The pressing need for increased agricultural production in the years ahead can only be met by more efficient use of our land and water resources including more widespread and better irrigation in those regions where rainfall is inadequate. Production gains will be shortlived unless the attendant hazards of salinization, water logging and lowered fertility are kept in check by effective planning and management based on a thorough understanding of the soil conditions. Soil survey and land classification are generally accepted essential preliminaries to investment in irrigation development.

Todos los datos estadisticos confirman que la agricultura es el sector clava para el manejo del agua, tanto en la actualidad como en las próximas décadas. Sin embargo, el sector del desarrollo rural del agua en el momento actual enfrenta dificultades, comparado con otros sectores competitivos, para obtener la prioridad que merece en los foros internacionales. Son necesarios argumentos nuevos y fuertes para dar al agua en la agricultura el lugar que le corresponde. Las prespectivas para el futuro son claras.

In its recent examination of global water scarcity (1997) the United Nations system identified water quality as one of the key concerns in Asia in the next century. This concern is based on the fact that water quality degradation is so severe in many Asian countries that it is placing serious constraints on economic growth; it continues to be a serious problem for human health and it is causing widespread negative environmental effects.

This note has been prepared for the plenary session of the European Forest Week on “Forests and Water” taking place on Thursday, 23 October 2008 1 . Its objective is to stimulate a lively and well informed discussion by providing the reader with background information and proposing questions which participants in the session may wish to address during the discussion. The note presents linkages between the forest and water sectors, discusses collaboration between the communities and presents international legal and policy frameworks.

One of the guiding mandates within the FAO Constitution is the following: “The Organization shall promote and, where appropriate, shall recommend national and international action with respect to: … the conservation of natural resources and the adoption of improved methods of agricultural production ...”. In many African countries, in addition to low yields, food production is limited by the availability of land and water resources.

L’un des premiers produits conçus par AQUASTAT, depuis sa création en 1994,a été la méthodologie d’évaluation des ressources hydriques. Quoiquetrès utiledurant les 20 années d’utilisation dans le cadre d’AQUASTAT, cette méthodologie a révélé quelques faiblesses et s’est avérée dans certains cas d’une complexité excessive. La nécessité de résoudre certains problèmes majeurs est apparue progressivement. En mars 2015, AQUASTAT a décidé de procéderà quelques changements, décrits dans cette note.

联合国挑战徽章训练手册的目的旨在提高认识和教育、最重 要的是鼓励年轻人改变他们的行为并成为改变当地社区的积 极推动者。挑战徽章训练手册适合在学校班级和青少年团体 中使用并获得世界女童子军协会和世界童子军运动组织的认 可。手册包括广泛的活动且提供很容易由教师或领队进行调 整的想法。其他可用的或正在开发的一系列有关其他主题的 挑战徽章训练手册，包括：农业、生物多样性、气候变化、 能源、森林、管理、饥饿、营养、土壤和水。 海洋挑战徽章训练手册旨在帮助教育孩子和青少年海洋在支 持地球生命中扮演的重要角色。本挑战徽章训练探讨人们怎 样居住、探索和使用海岸、海洋和海洋产品，描述这对于海 洋环境的影响并提供个人能采取怎样的行动帮助使这一密切 关系变得更加可持续。