FAO: Fresh Water Supplies Depend on Healthy Forests

ROME, Italy, March 6, 2003 (ENS) - The loss of forest cover and conversion of forested land to other uses can degrade supplies of fresh water, threatening the survival of millions of people and damaging the environment, finds a new study issued by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The study was published today in advance of next weeks' annual meeting of the agency's Committee on Forestry. Some 300 participants from more than 100 countries are expected to attend.

Forest in the Peruvian Amazon (Photo courtesy South American Trekker)

Watershed conditions can be best improved if forests are managed with human as well as hydrological goals as a priority, says the FAO study, "Forests and Freshwater - Issues and Options."

Watershed degradation has been recognized in many countries as a serious threat to the environment and to the survival of people living in watershed and downstream areas over the past 20 years, the study observes.

Several countries have made reversing watershed degradation a priority. But some of these watershed management programs failed to achieve their goals, the study says, because they neglected to consider the needs and behaviors of human beings and instead focused only on conservation aspects of natural resources.

The lack of long term commitment to address underlying causes of forest and watershed degradation also contributed to the failures, the agency reports.

The FAO paper on forests and fresh water stresses the need to "improve national awareness and policy environment in support of the sustainable management of mountain forests and upland areas."

Forested mountains, Carinthia, Austria (Photo by Ian Britton courtesy FreeFoto)

To prevent or lessen disasters in mountainous terrain, healthy forest cover must be maintained on watersheds that are subject to torrential rainfall, advises the FAO.

In addition, the agency recommends the development of programs that combine forest protection with zoning, floodplain management and engineering structures to protect people from landslides, debris flows and floods.

The largest and most damaging floods in major rivers are not affected by the extent of watershed forest cover, the agency says, but moderate and localized floods can increase when forests are removed. Healthy upland and riparian forests can keep high levels of sediment from being deposited in rivers, lakes and reservoirs during floods, the study says.

The economic value of water must be recognized, the FAO states, and recommends "reducing water subsidies and treating water as a commodity rather than a free good" so that economic incentives can support better watershed management.

Forest in Mexico's southern Yucatan Peninsula (Photo courtesy Clark University)

A new entity, as yet unnamed, that links forests and water is proposed in the FAO Medium Term Plan 2004-2009, reflecting the importance the FAO accords to the conservation of water resources. The proposal aims to upgrade national awareness and the policy environment in support of the sustainable management of the water resources of mountain forests and uplands.

Understanding of the role and application of forest hydrology and the identification of essential elements for effective watershed management are the foundation, and upon it the new entity would develop, demonstrate and promote appropriate technologies and practical methods.

Forest elephant in the Dzanga-Sangha Dense Forest Special Reserve, Central African Republic (Photo courtesy Bushtracks Expeditions)

The agency believes that the new entity would work with stakeholders as a follow up to the recommendations of the United Nations International Year of Mountains 2002 and the International Year of Freshwater 2003.

Throughout its forests and freshwater report, the FAO team emphasizes enhanced communication with local communities and stakeholders, expanded educational and training programs, and sharing of effective techniques with local residents to increase the conservation of forested watersheds.

The Committee on Forestry will also consider the recently completed FAO Forestry Outlook Study for Africa which provides a 20 year perspective and long term planning framework.

Forest fire on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (Photo courtesy )

Without fundamental changes, Africa will experience "continued high losses of forest cover, deterioration in the state of the environment, depletion of non-wood forest products in general and medicinal plants in particular, and a significant decline in productivity and in purchasing capacity on national and local markets as a result of HIV/AIDS," the outlook study warns.

The FAO states, "The relationship between forests and freshwater in both tropical and temperate regions needs to be further understood if forests are to be better managed to sustain the productivity of uplands without affecting humans and the soil and water on which they depend."