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dam-l ENS Story on World Water Forum Inaugeration. (fwd)
Forwarded article... ENS.
Please note the structure of the article... the journalists seem to feel
that the Spanish activists protesting a dam I've never heard of, represent
all actiovists, subtley tarring the reputation of people who are trying to get information on impacts of dams across.
They also seem to have a pro-development bias as opposed to a wise use of
existing resources bias, plus there is no mention of such thngs as
salinization of soils.
Is anyone curently over at the World Water Forum or in the Hague now?
I encourage people to post what information they have from the Hague itself
or any thoughts they have on this.
I had also not heard of World Wide Fund for Nature's Living Water Program.
Impacts of interbasin transfers in the artcile are shuffled off to the
bottom of the article...
Fisheries impacts are not mentioned.
No mention of drip agriculture either. GRR!
Article is rather uninformative in my opinion as a reseracher and as a
writer and media producer and science popularizer.
What do others think?
cheers!
-Dianne
----fwd article, ENS-----------------------------------------------------
THE HAGUE, Netherlands, March 17, 2000 (ENS) - "During the Second World
Water Forum all individuals can vent their opinions on water related
issues, but in a civilized manner," said chairman of the event,
His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange, in response to activists
who disturbed the opening event of the Forum today in The Hague.
His Royal Highness The Prince of Orange is chairman of the Second World
Water Forum (Photo courtesy World Water Forum).
The Prince got an ovation from the vast majority of the crowd attending the
festive opening ceremony for his improvised speech facing an activist
group who used the Forum to demonstrate against the Itoiz Dam in Spain.
Organizer of the Forum Bert Diphoorn said the disturbance demonstrated
the open character of the Forum, but he objected to the offensive method
activists had chosen for presenting their statement. Two activists
undressed on stage in front of World Water Council president Mahmoud
Abu-Zeid, preventing him from delivering his speech.
[INLINE] pic of Mahmoud Abu-Zeid, president of the World
Water Council Minister of Public Works and
Water Resources, Egypt (Photo courtesy World
Water Forum)
Well over 3,500 participants, 158 delegations and 115 Ministers
have gathered in The Hague for the Second World Water Forum and
Ministerial Conference, a unique interactive event and platform
for developing sustainable water management.
Water shortages will lead to inadequate food production in some
regions of the globe in the future, according to a prediction
made to Forum delegates by Assistant Director-General Louise Fresco of the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
By its close on March 22, ministers from around the world are
expected to sign a declaration to provide future water security
that includes basic human services such as food and sanitation.
"Water and food security are intimately linked, access to water
is a key to food security," Fresco said in a speech to an
assembly of experts and officials focused on water issues.
"Hungry people, and hungry regions, can exist in the midst of plenty.
It is no accident that many of the nearly 800 million people who still
go to bed hungry every night live in water-scarce and in water
flooded regions. Water and food security are intimately linked,
access to water is a key to food security," Fresco said.
Water pipe provides irrigation water for Spanish fields (Photo
courtesy Departamento de Agricultura Ganaderia y Alimentacion,
Spain)
Research by the FAO found that irrigated land will increase in
developing countries over the next 30 years, and farmers will
have to learn to produce more crops with less water. Of 93
countries studied by FAO, 12 are using almost half their water
resources for irrigation, a level of usage that the U.N.
organization considers critical.
Pollution caused by too much fertilizer and pesticide use,
particularly in irrigation schemes, could now be prevented through
integrated pest and plant nutrient management, said Fresco.
Beyond increasing efficiency in agriculture, Fresco
urged progress on the diplomatic front as nations try to agree on
distribution of scarce water resources. "Lack of agreement between
countries on transboundary river management hinders or blocks
efficient water development and water quality management," she said.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), a Forum participant, has raised
concerns that a weak declaration may ensure freshwater supply at the
expense of nature. It says safeguarding nature begins with increasing
the area of the world's freshwater ecosystems that are protected or
restored, and managing water in river basins in ways that meet human
needs and maintain the natural water cycle and functions.
[INLINE] pic of Mekong Delta, Vietnam
(Photo courtesy WWF-Canon/Herve Lethier)
"We are concerned that the declaration will offer nothing towards
conserving the source of water," said Richard Holland, director of WWF's
Living Waters Campaign.
"No amount of financial resources, institutional change or technical
innovation can help if the basic resource - quality and quantity -
is not maintained in the future," he said.
The WWF is urging the Forum to take into account:
-Responsible private sector participation so its activities do not
encourage pollution, deform natural landscapes and inequitably
distribute resources.
-Greater commitment from developed nations' to contribute more technical and financial resources to poorer nations, and build
their capacity to use them.
-An integrated approach to climate change and
reduction of greenhouse gases that looks at the relationship
between water, forests and climate.
The World Water Council is a nongovernmental organization
established as an international water policy think-tank.
It holds its triennial meeting to coincide with the World
Water Day under the name of the World Water Forum. The Second
World Water Forum is being held in The Hague from March 17-22. The
First World Water Forum was held in Marrakech, Morocco in 1997.