WATER A REFLECTION OF LAND USE. OPTIONS FOR COUNTERACTING LAND AND WATER MISMANAGEMENT

The purpose of this book can be expressed under several main goals which are to: - contribute to better future governance by educating the current and next generation of politicians and decision-makers as well as interested members of the general public; - provide teachers with appropriate and useful information from which they will be able to further develop classroom materials and activities; - create an awareness of fundamental regional differences in order to reduce the level of “temperate zone imperialism” on issues concerning the environment and development ; - create awareness about the importance of education for changing attitudes on water issues. Within that framework this book addresses three basic issues: - interaction between human activities in the landscape (land-use) and the movement of water vertically and horizontally through that landscape; - action needed to avoid the negative ecohydrological effects of such interactions (floods, pollution, desiccation, etc.); - appropriate methods for environmental management to cope with such interactions.