Clearing of forests adds to world's water shortages, UNEP warns

Sedimentation is causing significant reductions in storage capacity at many of the world's reservoirs, which billions of people depend on for drinking water and food production, the head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warned today.

Speaking at a press event at the Bonn International Conference on Freshwater, UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said that it would seem prudent and sensible for the world to manage the existing stock in the most sustainable way possible. "Otherwise we face increasing pressure on natural areas with water, such as wetlands and underground aquifers, with potentially devastating environmental consequences to wildlife and habitats," he said.

A new study indicates that, on average, 1 per cent of the world's reservoir capacity is being lost each year because of the build-up of mud and silt, UNEP said. The natural rate of soil erosion is being accelerated by the severity of storms and rains due to global warming and the clearing of forests for agriculture.

The study also shows that the felling and clearing of trees for agriculture is aggravating the situation, with the levels of erosion from hillsides planted with crops 150 times higher than from the same land covered with trees.

Mr. Toepfer said sustainable management of reservoirs would take a central role in the work of UNEP's new Dams and Development Project (DDP), which is based in South Africa. The unit was formed in the wake of the World Commission on Dams that published its final report last year and has secured funding and pledges of over $2.5 million from the Governments of Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.