Case Studies

Research published (July, 2005) by DFID's Forestry Research Programme (FRP) challenges the view that trees always improve water availability.

Extensive research carried out by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Free University of Amsterdam, questions conventional wisdom that forested land always conserves and supplies more water than grasslands or other treeless areas. Read FRP Press Release (38 KB PDF).

The research reveals that projects, which are designed to improve water conditions in developing countries, may be wasting money because they are pursuing solutions that are not supported by scientific evidence.

Although trees can play many vital environmental functions, their negative effects, such as in water-hungry areas of India, are either misunderstood or ignored. Meanwhile in places like Costa Rica, landowners are compensated for conserving forests based in part on a belief that forests provide more water.

This research is published in a booklet From the Mountain to the Tap: How Land Use and Water Management Can Work for the Rural Poor', which was launched at World Water Week in Stockholm (21 to 27 August 2005).