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THE WOCATEER (No. 10 - Spring 2005)
(WOCAT Newsletter)

The WOCAT Newsletter is distributed by Email to those who are subscribed to the WOCAT-L mailing list (or as hard copy to those without Email).
It is distributed only in English for the time being, but Websites like http://babelfish.altavista.com/ or http://www.google.com/ language_tools offer fairly good translation facilities. The result is not perfect but quite understandable.

Le bulletin de WOCAT est distribué seulement en anglais pour l'instant, mais des sites Internet tels que http://babelfish.altavista.com ou http://www.google.com/language_tools offrent des moyens de le traduire qui sont assez utile. Le résultat n'est pas parfait, mais plus ou moins compréhensible.

Por el momento el noticiario de WOCAT existe solamente en inglés, pero algunos sitios web como http://babelfish.altavista.com o http://www.google.com/language_tools. ofrecen buenas/aceptables facilidades de traducción. El resultado no es perfecto pero se puede comprender.

Announcement: 10th WOCAT Annual Workshop & Steering Meeting, 5-10 September 2005, Serbia & Montenegro

Since 1996, WOCAT has organised nine Annual Workshops and Steering Meetings (known as WWSM) with the goal (a) to bring together the main collaborating and funding institutions and the core collaborators, (b) to assess the progress and to exchange experiences, (c) to further develop the programme and (d) to plan for the future and (e) to enhance WOCAT in the host country/region.

As decided during the 9th WWSM in China, the 10th Annual WOCAT Workshop and Steering Meeting will take place in Serbia & Montenegro, from 5-10 September, 2005. The exact venue is yet to be confirmed, but will be within easy reach from Europe's major airports.

Invited for this meeting are those involved in the coordination of WOCAT activities at the global, regional or national level, and/or involved in any of the WOCAT Task Forces. Availability of sponsorship to participants for this meeting is very limited and we do urge participants to find their own funding sources. Possible sponsoring will also be dependent on the amount of activities deployed and feedback provided to the WOCAT Secretariat since the previous WWSM.

Miodrag Zlatic explaining the attractions of next years’ venue
during the recent WWSM in China (Photo: Hanspeter Linger)

A formal announcement and registration form will be distributed later among active WOCATeers. However anyone who is interested to participate may contact the WOCAT Secretariat for more information.

9th WOCAT Annual Workshop & Steering Meeting (WWSM9) Yichang, China

The 9th Annual WOCAT workshop took place from 8-13 November 2004 and was attended by over 40 par-ticipants, of which about half came from 17 countries outside China (rest oAsia, Europe, Africa). The meeting washosted by the Soil and Water Conser-vation Monitoring Centre of the Chinese Min. of Water Resources based in Beijing. The venue for the meeting was the city of Yichang near the famous Three Gorges Dam in the Yangtze River.

The opening ceremony by high-level officials illustrated the importance the Chinese authorities place on SWC. The next session dealt with progress and problems encountered since the previous workshop (Nepal, October 2003) at the national, regional and global level. Whereas it emerged that a lot of positive things had been happening, lack of funds and /or low prioritisation of WOCAT are hindering the planned progress in some countries.

At the global level it was indicated that SDC funding had been secured for the coming three years (€ 260.000 / year), while additional contributions to the core activities are agreed upon by DANIDA (€ 50.000 /year for two years) and Syngenta Foundation (€ 30.000 /year for a three year period). In the SOWAP project an amount of € 21.000/year is allocated (through ISRIC) for WOCAT core activities (1 Euro = 1.28120 US Dollar).

From SDC side it was stressed however that more efforts should be undertaken by other WOCAT partners than CDE - especially those involved in core activities and in the Management Group - to increase and diversify core funding sources. The meeting expressed appreciation about the long term commitment of SDC and about the contributions of the other donors.

Other "core" activities had included work on the first WOCAT Overview Book, which will contain some 40 selected Technology case studies and about 25 Approach case studies. The book will be published in the course of 2005. A third version of the WOCAT CD ROM has been printed and distributed widely. The Website (www.wocat.net) is now accessible in three languages (E, F, S). Two issues of the WOCAT Newsletter have been distributed since the previous WWSM. WOCAT participated in international conferences such as ISCO XIII in Brisbane (July 2004) and supported regional or national WOCAT meetings or training (e.g. HIMCAT meeting in Nepal and Bangladesh Training, both in March 04).

At the operational level it was noted (again) that neither Task Forces nor the Management Group had operated fully satisfactorily, in spite of suggestions for improvement during the WWSM8. It was clear that contributions on a voluntary basis, as in the case of most TF and MG members, cannot be relied upon, because people are already burdened by other (paid) work.

Clemencia Licona Manzur, FAO's new representative within WOCAT, mentioned that WOCAT would have a role to play in the LADA project, for which a full project proposal had recently been approved by GEF and was now with UNEP for approval (PS: approved).

The first day concluded with group work on major achievements, problems and solutions within the countries, a discussion on the use of WOCAT, quality assurance, outputs and plans. The following day a "SWOT" analysis was undertaken (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats), with particular emphasis on:

• Output generation
• Quality management
• Networking
• Capacity building
• Tool development

This proved a very useful exercise, highlighting some outstanding results, some significant problems and some challenges and opportunities for the near future. A potential or in some cases a real problem is WOCAT being seen as an external activity and as an extra burden rather than as a useful tool to enhance the ongoing work and to benefit the user/contributor directly. Clearly in these cases WOCAT has an image problem that needs to be sorted out. Showing (the practical use of) more concrete outputs is therefore a high priority to WOCAT. The issue of "too long questionnaires" was brought up and some countries (e.g. S. Africa) had experimented with reduced versions (see below).

On Wednesday 10-11 a field trip was undertaken to the Three Gorges Dam in the Yangtze river, some 30 km from Yichang. This enormous project, which will result in the largest artificial reservoir worldwide (>600 km length), has started in 1993 and is scheduled to be terminated in 2009. When finished, twenty-six 700-megawatt turbine will generate power equalling the energy produced by 18 nuclear plants or the burning of 40 million tons of coal. Currently the dam is already operational with the lake having filled up for about half. Unfortunately the bad weather did not allow a good view of the dam and surrounding area in its entirety.

See (a.o.) http://www.chinaonline.com/refer/ministry_profiles/threegorgesdam.asp for an interesting overview of the Three Gorges Project.

Panorama overview of the Three Gorges Dam (Photo: Hanspeter Liniger)

On Thursday the meeting discussed in groups the "vision and mission" of WOCAT. A mission statement has existed since several years, but clearly needed some rethinking due to changes in emphasis. The sessions on the "Vision of WOCAT" during previous WWSMs were more a brainstorming exercise about the years to come than attempts to formulate a clear vision.

WOCAT Vision: "Local SWC knowledge and experience shared and used globally"

WOCAT's mission is:
to support decision making and innovation in the field of SWC by:

• connecting stakeholders,
• enhancing capacity, and by
• developing & applying standardized tools for
• documenting, monitoring, evaluating, sharing and using knowledge.

WOCAT MG members Godert van Lynden (l) and Hanspeter Liniger (r) thinking
hard about WOCATs vision and Mission (Photo: Thomas Ledermann)

In subsequent group work and a plenary session the objectives as touched upon in the SWOT analysis were discussed and prioritized for the coming years. Although there were significant differences between the groups, quality management and capacity building were seen as having the highest priority, some arguing that output generation is very important but obviously depending on quality management.

Discussions were held on:

• WOCAT in research and education
• In view of the criticism of "too long and too complicated questionnaires", WOCAT will use questionnaires with different levels of complexity and comprehensiveness to meet the needs of different users. The following three levels will be available for QT and QA (not for QM):
  • Light:
    Target group: broad public;
    Level of complexity: selected information, reduced from basic level;
    Use, Outputs: fact sheets / posters, basis for further documentation (basic or professional)
  • Basic:
    Target group: Interested public, SWC specialists, decision makers;
    Level of complexity: basic information: contains all the key questions from professional level;
    Use, Outputs: attractive 4 page documentation, overview books, basis for further documentation (professional)
  • Professional:
    Target group: SWC specialists, researchers, decision makers;
    Level of complexity: comprehensive information: in-depth understanding;
    Use, Outputs: professional use / database: capacity building, monitoring and evaluation, decision.
• Operation of task forces (TFs): although quite some work has been achieved, this was mostly not through the TFs but on a paid basis, i.e. by CDE or ISRIC or by hired experts. Possible reasons given were: no clear ToR (not entirely true, see WWSM8 proceedings), not directly related to the WOCAT nat./reg. activities, lack of funds. TF members should not be paid for their role in a TF, but funds might be needed to facilitate additional TF meetings or hiring a consultant for a specific job. TFs were therefore requested to draft some clear and concise ToRs, indicate a workplan with time frame and funds required where applicable. Other incentives for TF members were considered to be: recognition for the work done, international travel and meetings.
• WOCAT in global conventions & global coordination of SWC initiatives: since WOCAT cannot pretend to cover all aspects of various international conventions it should have a modular approach which facilitates a close link with these (see above).
• Proceedings: these should be kept more concise instead of continuing the trend to further expansion (from 50 pages for WWSM1 meeting to 122 for WWSM8!) and should contain a summary of major discussion points; action list and some of the presentations in an Annex.
• WWSM: likewise it was suggested to change the set-up of future WWSMs and avoid (the impression of) ever-repeating topics. Less time must be spent on issues that should be dealt with by the MG or technical discussions that should be handled by TF's. The latter would then present their findings at the WWSM for approval. The WWSM should offer more scope for exchange of experiences, e.g. with presentations of QT and QA case studies from various countries.

The last day of the workshop was spent on national and regional activity plans and on identific-ation of support needs from the "core group" as well as other global activities. Agreement was reached about the formation of the following Task Forces:

• Mapping: a new Web-based system for QM will be explored, using existing experience in S. Africa. The World Map, where developments so far have been rather disappointing, will be enhanced.
• QT/QA: revision and tool adjustment (light, basic, professional)
• Quality assurance/control procedures, development of a WOCAT label, peer review, project support service
• WOCAT in research and education
• Feedback (WOCAT internal) & dissemination strategies (external). WOCAT and conventions;
• Funding

The composition of the Management Group was agreed as follows:

MG Core:

• CDE Hanspeter Liniger (global coordination; secretariat)
• ISRIC Godert van Lynden
• FAO Clemencia Lincona-Manzur

  MG Enlarged:

• Philippines - BSWM: Joe Rondal (continued)
• Central Asia: ? (not present) - needs follow-up
• China- SWCMC: Feng Xu (continued)
• ICARDA: Francis Turkelboom (continued)
• ICIMOD: Sanjeev Bhuchar ? (not present) - needs follow-up
• Morocco - INSAH: Nahid Elbezzaz (new)
• RELMA: decision from RELMA is needed - needs follow-up
• S. Asia: ? (not present) - needs follow-up

The meeting agreed to CDE remaining the host of the Secretariat.

After the meeting was formally closed on Saturday, Hanspeter Liniger, Thomas Ledermann and Godert van Lynden with some of the Chinese hosts spent two more days in the field near the Three Gorges dam. A watershed not far from the dam was visited where the expected impacts of the rising water on the local agriculture (tea and vegetable terraces) were already visibly and/or clearly imaginable (see animation, water level to rise further ± to red line). This particular watershed looked fairly well protected (mainly through a long-term project) against erosion and hence siltation of the lake, mainly through widespread terracing and re/afforestation, partly done by "airplane seeding".

The second day a demonstration site N. of Yichang was visited with various fruit trees on heavy stone terraces. Terracing (either stone or earth) seems widespread in the entire region, both traditionally and introduced/promoted. One area was visited which seemed to consist of tangerine plantations only - and of excellent quality - mostly for local (Chinese) markets.

Special thanks are due to the Chinese hosts who organized an excellent and pleasant meeting.

Samran Sombatpanit has made more photos of the meeting available at the following site: http://community.webshots.com/album/199489463tfRJWg. Photos from the WWSM8 in Nepal can also be viewed at http://community.webshots.com/album/247401486XxbXDR. The full proceedings of the meeting are available on the WOCAT Website.

WOCAT in research - PhD proposals for COST action 634

In November 2004, two PhD proposals were handed in at the State Secretariat for Education and Research, Berne, regarding the COST (European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research) action 634: "On- and Off-site environmental impacts of runoff and erosion". The main objective of the action is to coordinate and synthesise European soil erosion research in the contexts of land management and policy formulation so as to: (a) limit runoff, (b) improve soil protection and (c) reduce on- and off-site environmental impacts of runoff and erosion in Europe. The two proposed PhD studies (common title: "On- and Off-site Effectiveness of Soil and Water Conservation in Switzerland - Steps Towards the Integration of Scientific, Experts' and Farmers' Knowledge") are dealing with following objectives:

1. Application and adaptation of existing participatory methods for different agricultural tech-nologies,
2. filling information gaps esp. on so-called off-site damage as well as
3. developing and testing approaches in communication / extension.

The methodology consists of a combination of WOCAT, IMA (Impact Monitoring and Assessment), "From Farmer - to Farmer" Approach and Damage Mapping (Agroscope FAL Reckenholz, Swiss Federal Research Station for Agroecology and Agriculture). A decision from the State Secretariat for Education and Research on assisting the proposed studies is expected in early 2005.

IAEA - CRP meeting, 04 to 08 October 2004, Istanbul - Turkey

The Second Research Co-ordination Meeting (every 18 month) of the Co-ordinated Research Project on "Assess the effectiveness of soil conservation techniques for sustainable watershed management using fallout radionuclides" took place from October the 4th to 8th in Istanbul, Turkey. Before the first meeting in Vienna in 2003, an agreement was signed between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and WOCAT (CDE) such that WOCAT takes an active role in the IAEA Coordinated Research Project (CRP) and therefore WOCAT was accepted as a tool and method to document SWC within the IAEA-research projects. Thomas Ledermann was invited to hold a presentation on the following topic: "The need for proper documentation, monitoring and evaluation of soil and water conservation technologies and approaches using the WOCAT tools". Since only few participants have started using the WOCAT tools yet, it was felt that a new and comprehensive presentation on the tools had to be done. One of Claude Bernard's major objectives at the meeting was to stress the commitment that was made at the beginning of this CRP to use these tools. Claude is the new head of this research project and the replacement of Felipe Zapata who left the Agency to retire.

The meeting was attended by 21 participants from 17 countries as well as a group of local researches. Beside the opening presentations and technical sessions (over 18 projects presented their results/progress reports in using fallout radionuclides (FRN)), a field tour was planned. A visit of the Cekmece Nuclear Research Centre of Turkish Atomic Energy Agency with some presentations of activities, a demonstration of the laboratories as well as a short trip to the Buyukcekmece Dam Lake Erosion Study Site was intended. Due to heavy rainfall only parts of the fieldtrip were undertaken. A beautiful tour and dinner on the Bosporus, which splits two continents, compensated for the bad weather.

Touring the Bosporus and enjoying dinner on the boat. A beautiful experience.
(Photo: Thomas Ledermann)

WOCAT at national and regional level

• The Philippines (PHILCAT)
  Joe Rondal

WOCAT was one of the seven papers presented during a national symposium held on January 19-20, 2005 at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management. The presentation was made by Jose D. Rondal and Romeo V. Labios. The symposium was organized by the BSWM and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

About 150 Filipino and Japanese participants from Japanese assisted projects in the Philippines, other government line agencies, state colleges and universities and NGOs were attending. The symposium is in line with the goal of the government to develop one to two million hectares of idle marginal lands for the next six years for food security and employment generation. Marginal lands are mostly located in sloping areas, hence, soil and water conservation is necessary. Knowledge from WOCAT can be essential tools in the sustainable development of uplands. After the presentation, several participants requested copies of the WOCAT CD ROM.

• Bangladesh (BANCAT)
  Sudibya Khisha

  Two technologies (Foothill Rice Terraces and Multipurpose Earthen Dam) from Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh have been sent in December 2004 to WOCAT HQ in Bern for inclusion in World Overview Map to be published by WOCAT.

  Several informal meetings with some of the working group members of BANCAT were held in December 2005, for briefing and the follow-up activities of WWSM9. The main points of discussion were:

  1. Publication of BANCAT Overview Book on Documentation of Conservation Approaches and Technologies on Hill Farming Practices and Natural Resource Management from Chittagong Hill Tracts is intended to be published on or before our 2nd Training Workshop on WOCAT Tools and Methodologies in March, 2005. This publication will be the first of its kind from CHT and it is hoped that it will serve as a ready reference to all the professionals and development practitioners in CHT and fill up the information gap to some extent.
  2. Printing of BANCAT Brochure and designing of monogram for BANCAT
  3. Rescheduling of training venue to March 2005. An agreement between BANCAT and the hosting organization - The Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Chittagong University - is yet to be signed
  4. Printing of posters showing the land degradation sites and the different slope-class sites in Chittagong Hill Tracts in collaboration with the Soil Resources Development Institute, Dhaka. Preliminary discussion with Mr.J.U. Shoaib regarding the collaboration was held.

Request letters with outlines of write-ups have been dispatched to all heads of government and non-governmental departments/organizations in the CHT with a request to send their inputs (write-ups/reports) for the forthcoming BANCAT publication to S.K.Khisha, the BANCAT National Coordinator. A positive response with appreciation from many of them was received.

• Ethiopia (ETHIOCAT)
  Daniel Danano

  An EthioOCAT Training workshop was held in Nazareth, Ethiopia from 28th December 2004 - 3rd January 2005. 16 Participants from the Amhara and Harari regions took part in this. Data collection is going to take place soon and will be completed by the end of March 2005 in the two regions.

• Niger
  Abdoulaye Soumaila

  A final report of the workshop on "the techniques of water and soils conservation and the WOCAT data" held in November 2002 in Niamey was recently finalised. A CD-Rom was published and distributed. The DED Niger financed part of the expenditure related to capitalization in particular fees of consultants who had written the final report.

• Serbia and Montenegro
  Miodrag Zlatic

1. Activities in the period from meeting in Yichang up till now:
2. Entering QM data in QM database for 9 communities (material sent to CDE).
3. Collecting new QM data for 4 communities in Jablanicki District in South Serbia (data have to be peer reviewed).
4. Preparing for next WOCAT meeting in Serbia and Montenegro: selection of a suitable venue for the workshop. CDE will be informed about this soon.
5. More WOCAT activities regarding QM, Qt and QA are expected in spring, in better weather.
6. Task Force "WOCAT in Education": M. Zlatic and Romeo Labios exchanged information and ideas regarding modules/programmes at respective faculties. Jelena Tomicevic, assistent at Faculty of Forestry in Belgrade is finishing her Ph. D. where she adapted WOCAT questionnaires for the purpose of her thesis. She will defend this Ph.D. early July this year at the Faculty of Forestry of Freiburg University (Germany).

Colourful landscape with agroforestry (contour planting with forest and
shrub strips): Belgrade surrounding - Mladenovac Community (Photo: M. Zlatic)

Meetings and conferences

Land degradation includes a range of issues linked to environmental changes such as soil, water and air quality. In the last decades, the environmental consciousness has significantly increased, but still there are conflicts between degradation actions and sustainable development efforts. The conflicts arise because degradation has increased faster than sustainable development initiatives which ones are still being formulated. Large areas of Brazil have been subjected to agricultural activities, including forests, like Amazonian, and savanna. Clearing of forests and savannas have created huge potentials for degradation, such as: increases in soil erosion, decreases of water supplies and other kinds of degradation. The International Symposium on Land Degradation will provide a Brazilian venue to investigate those themes, in addition to venues for presentations of research and applied studies covering a wide range of global environmental degradation problems. The Symposium also will make possible exchanges of experiences between international researchers, which will encourage the dissemination of diverse theoretical and practical information.

• Symposium on Learning Alliances, Delft, the Netherlands, 6-10 June 2005 Purpose and scope of the symposium

  The Learning Alliances (LA) methodology is relatively new to the water and sanitation sector. A number of experiences do exist, but these are not all well documented. In the agricultural sector and knowledge management initiative more experiences with Learning Alliances have been documented. These can provide useful insights for the water and sanitation sector.

  The symposium on 'Learning Alliances for scaling up innovative approaches in the Water and Sanitation sector' will be held in Delft, the Netherlands, from 6-10 June 2005. The symposium aims to bring together practitioners and researchers involved and/or interested in:

• practical experiences with scaling up innovative approaches through Learning Alliances;
• concepts and theory on Learning Alliances and their applicability to the water and sanitation sector;
• tools and methodologies for working through Learning Alliances.

Participants should cover all their costs. Please consult www.irc.nl/la for a registration form and for regular updates on the organisation of the symposium.

• The First International Conference - Environmentally Sustainable Development will be held on 26-28 June 2005 at COMSATS Institute of Information, Abbottabad, Pakistan. Environmental experts from all over the world will attend the conference. The environment, a fundamental part of development is increasingly under threat from unsustainable forms of development. Achieving environmental sustainability requires managing and protecting ecosystems, maintaining the diversity of life in both human-managed and natural systems and protecting the environment from pollution to maintain the quality of land, air and water.
  
  
• The 3rd World Congress On Conservation Agriculture (IIIWCCA) - 3 to 7 October 2005. The theme of the Congress is "Linking Livelihood, Production and Conservation". The congress will take place in Nairobi under the auspices of the African Conservation Tillage Network. Issues of food security, poverty alleviation and the underlining economic (rural) development within the context of environmental protection will be key features of the Congress. It is hoped that the Congress will help Africa to articulate the key issues and concerns with regard to the revitalised agriculture thrust and ensure agriculture support energies and resources are well directed into priority issues. For more information contact actnetwork@africaonline.co.zw or visit the Congress webpage at http://www.act.org.zw.
  
  
• First international symposium on the Management of Tropical Sandy Soils for Sustainable Agriculture; Khon Kaen, Thailand, 28th November - 2nd December 2005

An open invitation to attend the Symposium from the Director General, Land Development Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Thailand and the Director Research Department on Living Resources, Institut de recherche pour le développement, France.

Agriculture by its very nature can effectively be viewed as a mining operation. A significant proportion of the land currently under production is affected by degradation associated with losses in fertility, erosion and salinization. This degradation is clearly evident on soils that are light textured and sandy that occur globally in the tropics. For example, within the Kingdom of Thailand the soils of the Northeast are dominated by sandy light textured soils with low organic matter and clay contents. Consequently these soils have a low water holding capacity, cation exchange capacity and hence limited buffering capacity to both anthropogenic and natural stresses. Although the annual precipitation ranges from 800 to 1400 mm, it is often erratic and poorly distributed resulting in seasonal drought periods. However, despite the limitations associated with the natural resource base, the region supports of population of approximately 20 million. It is these soils and agro-ecosystems that form the focus of this International Symposium. More importantly it is the sustainable management of these unique ecosystems that if it were not for their elevated rainfall, would be classed as unproductive deserts. These soils are ubiquitous in areal extent and support highly productive agricultural systems and plantations forestry enterprises. However, there is strong evidence to support the notion that these soils are undergoing significant degradation and their ability to support large populations is being brought into question.

The symposium will focus on the sustainable management of land and water resources within these agro-ecozones. It is anticipated that the symposium will provide a platform for the exchange of new knowledge and concepts in the management of these resources. We take this opportunity in inviting you to participate in this First international symposium on tropical sandy soils and do hope that this will become a regular platform for the dissemination of new management options for these unique agro-ecozones.

Books and publications

• In Search Of Sustainable Livelihood Systems
  Managing Resources and Change
  edited by: Ruedi Baumgartner NADEL, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich; Ruedi Hogger NADEL, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich

  

  The contributors to this book adopt a holistic approach to understanding rural livelihood systems. They maintain that a livelihood system embraces not just the economic conditions for physical subsistence, but all the elements that provide material continuity and cultural meaning to the life of a family or a community. In this framework, the contributors explore and analyse a diverse range of rural livelihood systems based on fieldwork in a variety of contexts.

Highlighting the inner coherence of these systems and the survival strategies of rural families, the contributors illustrate the multiplicity and flexibility of livelihood strategies. Among the distinguishing features of this volume are:

• Investigates the relationship between rural livelihood systems and natural resource management.
• Proposes an innovative approach-titled RLS Mandala-for a holistic investigation into rural livelihood systems and strategies.
• Links economic reforms at a macro level with rural economics at the household level.
• Addresses a number of other pertinent issues including village leadership, occupational diversification, technology management, and non-economic motivators for resource management.