Protecting our landscapes to save our ecosystems

SIWI is a leading expert in how to manage and restore landscapes sustainably to protect water resources. This webinar series comes at a crucial time as a better understanding of the forest-water nexus is vital to successful restoration of ecosystems.

A recent analysis from the Swiss insurance firm Swiss Re warns that one-fifth of the world’s countries can soon face shortages of food and clean water as a result of collapsing ecosystems. The world can no longer turn a blind eye to the seriousness of this situation.

In the lead-up to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, SIWI has joined forces with other leading organizations to host a series of webinars on the important links between forests, climate and water. On 15 October, the first webinar is held on the topic Forest-Water Nexus Supporting Biodiversity – register here to take part. It is organized by the Forest-Water Champions, a network initiated by SIWI, FAO and IUCN, with experts also from AGWA, CIFOR, Forest Trends, Global Resilience Partnership, ICRAF, IUFRO, UNEP and WRI.

To avert the crisis, a completely new view of landscape management is needed, where water management is a given component. SIWI is a leading expert in how to manage and restore landscapes sustainably to protect water resources. This webinar series comes at a crucial time as a better understanding of the forest-water nexus is vital to successful restoration of ecosystems. As a recent blog post from CIFOR acknowledges: “High-level agenda choices fall short in understanding and acknowledging the forest-water nexus”, making exchange of such knowledge more important than ever.

SIWI is already actively working with partner organizations to raise awareness of the role of water in forests and landscapesin combatting climate change and protecting biodiversity. In a recent online workshop focusing on landscape restoration hosted by SIWI’s Swedish Water House and co partners*, Lars Laestadius (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Eco-Innovation Foundation) emphasized: It is about building the landscapes for the future. Laestadius ended his presentation by highlighting that momentum for restoration is still building and will continue do so during the coming Restoration Decade.

Promising solutions were also being discussed: Izabella Koziell (Program Director, CGIAR) explained that to improve soil preservation and landscape restoration it is essential that we create incentives for local communities. She shared the examples of how human excrement has been made into fertilizer pellets in Kenya.

There are more encouraging trends: more and more people are starting to understand the importance of landscapes. In David Attenborough’s most recent documentary the vital role of biodiversity is emphasized throughout. The need to repair our planet is also the focus of the Earthshot Prize, founded by Attenborough and HRH Prince William.

With good land and water management, we can preserve and restore landscapes strengthening biodiversity and protectingvarious water-related ecosystem services. Join us for our webinar in which we will explore the linkages between forests, water, biodiversity and climate change:

Register here

The webinar will be highlighting nature-based solutions as a way to enhance biodiversity and mitigate climate change.