Forest Management for Water Stress Mitigation under Climate Change: An Economy-Wide Approach

Abstract

Given the current context of water scarcity and climatic change, achieving a balance between water supply and demand will prove challenging without the implementation of supply-side measures. An alternative, nature-based solution to mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events and ensure a more stable and reliable water supply for both ecosystems and human communities is forest management. Well-managed forests act as natural water reservoirs, storing and regulating freshwater flows that gradually replenish groundwater reserves and maintain river flows during dry periods. Yet, albeit these benefits are widely recognized, the relationship between forest management and improved water supply within economic decision support models remains largely underexplored. To this aim, this paper proposes a methodological framework to assess the long-term economic benefits of increased water discharges resulting from forestry practices in three different catchments located in Mediterranean mid-mountain areas under different scenarios of future climate and socioeconomic change, namely the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways. The results show that the examined forest management practices are cost-efficient strategies for the delivery of watershed services and the generation of positive economic outcomes, although with noticeable differences among basins, interventions and climate and socioeconomic scenarios

This publication is part of the R&D project PID2020-118268RB, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. The research is also supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education (grant FPU20/00182), and the Catalan Government (grant 2021 SGR 00570). Part of this research was also supported by the LIFE MIDMACC project (LIFE18 CCA/ ES/001099) funded by the European Commission

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