Watershed Connect

The Natural Capital Declaration (NCD) has been officially active for almost a year and is now ready to move into the second phase, which is the implementation of four commitments, focused on integrating natural capital into financial accounting, presented in the NCD Roadmap.

Ecosystem Marketplace returns from Katoomba XVIII in Beijing full of stories, podcasts and videoblogs on the meeting that focused on forests, water and people.  Upon returning, EM turns its attention to new White House guidance on water investments and an innovative wastewater treatment wetlands project in the Colorado Delta.  

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) just wrapped up the commenting period on the proposed new guidelines for evaluating Federal water resources investment. The Proposed Guidance is aiming for more balanced investments with an ecosystem services approach that will benefit both the economy and the environment.  

The Miyun Reservoir provides drinking water for more than 20 million people in one of the world's great metropolises, but its core challenges aren't much different than those of smaller waterbodies located in Ecuador, Peru, or the United State. We speak with Katoomba XVIII participats from those three countries.

More than 200 delegates to Katoomba XVIII from as far away as Peru, Switzerland, and Ghana will be spending the next three days in China's troubled Miun Reservoir. Their aim: to trade experiences, share lessons learned, and make recommendations to project developers at Miyun on designing and implementing effective watershed investments.

China’s eco-compensation programs are among the most comprehensive payments for ecosystem services on the planet, but delegates to the 18th Katoomba Meeting in Beijing say they must reach more people in more segments if they are to deliver lasting environmental benefits.

On the opening day of the 18th Katoomba meeting in Beijing, the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Water Resources Specialist, Zhang Qingfeng, offers an update on new trends in Chinese eco-compensation – including early steps towards encouraging private-sector investments in China’s natural infrastructure.

The 18th Katoomba meeting opens tomorrow in Beijing and with it a big opportunity for developing nations to share their experiences and gain valuable information from each other. Here, we look at the varying investments in watershed services programs in China, Peru and Ghana and how sharing ideas could benefit them all.

A global series of workshops were launched in Bonn, Germany, at the end of 2011 to deliver workable, scalable solutions to the global water challenge by the end of 2014. Though not officially one of those workshops, Katoomba XVIII will certainly draw on the lessons learned to date and contribute to the final outcome.