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Thank you for your attention!. Forests and water: process understanding and international momentum. Thomas Hofer, FAO. Achieving the Millennium Development Goals. MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability Target 7c: Reduce by half the proportion of people
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Thank you for your attention! Forests and water: process understanding and international momentum Thomas Hofer, FAO
Achieving the Millennium Development Goals MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability Target 7c: Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water Indicator 7.8: Proportion of population using an improved drinking water source It is more and more recognized that forests play an important role in water supply
The relationship between forests and water is very complex and depends on: climatic zones time of the year tree species composition plant density forest “quality” forest management practices geological situation etc. Forests & water: process understanding (II)
Forests & water: process understanding (III) • Forests influence water balance and regulate surface • and groundwater flows by: • intercepting precipitation • capturing transpiration of soil moisture • capturing evaporation from vegetative surfaces • using water through evapotranspiration • maintaining soil infiltration • maintaining soil retention capacity
Forests & water: process understanding (IV) • Forests make a great contribution in maintaining • high water quality by: • stabilizing soils • minimizing surface erosion • reducing sedimentation in watercourses • filtering sediments and pollutants from upstream activities
Forests make a key contribution in hazard mitigation: Floods Landslides Droughts Forests & water: process understanding (V)
Forests & water: international momentum (I) • Shiga 2002: • International Expert Meeting on “Forests and • Water”. • COFO 2003: • Establishment of an entity on “Forests and Water” • UNECE Water Convention since 2004: • Ecosystem services • Warsaw 2007: • MCPFE Warsaw Resolution 2: “Forests and • Water”
EFCWP session, Oulu (August 2008) Mragowo (October 2008) European Forest Week (October 2008) ACPWP (October 2008) Barcelona (October 2008) Tokyo (November 2008) Forests & water: international momentum (II)
Forests & water: international momentum (III) • MCPFE Workshop (Antalya, May 12-14): • Implementation of Resolution 2 (“Forests and • Water”) • World Forestry Congress (Buenos Aires, • October 18-23) • Thematic session and side event on “Forests • and Water”
Forests & water: international momentum (IV) • process understanding of the F&W interactions • differentiation for agro-ecological zones • upstream-downstream linkages • application of existing knowledge • communication gap between research and policy • collaboration between the forest and water sectors
policy frameworks embedding both forestry and water policies synthesis and generalization of case studies / local experiences into policy advice need for national and trans-boundary institutional development payment for ecosystem services exchange of information and experiences, enhanced communication Forests & water: international momentum (V)
integrated response strategies of the forest and water sector to global drivers of change forests and water in disaster risk management forests and water in the broad landscape context, in the context of overall ecosystem management Forests & water: international momentum (VI)
FAO and Forests & Water http://www.fao.org/forestry/forestsandwater/en/ Thank you for your kind attention!