The side event will take place on 23 October 2009 at 1245 - 1415 hours:
“Forests and Water, The challenges of cross-sectoral cooperation”
During the MCPFE workshop on Forests and Water “Sustainable forest management and influences on water resources – Coordinating policies on forests and water “ held in Antalya, Turkey in May 2009, participants identified several obstacles for cooperation between forest and water sectors within and amongst National Governments and at the watershed / river basin level. A lack of communication between scientists and policy makers was also identified as a barrier to effective watershed management.
To promote cooperation between the forest and water sectors, the participants proposed more efforts in communication, capacity building and training of people in the sectors and stakeholder groups. The need to identify the different functions of forests and to develop strategies for different water uses was underlined. National policies and guidelines on forest and water should be developed. Spatial planning should be the overall umbrella for this development. Participatory processes to solving problems should be encouraged. The participants also proposed to bring forest and water issues more prominently into the climate change discussions and negotiations.
The upcoming Side Event during the World Forestry Congress in Buenos Aires will continue the dialogue for interdisciplinary collaboration of the forests and water sectors, which so far has focused mainly on the European context, through facilitating information exchange across regions. We would like to provide the opportunity for attendees to share problems and/or success stories through case examples of collaboration amongst forest and water sectors. The presentations at the event represent different geographic regions and showcase experiences of forest-water collaboration among different types of stakeholder groups and -partners.
For more information, please have a look at the Calendar of side events at the World Forestry Congress.
