2023 UN Water Conference Virtual Event - Counting Fish from Forests for Food Security: Multidisciplinary Watershed Management

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Background

Forests and fisheries are inextricably linked by the flow of water across watersheds, requiring a cross-sectoral management approach. Forests, fish, and freshwater deliver services that influence human well-being including poverty alleviation and food security globally. 

Forests support the freshwater ecosystems that are home to diverse fish species and important fisheries. They also provide bank and hillslope stabilization, enable resilient food webs, foster healthy soil development, regulate temperature, and provide fuel for smoking fish to enable transport and storage.

Inland fisheries support healthy forests.  They provide food and livelihoods to riparian communities who are then better able to manage their forest resources sustainably. Inland fish may also supply the nutrients that feed the forest itself. Migratory fish transport nutrients 100’s of kilometers up-river to forested head water streams where they spawn and die and release nutrients. Across many tropical rivers, fruit-eating fishes promote forest diversity by selectively dispersing seeds of fruit trees within river networks. In these systems, fish are even potential engines of forest restoration. 

The freshwater systems that link forests and fisheries are under threat from changes in land-use as well as changing climate patterns. Although they provide services that add nutritional quality to the diets of some of the world's most vulnerable populations, they often do not receive the attention they deserve - in large part because these integrated systems span multiple sectors, governmental ministries, and SDGs.  

Agenda 

Moderator:  John Jorgensen, Equitable Livelihoods Team (Fisheries Division, FAO) 

Introduction and opening remarks 

Mr. Zhimin Wu, Director Forestry Division, FAO 

Video - Linking Forests and Fish for Food Security (Zambia)  

Panel Discussion - presentations followed by Q&A           

Moderator: Mr. Sui Chian Phang, Freshwater Fisheries, The Nature Conservancy

Panelists:

Mr. Davison Gumbo, Senior Scientist, CIFOR, Zambia. Social and ecological linkages across watersheds

Ms. Malin Ingemarsson, International Policy and Water for Resilient Landscapes, Swedish Water House, Sweden

Mr. Toru Nakamura, Deputy Director, Conservation Division, Forestry Agency, MAFF, Japan. Contribution of Forests to Fisheries’ environment - Model Analysis for Water, Soil, and Nutrient Runoff

Ms. Sandra Hernández, Fundación Humedales, Colombia, Fisheries and forests in the Magdalena and Atrato River Basins, Colombia, South America 

Video – Resilient Rivers: Counting Fish from Forests 

Launch of eLearning - Ms. Ashley Steel, Livelihoods, Production & Trade Statistics Team (Forestry Division, FAO) 

Closing Remarks

Mr. Victor Siamudaala, Zambia Country Director, WorldFish

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