The origins of modern watershed management can be traced to two parallel and independent efforts: the restoration of the Alps that started in the last quarter of the nineteenth century; and the conservation movement in the United States in the 1930s. The European effort led to the development of most of today's land-restoration and torrent-control techniques, while the Americans forged ahead with vegetation manipulation and soil and water conservation.
Although the two approaches were very different in many respects, they shared one important factor: the techniques employed were designed primarily for use in watersheds that were only slightly if at all affected by human action. They were, therefore, designed to have an impact on naturally occurring physical relationships.
Since the Second World War, watershed management efforts have also been undertaken in many developing countries, primarily as a corollary to the construction of important water-resources development infrastructures, and in recognition of the need to protect these as well as valuable agricultural lands and human settlements. Initially, the technologies and methodologies applied were the same as those that had been used with success in the developed world.
However, many of the initial efforts did not achieve the desired results, primarily because an essential difference in the situation of the watersheds of the developing countries had not been sufficiently taken into consideration. In the developing countries, watersheds (and particularly those located relatively near to important downstream resources) are often inhabited by large and increasing human and animal populations. Most of the people living in these watershed areas are struggling to survive owing to limited resources. As they are forced to cultivate steep, fragile slopes using inappropriate technology, not only do they continue to get minimal returns but in the process they destroy the existing resource base, thereby compromising future prospects for continued production and accelerating downstream soil and water disturbances.
The heritage of technology from Europe and the United States torrent and gully control, slope treatment measures, landslide prevention, vegetation and soil treatment, etc. - although a necessary component, was patently insufficient to resolve the challenge of watershed management in the developing countries. The key to success is to involve local people and enable them to use their land, livestock and other natural resources in a way that improves productivity, while at the same time reducing to a minimum the negative impacts on soil and water resources, both in the watershed itself and in downstream areas.
To produce the desired results, therefore, watershed management efforts must incorporate "forest hydrology", "soil and water conservation" and "land use planning" into a broader, logical framework that takes into consideration not only physical interrelationships but economic, social and institutional factors as well. In this issue, Unasylva examines several facets of watershed management.
As with all development efforts, a key to successful implementation of watershed management is appropriate planning. Although consideration of the needs of local people, as well as their active participation in watershed management efforts, is gradually being recognized as desirable and even essential, their involvement in the process of conceptualizing these efforts is still only in its infancy. T. Michaelsen sets out guidelines for the involvement of local people in planning watershed management efforts.
P. van Ginneken and U. Thongmee poignantly describe the challenges of transforming watershed management in Thailand from a government concern mainly with public land management, to a situation where the local population is increasingly the active partner, with government agencies being placed in an advisory and supporting role.
The need to focus more attention on ways of improving local people's use of the resource base in upland areas in no way decreases the importance of appropriate physical technologies to counter watershed deterioration, both natural and human-made. K.M. Sthapit and L.C. Tennyson examine the adaptation of structural and vegetative approaches to landslides and mountain road erosion in the context of an integrated watershed management project in Nepal.
One particularly important question in watershed management is how to ensure that adequate financial resources are provided, and that costs and benefits are appropriately distributed among the communities and individuals that carry out the watershed management activities and those that benefit from them. E. Hernández examines funding mechanisms for watershed management in seven countries of Latin America. In a related article, M. Menéndez considers the use of a revolving fund to promote the participation of small-scale farmers in a watershed management effort in Bolivia.
It is noteworthy that the experience gained in watershed management in the developing countries is now being refocused on efforts in Europe and the United States where increasing attention is being accorded to the needs and concerns of upland communities. A future issue of Unasylva will examine changes in implementation and funding of watershed management in Europe.
