004/2001

Editors - for further information or to interview an IWMI scientist on this topic, please contact Kshalini Nonis (k.nonis@cgiar.org) Tel + 94 1 867 404 Fax + 94 1 866854.

April 6, 2001

INTERNATIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE INTEGRATES 'IBSRAM' LAND MANAGEMENT RESEARCH INTO ITS WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH PROGRAM

As of April 1, 2001, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) integrated the research program of IBSRAM, the International Board for Soil Research and Management into its research program. This broadens the research capacity of IWMI, adding substantial new expertise and resources, including sustainable land management research data, tools and projects, to the Institute's existing water resources management portfolio.

IBSRAM's current research projects and related staff will form part of the IWMI Regional Office for Southeast Asia, based in Bangkok, and will coordinate all IWMI's research in the region.

IWMI has its headquarters in Sri Lanka, with regional offices in Africa, India and Pakistan. Its research program concentrates on five themes: Integrated Water Resource Management for Agriculture; Sustainable Smallholder Land and Water Management; Groundwater Management; Water Resources Institutions and Policies; Water, Health, and Environment. A further research activity is a series of Benchmark River Basins in Africa and Asia - the Institute's 'field laboratories'. In these locations, sustainable water and land management practices are being studied and tested on an ongoing basis.

Since its creation in 1985, IBSRAM has built a solid base of research and a network of national partners spanning most Asian countries. Faced with a research mandate that was significantly broadened five years ago - from soil science to sustainable land management (SLM) - in 2000, IBSRAM began exploring partnership opportunities. To achieve its new goals, IBSRAM needed to expand its critical mass of research staff in all SLM disciplines, including crop science, economics, and sociology. Discussions were opened with several potential partners, among them the International Water Management Institute - a 'Future Harvest' research center that receives its principal funding from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

IBSRAM's research and the tools it has developed over the past 15 years strengthen IWMI's position as a natural resources research center and bring new skills and a network of new contacts - at the farm and NARS level - into the CGIAR and IWMI will extend its outreach to the following research networks:

  • Catchement management network. A consortium for integrated research on catchement management, composed of different stakeholders in water catchements - in Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, together with 20 national partners, and three advanced research organizations

  • Soil conservation on sloping lands. A seven-country network (China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam) developed with scientists and farmers. Findings are now being introduced on a large scale through demonstration and extension programs.

  • Acid and infertile soil management network, that seeks ways to better manage acid and infertile soils, with particular attention to phosphorus management in Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines and Vietnam. A capacity building for relevant soil analyses is being done in all eight ASEAN countries.
  • Research to determine nutrient balances of farms on marginal lands.
  • Creation of land management information for farmers, that brings together relevant information about land management from many sources, and makes it truly accessible to farmers and their children through the Internet. This work is implemented through partners in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
  • Nutrient recycling in urban and peri-urban areas. Research and cooperation with many partners to set up a regional consortium for research and capacity building.
  • Training program for national research centers in land and water legislation, to help these organizations review their legislation for water and land management, and to support the adoption of the best elements from other countries.