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Paper for the XIV World Forestry Congress (WFC) - Testing field methods for assessing forest protective functions for soil and water
Durban (South Africa),  7- 11 September 2015

The paper “Testing field methods for assessing forest protective functions for soil and water” with results of the study was presented on the occasion of the XIV World Forestry Congress (WFC) held in Durban (South Africa), from 7 to 11 September 2015. The study confirms the importance of forest management in order to protect soil and water resources and present a methodology to assess forest cover and soil erosion evidences. The paper is online on the WFC website. Download the paper here.

National Workshops for Results Dissemination in 2015

Each of the project partners - the National Forestry Commission (CONAFOR) in Mexico, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management in Nepal and the Vietnam Academy of Forest Science and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Viet Nam– presented and discussed the results at national level. This national dissemination was aimed to encourage countries to adopt the method into their future National Forest Inventories (NFI) and the countries have adopted the method.

Mid-Term International Workshop
Guadalajara, Mexico, 14-17 October 2014

Around 30 participants from Mexico, Vietnam, Japan and experts from FAO (Rome) discussed and revised the four methods tested by the pilot countries for the collection of data on the protection of soil and water. Main outcome from the workshop was the selection of the best method from out of the four methods discussed for future adoption into broader and international context. Another important outcome was the harmonization of the data analysis to compare the results from the three pilot countries.

Field tests and training in Mexico, Nepal and Viet Nam in 2014

FAO officers and the expert from Japan provided in-country training on how to carry out the proposed methodologies to the national personnel of Nepal, Mexico and Viet NamFour different methods had been field tested in selected forest sites in these countries.

Afterwards the national experts provided their feedbacks to refine the methods and completed the field data collection process during the summer 2014.

Technical Workshop for Workplan Development
Rome, Italy, 21-23 January 2014

Government officials and experts from Japan, Nepal, Mexico, Viet Nam, Italy and FAO met in Rome from 21 to 23 January 2014 to kick start the project. The participants discussed the project background and agreed on a detailed work plan for the activities. Field test trials to assess the protective functions provided by forest for soil and water were carried out in the Beech forest of Soriano del Cimino, in cooperation with the Tuscia University, Italy.