The Fall of the Water

greater recognition of the existence of these forests amongst policy makers and development planners. Ac- cessible information is required on the unique water- shed and biodiversity values of these forests. Conserva- tion and restoration measures can then be developed in partnership with the local communities and the cities that depend on the water and other products from the cloud forests. The examples presented above illustrate the complex- ity of environmental impacts deriving from unchecked development, and their severe impacts on biodiversity and water resources locally. However, the cumulative impacts of such piecemeal development may also seriously impact overall biodiversity and ecosystem services, as well as the stability, quantity and quality of water resources.

change (Still et al., 1999; Bubb et al., 2004). A wide range of potential negative impacts have been identified. It is predicted that the optimum climatic conditions for many mountain habitats will increase in altitude by hun- dreds of meters in the second half of the 21st century. This will be a direct result of temperature and rainfall changes caused by a doubling of CO 2 levels. This will re- sult in the replacement of cloud forests by lower altitude ecosystems and the extinction of cloud forests currently found on mountain peaks from where they are unable to spread upslope. Cloud forests are also likely to be affect- ed by climate change, due to a reduction in cloudiness at lower altitudes as temperatures increase (e.g. Loope and Giambelluca, 1998; Foster, 2001).

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Conservation and sustainable management of the cloud forests of continental south-east Asia first requires

Water resources affected by development South-east Asia contains immense diversity with re- gard to the hydrological significance of the mountains for the water flow, the size of the river catchments,

population density, pressures and biodiversity (Table 1). Currently, only a few percent of the water sheds are protected against exploitation (Table 1; Fig. 13). The ma-

Figure 13: The extent of major protected areas in the study region. China has made impressive efforts in protecting vast areas including major parts of the Chang Tang and the Kunlun Shan, home to the Chiru antelopes and other wildlife and indigenous nomads. Organised poaching still remains a major challenge. Overall, however, the crucial water sheds are vastly underrepresented, less than 3% of the water sheds in mountainous Asia are currently pro- tected, though supporting life to over 3 billion people.