Dam-busting forest, water 'myth-understandings'

Dam-busting forest, water 'myth-understandings'

Meine van Noordwijk and Fahmuddin Agus, Bogor

Given that the recent tragic floods in East Java's Blitar
regency are being blamed on upstream deforestation, it is timely
to look at some of the myths surrounding trees and water.

Recent analysis shows that misunderstandings -- sometimes
called "myth-understandings" -- about forests and water are the
underlying cause of a number of problems. Further, the
perpetuation of these "myth-understandings" is a major cause of
poverty.

Thousands of small-scale coffee growers in Indonesia have been
forcibly removed from upper watersheds in the name of protecting
forests for hydroelectricity projects or for soil conservation.

Research now shows their coffee gardens did not reduce water
flow. Despite this scientific evidence, we continue to see
governments around the world remove people from forests or
prohibit them from pursuing their traditional tree-based
agroforestry livelihoods.

Recent power failures in West Sumatra's hydroelectricity
supply have been blamed on deforestation attributed to small-
scale farming in the Singkarak catchment. The real cause is the
lack of rain.

The technical design of the dam assumes a dry season of no
more than two months. If the dry season lasts longer, the water
needed to generate the electricity dries out. Recent years have
seen longer-than-average dry periods and has thus caused
increasingly more blackouts.

Would planting trees help? Probably not. Longer dry seasons
reflect climate change, which happens at a global level -- it
cannot be undone locally. Blaming the people who live in the
upstream areas for deforestation only increases their poverty and
does nothing to encourage them to protect the environment.

In Lampung, blackouts were caused by landslides that buried
the access road to the Way Besai hydroelectric power station --
not by deforestation in the catchment.

As for the media's oft-reported argument that upstream
deforestation causes downstream flooding, this "myth-
understanding" contradicts blaming upland farming -- such as
around the hydroelectricity plants -- for causing drought.

The scientific argument is too complex to cover properly here.
Put simply, the main causes of flooding are changes in riverbeds,
destruction of wetlands, loss of ground cover that supports
earthworms, compaction of the soil around houses and on roads,
and loss of temporary storage areas.

The removal of trees in watersheds is just one of the many
factors that cause flooding as river water flow increases, and as
forest canopy decreases. Planting trees may lessen the intensity
of floods, but are unlikely to eliminate floods.

Avoid flooding, increase dry season river flow seems to have
been one of the key assumptions underpinning the GERHAN", the
Government's National Movement for the Rehabilitation of Land and
Forest.

With a budget of Rp 1.473 trillion (US$163 million), GERHAN's
aim in 2004 is to rehabilitate 500,000 hectares across Indonesia.
In 2003, the budget was Rp 1.114 trillion ($123 million) for
300,000 hectares across 15 provinces, 29 watersheds and 145
districts.

But the notion that replanting trees will "avoid flooding and
increase dry season river flow" is another "myth-understanding"
that deserves questioning.

The simple scientific explanation is that generally, more
water transpires from most trees species than from field crops.

This "myth-understanding" could have been avoided by
questioning the received wisdom about trees increasing dry-season
flow by hypothesizing on the possible short- and long-term
impacts of planting trees in watersheds.

The standard solution around the world to rehabilitating
watersheds is to plant trees in the hope of recreating natural
forest. Again, the myth prevails and fantasy overrides fact.
Natural forests provide livelihood options only where the
population density is very low.

The fact is, there are many examples of densely populated
areas providing the watershed functions expected from "forests".
Areas with mixed land use and, generally, many trees planted by
farmers, can support medium- to high-population densities before
the watershed functions are affected.

What farmers need in these areas, where they have long-term
land-use rights, is help in getting more access to their
preferred trees in areas. Providing secure access to land
encourages farmers to participate in watershed management.

Our research in Sumatra and Java show that when it comes to
official tree-planting schemes, no shared understanding exists as
to the underlying problem and how it can be solved.

In the priority setting process, the government should ask
farmers for their opinions. In many places in Indonesia, a major
problem is the lack of clarity regarding regulations on the use
and care of large areas designated as national forests.

The field of forestry is full of unquestioned management
mantras. It is time to examine some of their underlying
assumptions seriously, and it is time that some hard facts
replaced the myths, not just in the minds of officials making
decisions about land use, but also in the community at large.

Farmers have limited access to information about markets or
livelihood opportunities using unfamiliar trees. They know about
erosion and filter effects on the landscape, but not what happens
after water infiltrates the soil. People living in the city and
policymakers may not know any better, and have difficulties
explaining the process of water flows that start with rainfall.

There are many good reasons to plant trees, but do not expect
trees to stop floods or landslides immediately. Choosing trees
according to the farmer's preference will go a long way towards
improving watershed quality while also providing them with a
livelihood.

The GERHAN program is making strides in listening to farmers
and supporting them -- this needs to become the standard approach
across the country.

Meine van Noordwijk is Regional Coordinator of the World
Agroforestry Centre, Southeast Asia Regional Office, Bogor.

Fahmuddin Agus is a researcher and head of the Soil Research
Institute, Bogor.