[Index]
FORESTS AND WETLANDS:
SUPPLIERS OF CLEAN WATER AND
FIRST LINE OF DEFENCE AGAINST FLOODS
Geneva, 14 December 2004 - Forests
and wetlands can replace expensive engineering
structures for flood control and waste-water
treatment. Forests and wetlands store
water and reduce erosion. They mitigate
floods, and retain pollutants and excess
nutrients. The Seminar on the role of
ecosystems as water suppliers takes place
in Geneva this week (13-14 December) and
will discuss the role of forests and wetlands
in the water cycle, and innovative approaches
to protecting and rehabilitating them.
The basic services that
forests provide (production of pure water,
flood control and recreation) are worth
billions. For instance, the value of the
water storage function of China’s
forests is thought to be three times the
value of their wood. The economic value
of the world’s wetlands is estimated
at $70 billion per year.
Many cities in the region
of the United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE) are already using forests
and wetlands to cut the cost of supplying
clean water to their residents. New York,
Istanbul, Stockholm and Basel are all
taking advantage of the properties of
the surrounding forests to save on water
treatment.
It is estimated that
New York’s approach costs up to
$1.5 billion over 10 years, while building
a waste-water treatment plant would cost
at least four times as much, excluding
operating costs. Switzerland saves roughly
$64 million a year by using water from
forested watersheds that needs no treatment.
For more information about the Seminar,
please contact:
Rainer Enderlein
Environment and Human Settlements
Division
United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE)
Palais des Nations, office 313
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: +41(0)22 917 23 73
Fax: +41(0)22 917 01 07
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.unece.org/env/water/meetings/ecosystem/seminar.htm
Ref: ECE/ENV/04/P22