Recently, Unasylva launched its 250 issue-focusing on forest and sustainable cities- amid, a suite of articles that unpack the forest-urban development nexus-the contribution ‘ Forests as nature-based solutions for ensuring urban water security’ pages 43-53- emphasized that increasing international attention on urban water security can serve as an opportunity to deploy smart, green, cost-effective water management policies in towns and cities and their extended environs.

This working paper summarizes the outcomes of a meeting with 12 experts from the forest and water sectors hosted parallel to World Water Week. Except of the outcomes, this publication covers a background to the connection of forests and water, forest-water issues, and a joint statement on forest and water relationships. The statement can be downloaded separately here. This publication has been co-authored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and SIWI.

The involvement of communities in watershed management is essential. Communities are effected by what happens in a watershed, and their actions influence the downstream availability and quality of water, as well as other ecosystem services. Ensuring gender balance in decision-making processes is a key element in the new generation of watershed management programmes and projects. A case study from Pakistan supports the importance of gender equality in watershed management.

Since the Shiga Declaration and the Warsaw Resolution 2, many events on forests and water were organized by FAO and other institutions between 2008 and 2011. Experiences ranging from research to project implementation , were presented. These events provided up-to-date insight into the topic as well as recommendations for the way forward. To guide future action, FAO took the initiative of synthesizing the main outcomes and recommendations resulting from this process to develop a comprehensive and practical International Forests and Water Agenda.

Vol. 58, 2007/4. Special issue on the state of knowledge of forest and water interactions and related policy issues. Foresters and water management specialists are cooperating more closely than ever before, but their exchange of expertise could be developed further. Informed decisions about integrated forest and water management depend on applied research and its dissemination to policy-makers. With this issue of Unasylva we hope to enhance the flow of information, knowledge – and safe water.