Pioneering innovative approaches to water management is one thing. Making sure those approaches have a lasting impact is another. It requires the backing of a regulatory framework with legislation in place to ensure that successful prototypes can become the norm going forward.

Therefore, in promoting a new approach that combines “green” and “gray” solutions, Forest Trends works very closely with policy makers to ensure that these innovative solutions become established practice.

  • We have partnered with the Ministry of Environment of Peru to form the Peru Ecosystem Services Project Incubator, which has played an important role in advancing investments in watershed services in Peru. Among key milestones supported by the Incubator was the passage and consolidation of groundbreaking Ecosystem Services Compensation Mechanisms Law; the Incubator has also facilitated critical cross-sectoral partnerships, especially with the drinking water sector. National policy reforms in that sector, led by national water utility regulator SUNASS and also supported by Forest Trends and our partners, are resulting in significant and systematic new allocations of funds from the water tariff to watershed conservation.
  • In Ghana, Forest Trends and our partners convened a multi-year effort on investments in watershed services with a Technical Working Group composed of nine national agencies that contribute to water resources management. The cross-sectoral effort has resulted in the establishment of the Kakum Basin Board, which will direct watershed investments with funds from water users.
  • At the regional level, Forest Trends has been a close partner of ADERASA, the Association of Water Regulators in Latin America. With Forest Trends support, ADERASA has convened a diverse and enthusiastic group of water regulators, water utilities, consulting firms, and green infrastructure experts in the region since 2015, resulting in the adoption of guidelines on green infrastructure by ADERASA, and the development and implementation of a training on tools for implementing green infrastructure in the Latin American water sector.