24 November 2015: The Program on Forests (PROFOR) has issued a case study demonstrating how forest preservation and restoration can enhance the climate change resilience of drinking water supplies, focusing on Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Issued as a PROFOR Working Paper, the case study was produced in collaboration with the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) of the CIGAR Consortium.

The study’s starting point is a US$4.2 million water management plan for the Guacerique watershed proposed by Tegucigalpa’s water authority. Featuring an ecosystems-based adaptation (EBA) approach, the plan calls for reforesting 1,236 hectares around springs and creeks in the watershed surrounding the capital city, reducing illegal timber extraction in the area, improving soil quality on 2,000 hectares of farmland, and creating 100 hectares of fuel wood plantations. Matching collected primary data with climate change scenarios that compared the plan against a business-as-usual baseline of increasing water availability through infrastructure improvements alone, the study estimated that the US$4.2 million investment could yield a net economic benefit of US$28-$76 million, depending on the severity of climate change impacts on rainfall and soil erosion.

The paper also makes several recommendations, including: supporting farmer adoption of soil and conservation practices by making the economic benefits evident and providing needed incentives; securing dedicated funding for watershed management plans featuring EBA; establishing a monitoring system for adequate adjustment of EBA responses; effectively enforcing environmental legislation for forest and water resources; committing to bottom-up participatory processes that promote dialogue between communities and the government and generate broad community support; and expanding research into the potential benefits of EBA over a broader range of ecosystem services, such as fiber, food, pollination and nutrient cycling. [PROFOR Press Release] [Publication: How Forests Enhance Resilience to Climate Change: The Case of Drinking Water Supply in Tegucigalpa, Honduras: (English) (Spanish)] [Publication: In Brief: Honduras: the Case of Drinking Water Supply in Tegucigalpa: (English) (Spanish)]