

less competition rom nonvector species that had previously kept them in checkexemplied by vi-ruses such as SARS, HIV, and West Nile.19

16 Huang, Lily. Rise o the Bugs. Newsweek. 29 June 2009

17 Ibid.

18 Vittor et al. Te eect o deorestation on the human-biting rate oAnopheles Darlingi , the primary vector o Falciparum malaria inthe Peruvian Amazon.American Journal o ropical Medicine and Hygene . 74(1), 2006. pp 3-11

19 Huang, Lily. Rise o the Bugs. Newsweek. 29 June 2009

Anopheles sp.

Box 3: Deforestation in Zambia

Zambia is a landlocked country in southern Arica that lies mainlyin the Zambezi River basin and partially in the Congo River basinin the north. A 2007 survey concluded that local communitieshad been exposed to extreme climactic variations in the pastnine years, including droughts, oods, extreme heat waves, and ashorter rainy season.

Deorestation is advancing in Zambia at 3,000 km2 per year, and

has resulted in localized ooding, increased erosion, reductionin surace and groundwater availability, and loss o aquatic lie.Decreasing surace and groundwater quality has also beenattributed to increasing nutrient load, industrial and agriculturalpollutants, and a alling groundwater table.

In the case o Zambia, there are enough water and land resourcesto acilitate development, but a lack o inormation and manage-ment are damaging the countrys water resources and may poseserious challenges in the uture. These challenges are directlyrelated to the countrys current public health needs, which stemrom water-related diseases such as malaria and diarrhea, and alack o sanitary conditions, which currently claim lives and reduceproductivity.

Exposed tree roots due to erosion

Source: Zambia: the Zambezi and Congo river basins in World Water Assessment Programme. 2009. The United Nations WorldWater Development Report 3: Case Study Volume: Facing the Challenges. Paris: UNESCO, and London: Earthscan, 15-18. http://

www.unesco.org/water/wwap/wwdr/wwdr3/case_studies/pd/WWDR3_Case_Study_Volume.pd

Som

osMedicina/Flickr.com

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iii. ECoNomiC LiNkAgES

In recent years, there has been increasing recogni-

tion o the ecological services provided by orests andwetlands. Although these services are ofen essential

to economic development, their economic value is

sometimes overlooked. Many areas supplying these

ecological services remain threatened as a result o

poor management and unsustainable use, resulting

in environmental degradation. When ecosystems are

threatened, their ability to provide ecological services

is diminished. Tis ofen comes at the cost o local

communities that rely most heavily on products ob-

tained rom their surrounding environment.

O the ecosystem services identied in the Millennium

Ecosystem Assessment,20 regulating services, provision-

ing services, supporting services and cultural services,

UNEP has identied 11 as being o critical importance

and lying within its mandate (Box 4).

Policies that seek to manage water and orest resources

may benet rom accounting or the direct and indi-

rect economic value o ecological services. Tere also

needs to be recognition o the intimate linkages be-

tween dierent sectors o orest and wetland ecosys-

tems. Negative impacts on one sector are likely to harm

other sectors o the ecosystem and augment losses in

ecosystem goods and services.

WAtERshEd mAnAgEmEnt PRogRAmmEs

As a result o the increased awareness o both human and

ecosystem linkages between water, wetlands and orests,

many watershed management programmes aim to protect

watersheds via the protection o orests. Tis ecosystem

approach is highly advantageous to conventional inra-

structure approaches which ofen have adverse eects on

the surrounding orest and wetland environments (Figure

4).

One o the most prominent watershed management

programmes was created in New York City in 1997 (Box

5); similar programmes have been implemented all over

the world. okyo and Sydney are examples o two other

large cities that have chosen to preserve water quality

20 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005. Ecosystems and HumanWell-being: Synthesis. Island Press, Washington, DC

Box 4: Ecosystem Services

REguLAting sERvicEsare dened as the

benets obtained rom the regulation o ecosystemprocesses. They include the ollowing:

Climate Regulation

Ecosystems inuence climate both locally andglobally. At the local scale, changes in landcover can aect both temperature and precipi-tation. At the global scale, ecosystems play animportant role in climate either by sequesteringcarbon (e.g., in orests, grasslands and marineecosystems) or by emitting greenhouse gases(e.g., orests destruction by re and melting per-marost). Forests, and the services they provide,are particularly vulnerable to overexploitationand habitat degradation.

Natural hazard regulation

Healthy ecosystems provide protection romextreme events such as hurricanes, tsunamis,high tides, oods, droughts, etc. For example,mangroves and coral rees help protect coastalareas rom storm surges; vegetation cover on ahillside can help prevent erosion and mudslides.Natural disaster and post-conict responseis another key area or results in the UNEPmedium-term strategy, and has strong linkagesto ecosystem management.

Water regulation

Water scarcity is increasingly aecting hu-

man well-being and making us aware o theimportance o healthy terrestrial ecosystems asthe major source o accessible, renewable reshwater (in itsel a top priority service). Ecosystemssupply, store and retain water in watershedsand natural reservoirs; they regulate the ow owater required or irrigation and industry, andprovide protection against storms, erosion andoods.

Water purifcation and waste management

Water purication and waste treatment areacilitated by healthy ecosystems, providing cleandrinking water and water suitable or industry,

recreation and wildlie. Natural wetlands can proc-ess and lter pollutants such as metals, viruses,oils, excess nutrients, and sediment. Forests retainwater and slowly lter it through the ground.

Disease regulation

Healthy soils and wetlands can trap and detoxiypathogens and regulate disease-carrying organ-isms. By breaking down human and ecosystem

contd p. 17


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Box 4 (contd)

waste, many organisms reduce the threat odiseases such as cholera. Predatory organisms

keep a population o pathogens and its carriersrelatively low. Thereore, reducing predator popu-lations, as a result o habitat ragmentation orcompetition rom invasive species, can increasehuman and other diseases. Recent researchhas demonstrated that the risk o Lyme diseasedecreases when the diversity o vertebrate com-munities is high.

PRovisioning sERvicEsare the productsobtained rom ecosystems. These include ood, reshwater, wood, bre, genetic resources and medicines.O particular interest to UNEP are:

Fresh waterThe well-being o both ecosystems and humansis strongly dependent on this vital ecosystemservice, which provides people with water ordomestic use, irrigation, power generation,and transportation. The natural availability oresh water in rivers, lakes and other aquiersvaries considerably, however, and demand hasexploded over the last century. This has led to theconstruction o dams, irrigation channels, riverembankments and inter-basin canals, oten at thecost o ecosystem degradation.

Energy

This ecosystem service was mentioned as

biomass energy in the Millennium EcosystemAssessment. The increased production obiouels to replace such ossil uels as woodand charcoalo particular importance to poorpeoplehas provoked keen debate about thepotential impacts o this production on ecosys-tem and human well being. Hydropower as a lowcarbon energy source is dependent on reshwaterrelated ecosystem services (provided, or example,by dams) and can also have major impacts onupstream and downstream ecosystems.

Fisheries

Marine and reshwater sheries are in decline, in

spite o increasing demand. Fish protein is o par-ticular importance to poor people. Overshing isthe main problem, but keeping aquatic ecosys-tems healthy can help sustain populations in theace o growing demand.

suPPoRting sERvicEsare necessary or the pro-duction o all other ecosystem services. Not surprisingly,these relate to undamental environmental processesand intangible values. Their impacts are either indirect

or occur over a very long time. Examples o supportingservices include biomass production, production o at-mospheric oxygen, soil ormation and retention, nutrientcycling, water cycling, and provisioning o habitat. UNEPwill ocus on two in particular:

Nutrient cycling

Approximately 20 nutrients essential or lie,such as nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium, areabsorbed, retained and recycled by ecosystems.Phytoplanktonmicroscopic plantsin lakes,rivers and the sea absorb nutrients rom runoand pass them up the ood chain. Soil organ-ismsrom microbes and ungi to earthwormsand insectsare crucial to the chemical conver-

sion and physical transer o essential nutrientsto higher plants. In simplied low-diversityagricultural landscapes, this capacity is muchreduced. Many parts o the world suer rominadequate nutrients in their soils and ood, whileothers must deal with excessive nutrients leadingto overload and eutrophication (depletion ooxygen in the water).

Primary production

The lie-sustaining production o organic com-pounds, mainly through photosynthesis by greenplants and algae, is known as primary produc-tion. All lie on Earth relies directly or indirectlyon primary production, yet we know very littleabout its natural limits or its risk o collapse underincreasing pressure rom climate change andother environmental actors.

cuLtuRAL sERvicEsis the umbrella term usedor the non-material benets that people obtainrom ecosystems, such as spiritual enrichment, intel-lectual development, refection, religious experience,and recreation. It comprises knowledge systems,social relations, aesthetic values and appreciationo nature. O these varied services, ecotourism is o

particular interest to UNEP.

Recreation and ecotourism

Healthy ecosystems which oer opportunities oroutdoor recreation and nature-based tourism arebecoming an increasingly important economicresource. Far beyond providing an aesthetic ex-perience only or the privileged, ecotourism hasgreat potential and proven success in many partso the world or alleviating poverty and improv-ing human well-being.

Source: UNEP. 2009. Ecosystem Management ProgrammeA New Approach to Sustainability. Nairobi, UNEP Division o

Environmental Policy Implementation, 4-8.


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Box 5: New York Citys Watershed Management Programme

One o the best-known examples o watershed manage-ment programmes is the case o New York Citys planto protect its water quality to comply with the ederalSae Drinking Water Act. The law required the ltrationo drinking water coming rom surace water sourcesunless the water system provided sae water and wasactively protected to ensure uture water saety. Facedwith this new legislation, New York City had to choosebetween creating a massive ltration system or overnine million people at an approximate cost o US$46 billion or creating an integrated water resourcemanagement approach to protect the Catskill/Delaware

watershed at an approximate cost o US$1 billion.

The city chose to produce a watershed management programme which included oresters, landowners,armers, government ofcials, technical agencies and businesses to help sustain and manage the quality othe largest unltered water supply in the United States. The programme balanced economic growth in theCatskills with drinking water protection in NYC by ensuring that the needs o stakeholders were met, whilesimultaneously meeting applicable drinking water standards. Approximately 95% o watershed armers havechosen to voluntarily participate, providing or 275 miles o protected stream buers and 307 site-specicorest management plans on private lands.

Source: United Nations Environment Programme. New York Citys Watershed Management Programme. http://www.unep.

org/GC/GCSS-VIII/Doc.Inno%20(61-3)%20USA%20Sanitation%205.doc. Retrieved July 22, 2009.

Catskills

FiguRE 4: Pictorial representation o some direct drivers o change in inland and coastal wetlandsSource: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Wetlands and Water Synthesis. World

Resources Institute, Washington, D.C.

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by protecting their orests, which is proving to be both

environmentally and economically benecial.21 Te case

o Panama (Box 6) shows how watershed management

is vital or industry as well as drinking water, and how

innovative nance mechanisms can be used in the place

o direct government intervention.

In addition to preserving watersheds or large cities,

watershed management has also been used success-

ully on a smaller scale. Salem, Oregon, or instance,

instituted the Free ree Program in 2003 to promote

watershed stewardship throughout the city to help im-

prove water quality. Trough this programme, stream-

side property owners can receive ree native tress or

shrubs to be planted along a waterway on their prop-erty. By improving the riparian zone, landowners can,

through this programme, reduce stream bank erosion,

improve water quality and support biodiversity.22

21 Stolton, S., Dudley, N. Managing orests or cleaner water or urban populations. Unasylva 229 (58). FAO. 2007. 39-43.

22 City o Salem, www.cityosalem.net

Mudslide

Box 6: The Panama Canal and Water Quality

Sedimentation and growth o waterweeds create problems or shipping in

the Panama Canal and require expensivedredging. An adequate, regulated supplyo resh water is also needed. The role oorests in both these issues is recognizedby the Smithsonian Tropical ResearchInstitute in Panama, which has recom-mended reorestation o denuded parts othe watershed. This would reduce not onlysedimentation, but also the ow into thecanal o nutrients that stimulate aquaticvegetation growth. Reorestation woulddecrease total water inow, but the regu-lated eect o reducing peak ows couldresult in more useul water, requiring lesswater storage. It has been proposed thatcompanies dependent on the canal buybonds to pay or the reorestation.

In the meantime, a US$ 10 million debt-or-nature swap over 14 years through The Nature Conservancy (whichis pledging US$ 1.6 million) is strengthening the protection o existing orest watershed land. This involves129 000 ha in biodiversity-rich Chagres National Park. The watershed also provides drinking-water or Colnand Panama City.

Source: Plant Talk, 2003, Science and Technology: environmental economics, No. 34, cited in L. S. Hamilton 2008. Forests

and Water. FAO Forestry Paper 155, Rome: FAO, 17.

Panama Canal

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PAymEnts FoR EcoLogicAL sERvicEs

Te examples discussed in the previous section explain how properly maintaining watersheds and ri-

parian zones is benecial or both the environmental and economic interests o an area. With this in

mind, a nance mechanism is emerging to encourage these practices to preserve our vital natural re-sources and the ecological services that they provide. Tis concept is known as payments or ecological

services (PES).

In 1997, Robert Costanza et al. published an article in Nature about the value o the worlds ecosystem

services and natural capital. Te premise was that the services provided by ecological systems contrib-

ute to human welare and thereore represent part o the total economic value o the planet. While PES

mechanisms pre-dated Costanzas article, this was an important measure to attempt to properly align

the science with the economics. An estimated economic value o 17 ecosystem services or 16 biomes

resulted in a range o US$ 16-54 trillion per year, with an average o US$ 33 trillion per yearcompared

to a global gross national product total o around US$ 18 trillion per year at the timeputting ecologi-

cal services at a value around twice that o global gross national product.23

While these numbers are controversial and hard to gauge precisely, it is clear that ecological services

do represent a tremendous economic value that is ofen not actored into our economic system. PES

provides a mechanism by which the values o the services provided can be accounted or, rather than

neglected in avour o short-term gains rom exploitation that amount to ar less than the value o the

ecosystems that are destroyed. One example o the market ailure that results when proper accounting

mechanisms are not put into place lies in the orests o China, which have a water storage unction

worth about US$ 1 trillionthree times the value o the wood in those orestsand yet deorestation

is still a major issue in the nation. Uganda also presents a prime example o this ailure o the market to

recognize the value o ecological services, since the reduction o water resources due to climate change

23 Costanza, Robert, et al. Te value o the worlds ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature, 387. 15 May 1997. 253-280.

Xixi National Wetland Park, China

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has weakened hydropower generation which, in

turn, has resulted in increased deorestation as

people turn to wood uels or energyurther

damaging the water supply in the region.24

Te problem with many regulations o land-use

practices designed at protecting watersheds is that

they place a disproportionate share o the conser-

vation costs on upstream land users without giving

them corresponding access to benets. In response

to this, PES provides a market-based arrangement

in which upstream land users can recover the costs

o maintaining orest cover and be incentivized to

protect the watershed. Varying geographies, cul-

tures, and demands make it necessary to imple-

ment specically tailored mechanisms in dierent

areas, and PES initiatives may range rom inor-mal, community-based initiatives, through more

ormal, voluntary contractual agreements be-

tween individual parties, to complex arrangements

among multiple parties acilitated by intermediary

organizations.25

Many PES mechanisms have been started in Latin

America. Box 7 describes a case in which a orestry

nancing und was set up in Costa Rica to com-

pensate orest owners or protecting resh water,

biodiversity, landscape beauty, and carbon stor-

age. Te World Bank has helped nance many o

these operations, with completed projects in Costa

Rica, Colombia, and Nicaragua; projects under

implementation in South Arica, Lesotho, Mexico,

Kenya, Costa Rica, and Panama; and projects under

preparation in Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, Mexico,

and Ecuador.26

While PES certainly oers a promising market-based solution or preserving ecosystems, it is by no

means perect. It has proven very dicult to demonstrate and quantiy the actual benets o the services

to those who are asked to pay or them, and it is extremely dicult to create a mechanism that is based

on both proper scientic measurement o the impact o the policies and reliable valuation o the benetso these impacts. Nevertheless, the emergence o these new nance mechanisms takes note o the im-

portant interactions within and between dierent topic areas (such as orests and water), and provides

an interesting new market-based technique to more properly account or vital ecological services.

24 Kaeero, F. Te impact o water shortage on orest resources the case o Uganda. Unasylva 229 (58). FAO. 2007. 38.

25 Hamilton, L. S. 2008. Forests and Water. FAO Forestry Paper 155, Rome: FAO, p. 60-1

26 World Bank, Environmental Economics & Indicators, Payments or Environmental Services, Current Projects, www.worldbank.org

Box 7: Costa Ricas National ForestryFinancing Fund

The Fondo Nacional de Financiamiento Forestal

(FONAFIFO; National Forestry Financing Fund) com-pensates orest owners who adhere to approvedmanagement plans or services protecting resh water,biodiversity, and landscape beauty and or carbonstorage. FONAFIFO is nanced by selling these servicesto dierent types o buyers. Hydroelectric companiesand municipalities may pay or watershed benets,tourism agencies or landscape beauty, and oreignenergy companies or carbon storage. Additional undsare derived rom a uel tax. The programme has beenin place since 1998, building on lessons learned andinstitutions established or an earlier ten-year paymentor reorestation programme (Pagiola, 2002). FONAFIFOhas expanded its range o activities, most recently in2002, when agroorestry and indigenous reserves wereadded (Rosa et al., 2003).

A recent assessment o FONAFIFOs social impacts in theVirilla watershed ound it has had signicant benets interms o strengthened capacity or integrated manage-ment o arm and orest resources, and has contributedto the protection o 16 500 ha o primary orest, sustain-able management o 2 000 ha and reorestation o 1 300000 ha, with spin-o benets or biodiversity conserva-tion and prevention o soil erosion. There are also highopportunity costs, however, particularly or smallerlandowners, who tend to rely more heavily on small ar-eas o cleared orest and to combine orestry with otheractivities such as shelter or cattle and shade coee.Farmers with larger tracts receive greater advantagesbecause they are able to maintain higher proportions o

their land in orest.

Source: Miranda, M., Porras, I.T. and Moreno, M.L. 2003. The

social impacts o payments or environmental services in

Costa Rica : a quantitative eld survey and analysis o the

Virilla watershed, London, IIED. cited by Hamilton, L. S. 2008.

Forests and Water.FAO Forestry Paper 155, Rome: FAO, 63.


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iv. PoLiCy LiNkAgES

Given the linkages between water, wetlands and orests,

ideal management policies need to be holistic and adapt-able. Tere needs to be recognition o the act that all ac-

ets o a local ecosystem are connected and that policies

aecting one acet will almost inevitably aect another

(Box 8). Such holistic policies require an understanding

o the local environment, taking into account that each

case oers unique opportunities and challenges. A tai-

lored and exible approach is required to best manage

orests and wetlands, as blanket management policies

may ail to account or the unique needs o each ecosys-

tem and thereore result in a less optimal outcome.

hoListic APPRoAchEs

As a result o the inherent linkages between water, wet-

lands and orests, three major holistic approaches have

emerged: the ecosystem approach, sustainable orest man-

agement, and integrated water resources management.

Te ecosystem approach (EA)to orest and water man-

agement encourages policy-makers to adopt a more en-

compassing and holistic approach when dealing with

ecosystem management27 (Box 9).

Current orest management policies are largely guided

bysustainable forest management (SFM). At the heart

o sustainable orest management lies the goal o ensur-

ing that the ow o goods and services currently derived

rom orests can be sustained over the long-term.

More recently, there has been a move towards the adop-

tion and implementation o integrated water resources

management (IWRM), which advocates the coordi-

nated development and management o water, land, and

related resources in order to optimize social and eco-

nomic welare outcomes (Box 10). Currently supportedby the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and

the European Union Water Framework Directive (EU

WFD)28, integrated water resources management is an-

other policy approach that signals the increasing need

or a holistic approach to environmental management29.

27 Convention on Biological Diversity, COP decision VII/11Ecosystem Approach

28 Integrated Water Resources Management Organization, www.iwrm.org

29 Sustainable Management o Water Resources: Te Need or a HolisticEcosystem Approach. Ramsar COP 8 DOC.32 October 2002

Box 8: Conservation for Downstream WaterFlowsPangani Basin, Tanzania

The Pangani River originates rom a 43,000 km2 basin

in northeastern Tanzania and a small section o Kenya.Fourteen districts and two municipalities all withinthe basin, which includes the Kilimanjaro, Manyara,Arusha, and Tanga regions o Tanzania. Much o theriver ow originates rom Mount Kilimanjaro andMount Meru. The Pare and Usambara Mountains to thenortheast also serve as sources or river water. Whilenumerous tributaries drain the highland and upperbasin areas, water is much more scarce in the aridlowland areas, making the Pangani River a prominenteature in the landscape. The 14,000 ha Nyumba yaMungu Dam and several small natural lakes are locatedin the upper basin o Pangani River. Several wetlandsare also ound in the basinmost notably the Kiruaswamps o Nyumba ya Mungu, which cover 90,000 ha.

Densely populated and cultivated rural areas occupythe highland and upper basin o the Pangani, whilescattered croplands dot the lower areas. It is estimatedthat a total o 2.6 million people inhabit the PanganiRiver Basina population which is set to steadily growin the coming years.

The Pangani River Basin serves as an excellentexample o the intimate links between orest andwetland conservation. While much o the rivers watersupply comes rom precipitation, natural orest coverencourages the inltration o water during the rainyseason. This water is then released gradually, allowingor regular water ows throughout the year. Whenorest and vegetation cover is degraded, there is lesswater inltration. As a result, more water is lost duringood periods. Removal o vegetation also increasesthe rate o erosion and pollution, both o which aectthe quality o water urther downstream.

thE situAtion

Water supply in the Pangani River basin is currentlythreatened by climate change, orest degradation,inefcient land management practices and pollution.Population growth in the vicinity o the river is puttingincreasing pressure on the water supply. Meanwhile,growing demand or water has led to increasingconict between water users upstream and theircounterparts downstream. The abstraction o waterand the siltation o dams upstream have reduced the

rivers ability to generate power. The reduced waterow has also led to increasing environmental degra-dation, with the water shortage disrupting ecologicalprocesses and sustainable livelihood practices. Themultiple uses o the Pangani River and insufcientunds or proper water resources managementthreaten eorts to conserve the natural resource, andthe diversity o users and their relationships with theenvironment have posed additional challenges tomanagement plans.

contd p. 23


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Box 8 (contd)

thE PAngAni RivER BAsin mAnAgEmEnt PRojEct

The Pangani River Basin Management Project aims toundertake three key actions: 1) assess environmentalow requirements to eectively conserve the basinsnatural resources, 2) establish orums or communityparticipation

in water management, and 3) raise awareness aboutclimate change impacts and adaptation strategies.

Authorities have made eorts to understand current anduture climatic vulnerability by developing and usinginormation or equitable water allocation in a chang-ing hydrological regime. The project has also workedto negotiate outcomes that minimize uture climaticvulnerability and risk through continuing dialogues withsustainable water resources management, and main-

streaming climate change adaptation in the water sectorvia national linkages and past management experiences.Moreover, management o the Pangani Basin is nowexpanding beyond the scope o water management andregulation.The recent ormation o the Water ResourcesManagement Program, National Rural Water Supply andSanitation Program, and Urban Supply and SewerageProgramme are among the moves made to approachwater basin management on a more holistic level.

LAtEst outcomEs

While the Pangani River Basin Management Project isstill under implementation, there have already been anumber o notable achievements:

Poverty reduction measures traditionally call or increas-

ing agricultural output, but water allocation in the

Pangani already avours the agricultural sector, limitingany moves to urther prioritize the sector. The redirectiono water to the downstream site o the Pangani hydro-power stationa more degraded environmenthas led

to an outcome that is more environmentally benecial.

The Kikuletwa Catchment Forum is working to decentral-ize water management. Earlier water orums gave waterusers the opportunity to discuss and analyze local watermanagement issues, and to have a say in the allocationo water and negotiate equitable solutions to waterconicts. The Kikuletwa Catchment Forum, however, willbenet rom instructions and guidance regarding itscomposition, mandate and management responsibilities.

The Pangani Basin will be especially hard-hit by climatechange. It is predicted that the glacial ice cap on MountKilimanjaro will melt completely by 2025. A 1.83.6Ctemperature increase, decreasing rainall and increasedevaporation in the basin are expected to result in a

610% decrease in annual service ows in the basin.ThePangani River Basin is working to address climate changepreparedness and adaptation among water managersand water users in the environmentally sensitive andvulnerable Pangani Basin.

Current management eorts in the Pangani Basin il-lustrate the importance o community participation andawareness-raising in nding acceptable resolution towater conicts. The management project also dem-onstrates the need to anticipate and incorporate theneeds and impacts o various actors on the state o thewater basin. Moreover, the ow assessment conductedin the area illustrated that management o the waterbasin requires a multi-sectoral approach given the link-ages within the ecosystem.

Source: Pangani River Basin Management Project, http://www.panganibasin.com/project/index.html

Pangani River in food near Korogwe

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Box 9: GuatemalaMexico Tacan WatershedProject

The Tacan Watershed project in Guatemala and Mexico

illustrated how the decentralization o watershed manage-ment and the integration o policy can result in a moreoptimal outcome or all stakeholders.

thE situAtion

The Tacan Watershed project covers an area o 3,170km2 on the border zone between the department o SanMarcos, Guatemala, and the state o Chiapas, Mexico. Theregion lies between the watersheds o the Suchiate River,orming most o the rontier between the two countries,and the Coatn River, which arises in Guatemala and thenows into Mexican territory.

In 2003, the IUCN began a restoration project to repair theheavily degraded watershed. The main goal o the projectwas to reverse environmental degradation and especiallythe degradation o the watersheds, which are o greatstrategic importance or both Mexico and Guatemala sincethey supply water to a large number o residents in thecities located in the lower areas and are the main sources oirrigation or agricultural and livestock purposes. The risk odevastating oods is also signicantly reduced by restoringthe watersheds.

The upper watershed o the Tacan basin is home to anumber o coee plantations, which have led to erosionand increased the risk o ooding and mudslides. Thesugar cane and coee industries have also increased pol-lution in the middle basin. Further downstream, communi-ties and industries are oten aected by water scarcity in

the dry season. Deorestation, agriculture and pollutionare not the only threats to the Tacan basin, however,as dispersed authority, sectoral approaches, inadequatelaws and regulations, budgetary constraints, the absenceo integrated policies, and the lack o participation andtransparency have all impacted the quality and availabilityo water in the basin.

thE PRojEct

IUCNMesoamerica worked with various partners to imple-ment an integrated management approach in the TacanWatershed. This our-year project had our main objectives: 1)consolidate mechanisms or the coordination and manage-ment o water resources with an integrated approach, 2)

gather inormation or creating sub-basin managementplans, 3) implement a strategy or raising awareness and in-ormation- sharing, and 4) build strategic alliances or the im-plementation o sub-basin management plans in the short,medium and long term. The IUCN worked directly with localorganizations and initiated alliances between local groupsthrough numerous pilot projects which created knowledge-sharing networks. Local communities were inormed o theconsequences o unsustainable environmental management

and were involved in identiying dierent demands andpriorities on water use and watershed management.

The Tacan Watershed Project initiated seven micro-wa-tershed councils in Guatemala that helped to strengthenwater governance in a country where water managementregulations were virtually non-existent. Municipalities inMexico and Guatemala also collaborated in the projectby integrating their micro-basin management policies.An agreement between the two countries, the TapachulaDeclaration, was signed to develop joint projects onwatershed management.

The Tacan project also led to the creation o the CoatanRiver Watershed Committee in Chiapas, Mexico. A volun-tary association was ormed and led to the constructiono 19 greenhouses that received certication rom theExporters Association o Guatemala or growing owers

and plants.

thE outcomE

The Tacan project raised local awareness o the im-portance o sustainable watershed management. Localcommunities have worked to diversiy arming systemsthrough methods such as the terracing o degraded slopes.Eorts to reduce watershed pollution have led to reoresta-tion and the introduction o agroorestry. Communities arealso investing their labour and capital in the restorationo natural inrastructure and are working to better adaptthemselves to the consequences o climate change andsevere storms.

The Tacan project illustrates the need or decentralized,muli-sectoral management o water basins. The projectrecognized the links between agriculture, deorestation,and the quality and availability o water. The project alsodemonstrated that large-scale sustainable managementprojects can be made possible through integrating andsynchronizing local initiatives. Moreover, this IUCN projectdemonstrated that sustainable watershed managementcan reap economic benets by decreasing local vulnerabil-ity to oods and storms, and ensuring the uture produc-tivity o local agriculture plots.

Reorestation in the community o oninchincalaj, acan

Source: IUCN: Guatemala-Mexico Tacana Project, 2009, http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/guatemala_mexico_tacana_project.pd

FranciscoVis

oni,TacanProject


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The Sava River is the second-largest tributary to theDanube River. The river originates in Slovenia and runsor 950 km through Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, andSerbia. The Sava is a unique example o a river where theoodplains have remained intact and continue to sup-port biodiversity and mitigate oods. The Sava River alsohosts the largest alluvial oodplain wetlands site in the

Danube basin as well as the largest lowland orests. Lack oenvironmental inrastructure and institutional mechanismsor addressing transboundary impacts is causing seriousenvironmental concerns in the basin.

thE PRojEct

In 2007, the International Union or Conservation oNature (IUCN) and Wageningen International (WI) initiatedthe Protection o Biodiversity o the Sava River BasinFloodplains project to support the Sava Basin countries inprotecting and managing biological and landscape diver-sity along the Sava River. The project aimed to establishtransborder cooperation and agreement between the Savacountries to designate and manage an ecological network

o protected areas. Italso promoted sustainable land usepractices, rural tourism, and integrated management othe Sava River Basin.

The project was coordinated by a project managementteam ormed by IUCN and WI. A project steering commit-tee (PSC), a technical coordination group (TCG) and ourworking groups (WGs) were also ormed to support theprojects activities. The PSC consisted mainly o ministerialrepresentatives rom Sava Basin countries and oversaw

the work o the WGs, which was directed by the TCG. TheWGs work primarily ocused on biodiversity, land use,Geographic Inormation Systems, and awareness-raising.

thE outcomE

The project closed at the end o December 2009.

Outcomes include: a list o important sites or biodiversity;eld ormats and guidelines or site, habitat and speciesmapping; a GEO portal, which also served as a communica-tion platorm or the project; three issues o a newsletterpublished in English and the native languages o the Savacountries; an awareness-raising strategy elaborated andimplemented; an initial agreement or uture collabora-tion between the various stakeholders signed with theInternational Sava River Basin Commission (ISRBC); and aletter o intent signed by the Sava countries to designateand manage an ecological network o protected areas,ecological corridors, buer zones and restoration areas inaccordance with the EU Birds & Habitats Directives andWater Framework Directive, to increase cooperation be-tween the nature protection sector and the water manage-

ment sector on management within and among countries.

The project achieved its goal o improving transbound-ary cooperation on the protection and management othe landscape and biodiversity along the Sava River. Itillustrates how extensive transboundary cooperation isnecessary or the successul integrated management owater resources, as political and legislative challenges canhinder the development o the holistic water managementplans outlined under IWRM.

Source: Protection o Biodiversity o the Sava River Basin Floodplains Project Document, http://www.savariver.com/index.php

Box 10: Protecting Biodiversity in the Sava Basin Floodplains

Obedska Bara Special Nature Reserve, Serbia

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Te linkages between orests and wetlands illustrate the value and imperative to adopt the multi-sec-

toral ramework outlined in the ecosystem approach. Sustainable orest management and the ecosystem

approach are similar and compatible models. Many o the guidance policies o SFM t under the ecosys-

tem approach ramework (Box 11). Te key dierence between the two management systems is scope.

Te ecosystem approach recognizes that sustainable management o a protected area may require the

conservation o areas and the implication o stakeholders outside the designated zone. Current sustain-

able orest management policies may be enhanced by expanding upon its programme o work into areas

that indirectly aect the state and unction o protected zones. Conversely, watershed management poli-

cies may also wish to consider the value o conserving surrounding orests.

Te Ecosystem Approach (EA)

Te Convention on Biological Diversity denes the ecosystem approach as:30

A strategy or the integrated management o land, water, and living resources that promotes

conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way. An ecosystem approach is based on the

application o appropriate scientifc methodologies ocused on levels o biological organization,

which encompasses the essential structures, processes, unctions and interactions among

organisms and their environment. It recognizes that humans with their cultural diversity, are an

integral component o many ecosystems.29

Te ecosystem is seen as a dynamic web o plant, animal, and micro-organism communities and their

non-living environment interacting as a unit. Te scale o an ecosystem can vary rom a grain o soil to

the entire biosphere and is dependent upon the nature o the management and conservation processes

being undertaken.

In implementing management practices, the EA calls or a ocus on the structure, processes, unctions,

and interactions among organisms and their environment. Tis includes humans and their cultural

30 COP 5 decision V/6

Coastal marine ecosystem, Los Faros, Suchiate River Basin, community o Ocos, Guatemala

VictorRodas,

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The Madhumalla community in southeastern Nepal oersa compelling example o how a grassroots bioengineeringinitiative not only helped to reduce the threat o ooding in

the local area, but also provided additional ecosystem goodsand services.

thE situAtion

The Himalaya range, home to some 1.3 billion people, isamong the richest reshwater bodies on Earth. The areasrugged yet dynamic mountain system is highly prone to mass-wasting while seasonal monsoon precipitation oten bringsextreme natural events which threaten the ever-increasingpopulation in an already densely populated region. Locatedalong the central belt o the Himalaya range, Nepal hasbeen subject to the risks associated with mass-wasting andooding each year. The oods not only threaten the lives andlivelihoods o its population, but they also account or more

than hal o disaster-related deaths in the country. In recentdecades, climate change has increased the requency andintensity o torrential rains and other extreme climate events.

The community o Madhumalla in the Morang district insoutheastern Nepal is located on the right bank o MawaRivera small rain-ed river with an upper watershed o justabout 20 km2. This 25 km long river has an average gradiento 4% in the upper reaches and 2% in the lower reaches, anda width varying between 200 and 700 m. Like most riversoriginating in the southern belt o Nepal, Mawa River acesunpredictable ooding mainly caused by monsoon rain.Sudden cloud-bursts in the upper watershed oten gener-ate torrents laden with debris, boulders and sediments. Theprocess brings about rapid changes in river morphology witha cycle o aggradation and degradation o river bed, under-

cutting, erosion and overowing o river banks, and shiting othe entire river course. Consequently, the population living inthe vicinity is under a constant threat o severe ood damageto their homes, crops and community.

thE PRojEct

In the mid-1990s, the Madhumalla community, then led by

Chairman Kashi Nath Paudyal, embarked on a mission to ad-dress the threats posed by the unpredictable and devastatingoods that had occurred in the area.

The community began planting a series o stratied greenbelts along the river consisting o some 6,500 varieties onative trees, shrubs and grasses. Reinorcing materials wereinstalled to prevent the undercutting and erosion o the banksand the degradation o the ood plains. Structural additionssuch as embankments and spurs made o gabion boxeswere placed at selected locations as an additional protectionmeasure or the green belt.

The project was designed and implemented on the basis othe communitys indigenous knowledge. This included experi-ences regarding the characteristics o locally available plant

varieties vis--vis their relative strengths to withstand orceso river water, as well as an understanding o the local physicalenvironment and the river morphology. Much o the undingwas also mobilized locally in the orm o cash, labour, andmaterial assistance. National and international donors alsocontributed US$ 40,000 in grants.

thE REsuLts

The project was a huge success and has been replicated inseveral other communities in the region. Not only have theplantings been able to eectively mitigate the threat o ood-ing, but the plantings are also producing income rom the saleo orest products. It is expected that in a ew years, the projectwill generate hundreds o thousands o US dollars annually orthe local community. Currently, the project area is serving as a

training centre or bioengineering technology.

The Madhumalla project illustrates how a community initia-tive tailored to local needs has been able to turn a potentialdanger into a mechanism or generating revenue.

Source: Shrestha and Ganai (2009). Nepal: a community-led initiative to mitigating water-induced disasters, p. 282 in World Water

Assessment Programme. 2009.The United Nations World Water Development Report 3: Water in a Changing World. Paris: UNESCO,

and London: Earthscan.http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/wwdr/wwdr3/.

Te Himalayas

Box 11: Nepal Community-led initiative to mitigate water-induced disasters

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diversity. EA also emphasizes the need or adaptive management and enhanced benet-sharing to deal

with the complex and dynamic nature o ecosystems and the absence o complete knowledge or under-

standing o their unctioning. Moreover, EA recognizes that there is no single way to implement the

approach since it depends on local, provincial, national, regional, and global conditions. Other manage-

ment and conservation approaches may be integrated into the EA ramework.

Sustainable Forest Management

Sustainable orest management (SFM) is the most common orest management conservation practice

under implementation. Te most widely intergovernmentally agreed-upon language or SFM adopted

by the United Nations General Assembly is given below.

Sustainable orest management as a dynamic and evolving concept aims to maintain and

enhance the economic, social and environmental value o all types o orests, or the beneft opresent and uture generations. (Resolution 62/98, December 2007)

At the core o SFM lie the Forest Principles, which were adopted at the United Nations Conerence

on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Te Forest Principles aim to

manage orest resources and orest lands in order to meet the social, economic, ecological, cultural, and

spiritual needs o present and uture generations. Tese needs include orest products and services such

Management o land, water, and living re-1.sources are a matter o societal choice.

Management should be decentralized to the2.lowest appropriate level.

Ecosystem managers should consider the e-3.ects (actual or potential) o th

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