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Watershed management in semi-arid mountain zones

Introduction

Watershed management in semi-arid mountain areas is based on achieving a delicate balance between the vegetative cover which can be sustained by scarce and erratic precipitation; the needs of local populations for water, fodder and fuel; and fire hazard when protection leads to a build-up of dead and dry material; Semi-arid mountain zones are fragile environments easily affected by fires, overgrazing, shifting cultivation and overcutting of fuelwood leading to accelerated erosion and disastrous effects of floods and droughts. However even the natural geological processes of erosion and sedimentation are found to cause natural disasters because of increased human occupation and infrastructure in and along their paths.

These problems are compounded in developing countries by constraints specific to them, such as: rapidly growing populations, doubling in some cases every 20 to 30 years; tropical and sub-tropical semi-arid climates with intensive and erratic precipitation; forest, watershed and range management services which, if they exist, are mostly new, with staff receiving inadequate training and salaries, and with ad hoc project oriented funding; unrelenting pressure on upland resources, including the most vital for downstream protection, the natural forest vegetation. This has been recognized in the preparations for UNCED by the formulation of a special chapter of Agenda 21 Managing Fragile Ecosystems: Sustainable Mountain Development.

FAO's activities in sustainable mountain development

In order to eventually overtake the rate of upland degradation and reach a safer and more productive environment as a result of mountain watershed management, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has developed over the years strategies for its programmes and activities in this field with the following elements:

• Increase awareness about the consequences of upland degradation among decision makers and the general public.

• Create incentives and remove obstacles for large scale participation of the watershed inhabitants.

• Increase local control over and responsibility for natural resource management.

• Prevent human occupation and infrastructure in danger zones through risk mapping and land use zoning.

• Mitigate the effects of rather than control or reduce torrential phenomena.

• Establish effective institutions, government, non-government as well as local, with long term support.

With the above strategies in mind, FAO is presently engaged in the following related activities:

• Publication and dissemination of technical guidelines in the FAO Conservation Guide series and special publications

• Support to networks and formulation of regional strategies and programmes.

• Organization of meetings, workshops, training courses.

• Formulation of regional and interregional Trust Fund projects in this field within the framework of the Tropical Forest Action Programme (TFAP) already prepared or being prepared by more than 86 countries worldwide. Major bottlenecks identified in TFAP as well as in mountain watershed management include national capability for project preparation and the involvement of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and the rural people themselves in plan formulation and priority rating. Several donors in addition to UNDP and FAO's own Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP), are supporting people's participation in upland conservation and watershed management.

• Support to national projects and county missions National watershed management projects with FAO technical assistance are presently being implemented in Bhutan, Myanmar (Burma), Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Samoa, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Madagascar, Morocco, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Vietnam. UNDP funding accounts for roughly half with the other half being funded by Norway, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Italy, and by the Technical Cooperation Programme of FAO. Activities include rehabilitation of slopes affected by floods (Southern Thailand), development of watershed management technology centres (Indonesia, Morocco), watershed management training (Pakistan, Haiti, Ecuador), people's participation in upland rehabilitation (Bolivia), protection of city water supply (Nepal, Honduras), etc. The need for these pilot projects as testing grounds for watershed technology, incentives, investment opportunities, etc., is very great and their number and importance is likely to grow further as a result of TFAP, donor and host country interest and commitment, and the urgent need for greater impact in upland protection and rehabilitation as stipulated in Agenda 21.

In addition to the international cooperation supported through the Working Party on the Management of Mountain Watersheds of the FAO European Forestry Commission, which since the 12th Session in Rome in 1978, has included participation by non-European countries as observers, professional contacts, exchange of information and participation in meetings, workshops, etc. is being maintained with the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), many national and international organizations concerned including the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), UNEP, Unesco, the World Bank and the East-West Centre.

February 1993

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