Integrated management of Water and Forests is vital to cope with global

changes
The Plan Bleu/EFIMED session on integrated management of water and forests boasted a diverse
panel of practitioners and scientists, with case studies from Australia, France, Spain and Latin
America.
Together they covered different aspects on the connection of forests and water value chains,
ranging from available biophysical knowledge, as well as emerging policy and governance
developments in relation to water provisioning services by forests.
The ideas emerging from the presentations and ensuing round table discussion were distilled intoa
pledge to strengthen four key interfaces or interaction areas, as summarised by rapporteur
Davide Pettenella:
1) Improved Science-policy interface: We must improve knowledge, for example on the role of
forests in water infiltration and their impacts in surface water flows across that could be readily
applicable to any given portion of the landscape . Furthermore, this information must be translated
into policy terms. The Australian case study was especially remarkable in relation to its outcomes:
legislation for managing forests for water provision. There is much to be done in Cost Benefit
Analysis we lack data on the real benefits of forests catching water.
2) Increased interactions of public to public sector: We cannot say that foresters are not used to
consider the relationship between water and forests. However, the past relationship is different from
the one we are now experiencing, as there is an increasingly urgent need for better coordination
across related but traditionally isolated policy areas: it is vital now to connect forest, water and
energy authorities together and public authorities dealing with water and forests within the higher
education system.
3) Invigorated dialogue among water and forest actors at landscape level: This refers to the
need for increased discussions on trade-offs, compensation systems etc. as there is a lack of
communication with forest owners. This gap may well deepen as State budget revisions have led to
cuts in public spending on technical service, reducing the interface between forest owners and public
administration. Public officers are increasingly becoming bureaucrats and no longer speaking to
forest owners. This situation must be reversed. The interesting French case studies presented also
raise the issue of communication to the general public, who takes the use of high quality drinkable
water for granted: we must reposition water as a valuable resource.
4) A working connexion between providers and consumers of water services: We must find
new sources of income for forest management, for example through creation of systems of
Payments for Environmental Services (PES). Examples are growing in Northern Europe of
managing tap water, mineral water and hydro-power. Yet here we touch on a hot issue: the price of
water. On one hand, we should create income opportunities for forest owners; on the other hand, we
reduce the opportunities for income to be generated locally as large international organisations are
increasingly managing water provision services. In addition, we are creating an ethical problem: in
many countries, water is a basic good and it is felt that it should be provided at subsidised, public

supported prices. So what does this mean for local forest owners trying to raise an income from their
forest?
Keynotes: Thomas Hofer, FAO river basin management; Don White, Whitegum FNR, Australia
Roundtable: ngels Cabello Gomez, CETaqua Barcelona, Spain; Julien Fiquepron, CNPF-IDF,
France; Pablo Martnez de Anguita, Rey Juan Carlos University, Spain
Photo: Sarah Adams