This paper provides the general objectives of the special issue: secondary forests in Asia: their diversity, importance and role in future environmental management. It provides a brief overview of the renewed attention to tropical secondary forests and sketches the history of research on this subject.

Understanding the basic relationships between rainfall, runoff, soil moisture and ground water level are vital for an effective and sustainable water resources planning and management activities. But so far there are no hydrological studies in Meja watershed that aims to understand the watershed characteristics and runoff generation processes. This study was conducted to understand runoff generation processes and model rainfall runoff relationship in Meja watershed having a drainage area of 96.6 km2.