Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2067/42858
Title: Mountain Watersheds and Ecosystem Services: Balancing multiple demands of forest management in head-watersheds.
Authors: Roberto Tognetti
Scarascia Mugnozza, Giuseppe 
Thomas Hofer
Issue Date: 2017
Abstract: 
Due to steep slopes, extreme climate and severe weather events, mountain forests are fragile
ecosystems. However, forested watersheds provide important goods and services and their
management requires special planning and adequate measures to sustainably secure the
productive, protective and cultural functions. Building climate resilience of head watersheds in
mountain regions requires reviewing management strategies and approaches of mountain
forests as a source of water for downstream users. Conflicting visions between upstream and
downstream communities are increasing as a result of too simplified thinking about forest-water
dynamic by the public and policy-makers. Hence, a better understanding of people and resource
dynamics is needed to assess the multi-functionality of watershed services.
The European Forestry Commission Working Party on the Management of Mountain
Watersheds (EFC WPMMW) has been active since 1952, promoting the conservation and
rehabilitation of degraded lands through the rational use of water resources in mountain
watersheds. The Working Party meets every two years to exchange information on the
management of forests and watersheds, in the context of hazard, risk, and vulnerability in
mountain regions, towards strengthening the resilience in mountain areas to climate change and
disaster risks and preserving watershed’s provisioning functions in terms of water, wood and
energy.
The topic of the 30th Session that was held in Pieve Tesino (Italy) at the premises of the Centre
for Alpine Studies of the University of Tuscia-Viterbo, 22–24 September 2015, was perfectly
in line with the core objectives of the EFC WPMMW. The session focused on “Mountain
Watersheds and Ecosystem Services: - Balancing multiple demands of forest management in
head-watersheds”. Supported by the Autonomous Province of Trento (Italy), the local organizer
was the European Forest Institute Project Centre on Mountain Forests (MOUNTFOR), which
is hosted by the Edmund Mach Foundation (FEM) in San Michele all’Adige (Trento), and with
the sponsorship of the Italian Ministry of Environment, Sea and Land Protection and of the
Alpine Convention.
The session was attended by more than 50 delegates, lecturers and observers from the following
countries and international organizations: Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland,
France, Italy, Japan, Poland, Spain, Romania, Switzerland, International Union of Forest
Research Organizations (IUFRO), Alpine Convention, FAO sub regional office for central Asia and FAO headquarters. An expert and stakeholder training dialogue was conducted in
cooperation with experts of the Alpine Convention and the Ministry of the Environment and
Protection of Land and Sea of Italy. The invited stakeholders used the opportunity to discuss
the following topics with the experts present at the session of the WPMMW: 1) Forest, water,
natural hazards; 2) Protective forests, and 3) Forests and green economy.
Ecosystem services comprise supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural services and
forests contribute to all these categories. The services provided by mountain forests range,
among others, from erosion control, clean water to biodiversity and recreation. These multiple
roles and the high sensitivity of head watersheds to environmental and socioeconomic changes
encompass the need of balancing the different demands on forests through sustainable forest
management. A shared understanding on how watershed management activities contribute to
mitigating adverse impacts of these changes, as well as on the sustainable use of the ecosystem
services provided by mountain forests is required. MOUNTFOR has recently fostered the
COST Action Climate-Smart Forestry in Mountain Regions (CLIMO), funded by Horizon 2020
framework programme, which proposes a strategy to modernise the appeal and vision of
mountain forests and build a “whole” green infrastructure at the continental scale.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2067/42858
Rights: CC0 1.0 Universal
Appears in Collections:C1. Monografia o trattato scientifico

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