XI WORLD FORESTRY CONGRESS Antalya, Turkey, 13 to 22 October 1997
	VOLUME 2, TOPIC 9 SUMMARIES OF VOLUNTARY PAPERS FOG FORESTS AS WATER COLLECTORS AND REGULATORS IN THE COLOMBIAN ANDES Henry Jimenez Escobar 1 The current situation as regards the exploitation of fog forests in Colombia in relation to their capacity to collect and utilize atmospheric or mist water as well as in the production and regulation of the resultant volumes of water in the drainage cycle is described. Water balances of different drainage basins in the Colombian Andes have been drawn up where the high zone of such basins corresponds to fog forests. The analyses reveal a regulating function on the part of the forests as regards the basins' water production: during periods of rain, an overload of water is produced in the basins and in periods of little rain the water reserves held by the forests are discharged. It has been possible, on the basis of the hydrological evaluations, to ascertain the importance of fog forests in the role of collecting atmospheric water and regulating volumes of water. The effects of inadequate management or the deterioration of fog forest areas are reflected in the change in water availability in terms of quantity and quality. Recommendations are put forward concerning the requirements for evaluating the potential contribution from mists to water entering the basins and the important role of fog forests in this process. The need to implement projects for the environmental assessment of the forests with the aim of creating incentives to conserve and restore them is considered. 1 Professor, Universidad del Valle, Apartado 25360, Cali, Colombia. VEGETATION MANAGEMENT IN THE REHABILITATION OF THE RIVER SECO BASIN ­ TRIBUTARY OF RIMAC Pedro Julca Chuquicaja 1 Desertification in Peru is a phenomenon which originates from the loss of plant cover in all its forms. Through physical geography, it presents a climatic diversity which determines various plant formations, these being made up of thickets with a composition in terms of flora which is very varied in its different strata. Regulating run-off and controlling soil erosion are related directly to the vegetation in a basin. Over-exploitation and the irrational use of vegetation have led to an impoverishment whose consequences are reflected in accelerated soil erosion, the loss of regular volumes of flow in springs and the reduction of the soil's production capacity, reflected in the increase in poverty among the rural population. The basis of this study is an analysis of the effects of deforestation in the River Seco basin during a 30-year period and an examination of the underlying causes. The summary's general conclusions take the River Seco basin as a model, giving recommendations which may serve as a starting point for the management of other basins on the western slope of the Andes seeing that they have similar characteristics. The summary also includes a graph, drawn up on the basis of the volumes of discharge of the River Rimac in a 30-year period and their effects on the supply of water to the city of Lima, which has a population of seven million inhabitants 1 Expert in Forest Resources Assessment, Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales, Lima, Peru. Professor of Photo-Interpretation, Facultad de Ciencias del Ambiente, Universidad Nacional de Ancash, Huazar, Peru. Previous Section Next Section   Download the Pdf file for this topic (195 K) What is a Pdf file ?   Back to Top of the page
	this page is hosted on the FAO Forestry Department WebSite
Send feedback to: World-Forestry-Congress-XI@FAO.ORG