This report forms an overview of research conducted by the Centre for Land Use and Water Resources Research at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and the Free
University of Amsterdam, funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID).
The Forestry Research Programme of the UK Department for International Development has designed a cluster of related projects to make use of the improved instrumentation, better mathematical modelling and powerful geographic information systems to produce more reliable prediction of the association between vegetation (including forests) and dry season streamflows.
This booklet summarises the findings from the individual projects in this cluster and derives the following ten policy lessons:
- If water shortages are a problem in dry countries, impose limits on forest plantations, especially of fast-growing evergreen species.
- Implement “green water” instruments (based on data from plant transpiration) to control levels of evaporation from upland vegetation.
- If upland forests are cleared for cultivation, provide farmers with guidelines of best agricultural practice.
- Any market mechanism or tax system linking land management to quantified streamflow should ensure that scientific validation is possible at the scale of the operation.
