On 24 February 2016, FAO hosted an event at headquarters in Rome to address the findings of its recent publication “Mapping the vulnerability of mountain peoples to food insecurity”. The study revealed that 329 million mountain dwellers in developing countries are vulnerable to food insecurity – an alarming increase of...

Forest management decisions are important: afforestation is not necessarily an answer to addressing water questions; however, forest restoration and improving forest soils can be, according to forestry experts at "Forests and Water in Action", an event at Asia Pacific Forestry Week (APFW) in Clark, Philippines. “There are parallel and deeply entrenched...

The International Forests and Water Dialogue, a special two-day Congress event (8–9 September), showcased the importance of forest-water interactions. Organized by FAO, the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, World Agroforestry Centre, and the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan, with the contributions of 21 other partners, the Dialogue aimed...

One-third of the world’s largest cities—including New York, Mumbai and Bogotá—rely directly on forests for a large proportion of their drinking water. A new five-year action plan for forests and water was launched today at the XIV World Forestry Congress. The plan brings together policy makers, natural resource managers and researchers...

Some of the less well-known impacts of the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal in April 2015 include the disappearance of water supplies and landslide-induced disruptions to food production. As part of FAO’s coordinated emergency response, its senior expert in watershed management and landslides, Thomas Hofer, travelled to Nepal to discuss...