The role of forests in water related natural risk management

Tuesday 21 March, 14:30 - 16:30

IUCN, together with the Forestry Commission of Japan is convening a topic session, which will review common narratives on the interactions between forests and water and their relationship to risk management. The session will explore coherent and consistent ways to communicate the forest and water relationship to both sectors.

Keynote addresses will be delivered by the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry of South Africa, Mrs. Buyelwa Patience Sonjica and the Minister of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica, Mrs. Carlos Manuel Rodríguez. A state-of-knowledge presentation on the role of forests in hydrology will be given by Dr. Sampurno Bruijnzeel from the Vrije Universiteit.

Mrs. Leimona Beria from ICRAF/Indonesia will present Rewarding Upland Poor for Environmental Services (RUPES) -programme and Makato Tani from the Kyoto University International the Network on Forests and Water as local actions for a global challenge.

Private sector perspective is brought into the session by Dirk Reinhard from Munich Re Foundation and Marcio Amazonas from the Coca Cola Company. The Science and Technology Correspondent of the Economist, Mr. Konstantin Kakaes will represent media at the expert panel.

Specific topics discussed during the session include, among others, the role of forests in relation to water-related natural disasters (floods, drought, water quality), payment for environmental services, and microinsurances.

WELCOME!

For further information, please contact virpi.stucki@iucn.org