Provides syntheses of studies in three continents on the problem of achieving and understanding tropical rural development without compromising longer--term sustainability of the soil and water systems that underpin it.

INTRODUCTION

Sustainability in the Context of Tropical Catchments

SOILS, EROSION AND LAND USE

Introduction

From Plot to Basins: The Scale Problem in Studies of Soil Erosionand Sediment Yield

Remote Sensing and GIS Studies of Erosion Potential for CatchmentManagement: A Densely Populated Agricultural Catchment inKenya

Socio-economic Aspects of Subsistence Farming and Soil Erosion inTropical Catchment Management: The Upper Tana, Kenya

Agroecological Practices as Tools for the Sustainable Management ofCatchments Susceptible to Erosion: Reunion Island

The Importance of Geopedology in Sustainable Use of TropicalCatchments: Sodic Soils and Land Use Scenarios in NorthernAmazonia

Soil Restoration and Conservation: The "Tepetates" -
Indurated Volcanic Soils - in Mexico

Environmental Management for Sustainable Selective Logging inTropical Rainforests

Environmental Limits to Sustainable Coffee Cultivation on TropicalSoils: The Sungai, Pemadang Catchment, Brunei

CATCHMENT CONSERVATION AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF SUSTAINABLEMANAGEMENT

Introduction

Conservation of Tropical Peat Swamp Forests: A Peatland Catchmentin Central Kalimantan

Catchment Sustainability and River Biodiversity in Asia: A CaseStudy from Nepal

Conservation of Inland Deltas: A Case Study of the Gash Delta,Sudan

The Importance of People in the Management of TropicalCatchments

Hydrological and Ecological Considerations in the Management of aCatchment Controlled by a Reservoir Cascade: The Tana River,Kenya

Information for the Sustainable Management of Shallow Lakes: LakeNaivasha, Kenya

MODELLING: AN ESSENTIAL TOOL FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT

Introduction

The Importance of Soil Infiltration Dynamics and Data Uncertainty:Field Studies on Soils in Zimbabwe

Distributed Numerical Modelling of Surface Runoff and Soil Erosionin Arid Catchments

Hydrological Modelling in Humid Tropical Catchments

Modelling Lake Level Changes: Examples from the Easter Rift Valley,Kenya

The Influence of Tropical Catchments upon the Coastal Zone:Modelling the Links between Groundwater and Mangrove Losses inKeyna, India/Bangladesh and Florida

The contents of this book are the syntheses of studies of tropical catchments carried out in three continents ? Central/South America, Africa and Asia ? in the 1990s, mostly through the support of the EU Science and Technology for Development programme. Each chapter reflects on a particular aspect of the seemingly intractable problem: achieving and understanding tropical rural development without compromising longer-term sustainability of the soil and water systems which underpin it. The studies encompass examples of erosion measurement; of scaling measurements from plots to estimates for catchments; of erosion control and conservation techniques at soil and ecosystem levels; of the limits to uses of fragile tropical soils; of the effects of runoff combined with regulation on rivers and reservoirs; of the importance of indigenous people in the development processes and of the value and limitations of modelling at scales from soils to catchment. There is no single message from the book because there is no single solution to the problems of achieving sustainable tropical development. The Sustainable Management of Tropical Catchments presents ideas, techniques and case studies, knowledge of which will help researchers in many scientific and social disciplines to understand the complexities better, and politicians and bureaucrats to understand the consequences of development decisions and learn from the failure of many earlier ones.

INTRODUCTION Sustainability in the Context of Tropical Catchments SOILS, EROSION AND LAND USE Introduction From Plot to Basins: The Scale Problem in Studies of Soil Erosion and Sediment Yield Remote Sensing and GIS Studies of Erosion Potential for Catchment Management: A Densely Populated Agricultural Catchment in Kenya Socio-economic Aspects of Subsistence Farming and Soil Erosion in Tropical Catchment Management: The Upper Tana, Kenya Agroecological Practices as Tools for the Sustainable Management of Catchments Susceptible to Erosion: Reunion Island The Importance of Geopedology in Sustainable Use of Tropical Catchments: Sodic Soils and Land Use Scenarios in Northern Amazonia Soil Restoration and Conservation: The "Tepetates" - Indurated Volcanic Soils - in Mexico Environmental Management for Sustainable Selective Logging in Tropical Rainforests Environmental Limits to Sustainable Coffee Cultivation on Tropical Soils: The Sungai, Pemadang Catchment, Brunei CATCHMENT CONSERVATION AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT Introduction Conservation of Tropical Peat Swamp Forests: A Peatland Catchment in Central Kalimantan Catchment Sustainability and River Biodiversity in Asia: A Case Study from Nepal Conservation of Inland Deltas: A Case Study of the Gash Delta, Sudan The Importance of People in the Management of Tropical Catchments Hydrological and Ecological Considerations in the Management of a Catchment Controlled by a Reservoir Cascade: The Tana River, Kenya Information for the Sustainable Management of Shallow Lakes: Lake Naivasha, Kenya MODELLING: AN ESSENTIAL TOOL FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT Introduction The Importance of Soil Infiltration Dynamics and Data Uncertainty: Field Studies on Soils in Zimbabwe Distributed Numerical Modelling of Surface Runoff and Soil Erosion in Arid Catchments Hydrological Modelling in Humid Tropical Catchments Modelling Lake Level Changes: Examples from the Easter Rift Valley, Kenya The Influence of Tropical Catchments upon the Coastal Zone: Modelling the Links between Groundwater and Mangrove Losses in Keyna, India/Bangladesh and Florida