Towards adaptive watershed management: a new era of watershed management in the Anthropocene

Abstract

The main objective of watershed management is to conserve land and forest. However, the paradigm of watershed management has also changed and shifted to address the existing challenges. In particular, since the Anthropocene, watershed management has become a critical topic of attention as human pressures to environment have increased. The alternative is to defend against the escalating pressures or to adapt further. Three goals can be considered as the key pillars of watershed management: biodiversity protection, land preservation, and climate change adaptation. The ultimate objective is to achieve healthy watershed. The various approaches in watershed management can be categorized into three main groups: fragmented, integrated, and comprehensive watershed management. The highest level is the adaptive approach, which promotes flexibility, learning and adjusting. However, up to now not many have adopted this approach for watershed management. Indonesia might be entered the decentralization stage, and with a little improvement it can achieve the adaptive approach. We also suggest that an adaptive approach needs to be promoted in watershed management, especially during the current era, i.e., the Anthropocene. Accordingly, quality assurance cycles such as PDCA (plan-do-check-action) can be applied in the adaptive approach. This cycle can be applied to prepare the further management by adjusting and adapting previous management to improve the quality and sustainability of the next watershed management programs.