Reciprocal commitments for addressing forest-water relationships

Over the last 15 years, the role of forests in the provision and regulation of hydrological services has been increasingly recognised and researched. This chapter draws on the ESPA portfolio of research (and more broadly) to review the relationships between forests, water and people, paying particular attention to how changes in forest-water relationships affect human wellbeing. It begins with a brief review of the nature of forest-water relationships and the increasing role that climate and demographic change, trade and urbanisation are playing in driving and influencing this relationship. It then explores the multiple trade-offs between land and water use, hydrological services and wellbeing and the use of reciprocal management and governance as tools to manage these trade-offs, focusing on three types of reciprocal arrangements: reciprocal social practices, payments for ecosystem services and reciprocal water agreements. The chapter highlights the importance for management systems and policy to recognise the imbalance of power and the distribution of benefits between and within different communities, and to attempt to promote equitable outcomes from these interventions.