D. Kaimowitz, 'Cuatro medio verdales: la relacion bosques y agua en Centroamericana', 2001 | This paper looks at four “half-truths” about the relations between forests and water in Central America. The first is that deforestation has reduced rainfall in certain regions of Central America. The second is that forest help to maintain dry season stream flow. The third is that deforestation has led to more intense flooding. The fourth is that the region’s hydroelectric reservoirs and the Panama Canal are rapidly becoming sedimented. As the name implies, the article argues that each of these has some elements of truth but other aspects that are myths. The author emphasizes that even though some of these claims are myths action still needs to be taken to avoid inappropriate deforestation and forest degradation

This paper looks at four "half-truths" about the relations between forests and water in Central America. The first is that deforestation has reduced rainfall in certain regions of Central America. The second is that forest help to maintain dry season stream flow. The third is that deforestation has led to more intense flooding. The fourth is that the region's hydroelectric reservoirs and the Panama Canal are rapidly becoming sedimented. As the name implies, the article argues that each of these has some elements of truth but other aspects that are myths. The author emphasizes that even though some of these claims are myths action still needs to be taken to avoid inappropriate deforestation and forest degradation.

Climate change is at the top of the development agenda in Central America. This region, together with the Caribbean, is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change in Latin America. Climate change is manifesting itself through higher average temperatures and more frequent droughts that result in higher water stress, and through the rising frequency of extreme weather events such as tropical storms, hurricanes, floods and landslides, all of which pose significant challenges in the rural water supply and sanitation sector. The paper starts with a review of the historic data on temperature and precipitation trends in Central America and particularly at the regional level in Nicaragua. The data reveal a clear trend of the growing climate variability, increased water stress for crops, and greater frequency of extreme weather events. The rising intensity and frequency of ex-treme weather events is among the most critical risks to the region's development agenda, and they translate into high economic losses. This paper examines the impacts and implications of potential climate change on water resources in Nicaragua and makes key recommendations to integrate climate change and rural water supply and sanitation policies and programs in a way that increase resilience to current and future climate conditions. | 0

Resumo O trabalho objetivou mapear a cobertura e uso do solo na área da bacia hidrográfica do rio Peixe-Boi, nordeste paraense, identificar conflitos de uso nas áreas de preservação permanente e investigar a relação deles com a qualidade da água. Utilizou-se imagem do sensor LISS-3 do satélite Resourcesat com resolução espacial de 23,5 m para classificação supervisionada e obtenção de classes de uso e cobertura da terra com base em 22 amostras de treinamento. Para se determinar a qualidade da água foram coletados 28 pontos amostrais nas redes de drenagem. A relação entre antropização e qualidade da água foi analisada a partir das observações das mudanças de uso da terra, por meio de imagens de satélite e coletas in loco das amostras de água. Os resultados obtidos revelam que 46% das APPs encontra-se em conflito de uso, sobretudo pela ocupação indevida das classes área urbana, solo exposto e especialmente pastagem com mais de 84% da área em conflito de uso. Em alguns pontos amostrais, foram observados níveis críticos de oxigênio dissolvido chegando a 2,14 mg L-1 e pH de 5,12, valores abaixo do estabelecido pela resolução 357/05 do CONAMA para água doce. Constatou-se que as piores condições de qualidade da água podem estar relacionadas às áreas de uso e ocupação irregulares dentro das APPs. Diante do exposto, verifica-se a necessidade, emergencial, de planejamento do uso e ocupação das terras na área da bacia hidrográfica do rio Peixe-Boi para a recuperação ambiental e da qualidade da água. | Abstract This study mapped the land use and land cover of the catchment area of the Peixe-Boi River watershed, in northeast Pará, in order to identify conflicts of land use in the permanent preservation areas, and to relate them to water quality. We used LISS-3 sensor imagery from the Resourcesat satellite with a spatial resolution of 23.5 m for supervised classification of land use and land cover based on 22 training samples. Water quality was determined based on 28 sampling points in drainage network. The relationship between human disturbance and water quality was analyzed based on observations of land use changes using satellite imagery and in situ collection of water samples. The results show that 46% of the permanent preservation areas have conflicted uses, especially with respect to urban squatters, exposed soil and, most notably, pasture, with over 84 % of the area in conflict. Critical levels of dissolved oxygen reaching 2.14 mg L-1 and pH of 5.12 were observed in some sampling points. These values are below the fresh water standards set by Resolution 357/05 of CONAMA. The poorest water quality may be related to irregular use and occupation of areas within the permanent preservation areas. There is therefore an urgent need to develop a plan for the sustainable use and occupation of catchment area land in the Peixe-Boi River watershed in order to restore the environment and improve water quality.

The “Bosque de Agua”, to the west and south of Mexico City, which is the fifth largest city in the world, has historically suffered disturbances in forest cover, with a consequent reduction in the environmental services provided. Changes in the state of the forests between 1994 and 2017 are here analyzed in terms of the annual net change in area of the different cover densities and the different change processes. In general, the net change was favorable in all cases: forest improvement vs. forest degradation, reforestation vs. deforestation, and afforestation vs. land use change. There were changes in 16.03% of the Bosque de Agua: recovery in 11.09% and disturbance in 4.94%. This marked recovery is the result of the protected status of two-thirds of the forest, the payment for hydrological environmental services in 29.33% of the forest, as of 2003, and the continuous programs of reforestation, fire control and surveillance by the local communities, circumstances that have allowed the recovery to exceed the disturbance in most of the Bosque de Agua. One-third of the forest disturbance is concentrated in six of the 35 municipalities in the southern region, caused by clandestine logging by organized gangs, due to the state of ungovernability that reigns in these municipalities.

El proyecto Conservación y uso sostenible de los recursos naturales como medio para lograr Sumac Kawsay (Buen Vivir) en la provincia de Napo, co-ejecutado por FAO, el Ministerio del Ambiente de Ecuador y el Gobierno Autónomo Descentralizado de Napo, tuvo como objetivos promover la conservación y uso sostenible de la biodiversidad, revertir la degradación de tierras y la deforestación y contextualmente aumentar y mejorar el suministro de bienes y servicios procedentes de la agricultura, la ganadería, y la actividad forestal. El proyecto ha contribuido significativamente a estos objetivos, logrando: i) un apoyo adecuado a diferentes actividades productivas y de conservación; ii) un impacto inicial sobre la conservación de los bosques y los suelos y sobre la restauración de varias áreas del ecosistema natural en Napo y; iii) generado un beneficio neto, sea económico que social, para varios centenares de familias. La evalaución final recomienda una breve extensión para que el proyecto pueda implementar medidas para la sostenibilidad de sus resultados y desarrollar una estrategia de capitalización de lecciones aprendidas y de comunicación.