Thank you for your attention!

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Thank you for your attention!
Forests and water process understanding and
international momentum
Thomas Hofer, FAO
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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

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Forests water process understanding (I)
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Forests water process understanding (II)

• 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.

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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

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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

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Forests water process understanding (V)

• Forests make a key contribution in hazard
  mitigation
• Floods Landslides
  Droughts

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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

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Forests water international momentum (II)

• EFCWP session, Oulu (August 2008)
• Mragowo (October 2008)
• European Forest Week (October 2008)
• ACPWP (October 2008)
• Barcelona (October 2008)
• Tokyo (November 2008)

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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

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Forests water international momentum (IV)

• process understanding of the FW 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

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Forests water international momentum (V)

• 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

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Forests water international momentum (VI)

• 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

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FAO and Forests Water
http//www.fao.org/forestry/forestsandwater/en/
Thank you for your kind attention!