The new generation of watershed management programmes and projects

This large-scale assessment and global review of the current status and future trends of integrated and participatory watershed management was presented on the occasion of the International Year of Mountains 2002. The overall objectives were to promote the exchange and dissemination of experiences in implementing watershed management projects in the decade from 1990 to 2000 and to identify a future generation of watershed management programmes and projects. A summary and critical analysis of the discussions and vast materials that emerged during the review are presented, as well as the findings and recommendations. It presents the state-of-the-art in watershed management, promotes further reflection and creative thinking and proposes new ideas and approaches for future watershed management programmes and projects.
It looks at the history of watershed management, emphasising how a discipline initially based on water engineering and forestry evolved to a multidisciplinary approach rooted in general and human ecology and linked to agriculture, rural development, environmental economics and social sciences. The conceptual background is summarised and new perspectives on watershed biophysical processes, human ecology and environmental economics are dealt with. Ongoing changes in programme design and implementations strategy are described. The profile of the new generation of watershed management programmes and projects are outlined. It links new approaches to the policy environment of the new millennium. It deals with critical factors for the successful implementation of the new approaches, such as capacity building and financing.
The annex provides additional information on specific methods and resources for watershed management.