Belmont Forum-G8 Initiative Collaborative Research: XINGU - Integrating Land Use Planning and Water Governance in Amazonia

该奖项为参与一个由13个国家通过贝尔蒙论坛和八国集团研究理事会的全球变化研究计划竞争性选择的项目的美国研究人员提供支持。贝尔蒙论坛是一个高级别的世界组织，S是全球环境变化研究和国际科学理事会的主要和新兴资助者。其目的是通过协调和调动国际资源，加速开展最迫切需要的国际环境研究，以消除对可持续性的关键障碍。八国集团研究理事会负责人制定了一个筹资框架，以支持多边研究项目，这些项目以超出国家或双边活动能力的方式应对全球挑战。每个伙伴国都在一个联合体内为其研究人员提供资金，以减轻跨越国际边界的资金需求。这一办法有助于有效利用国家资源，支持对具有全球相关性的专题进行出色的研究，最好通过多国办法加以解决，认识到全球挑战需要全球解决办法。贝尔蒙论坛和G8HORCs在国际机遇基金的首届呼吁中共同努力，为寻求提供必要知识以采取行动减轻和适应有害环境变化和与淡水安全或沿海脆弱性有关的极端危险事件的研究项目提供了支持。该奖项为美国研究人员在财团中的合作提供支持，该财团由至少三个参与国的合作伙伴组成，并将自然科学家、社会科学家和研究用户(例如，政策制定者、监管机构、非政府组织、社区和行业)聚集在一起。该奖项支持研究活动，这些活动将审查与热带森林集约作物农业扩展相关的淡水安全问题。作物农业集约化是一种全球现象，随着人口和收入的增加，这种现象正在迅速改变土地用途。这些农业变化对水的使用和质量有重要影响，但土地利用的变化很少与水治理和管理的变化联系在一起。该项目将(1)确定土地转换、耕地扩展和农业集约化的影响如何相互作用，影响区域蒸散、降雨产生、河流洪水、水质和溪流栖息地，以及将危及农业生产、生计和基础设施的变化门槛；(2)最适合促进有效和高效的水管理的治理和沟通机制。农民、牧场主、家庭、市政官员和企业将参与评估哪些机制可以影响水安全评估和管理权衡。该项目将有助于更好地了解土地利用的变化如何影响水的使用和治理，以及参与和管理如何影响土地利用迅速变化的区域的淡水可持续性。

This award provides support to U.S. researchers participating in a project competitively selected by a 13-country initiative on global change research through the Belmont Forum and the G8 countries Heads of Research Councils. The Belmont Forum is a high level group of the world?s major and emerging funders of global environmental change research and international science councils. It aims to accelerate delivery of the international environmental research most urgently needed to remove critical barriers to sustainability by aligning and mobilizing international resources. The G8 Heads of Research Councils developed a funding framework to support multilateral research projects that address global challenges in ways that are beyond the capacity of national or bilateral activities. Each partner country provides funding for their researchers within a consortium to alleviate the need for funds to cross international borders. This approach facilitates effective leveraging of national resources to support excellent research on topics of global relevance best tackled through a multinational approach, recognizing that global challenges need global solutions.Working together in an inaugural call of the International Opportunities Fund, the Belmont Forum and G8HORCs have provided support for research projects that seek to deliver knowledge needed for action to mitigate and adapt to detrimental environmental change and extreme hazardous events that relate to either Freshwater Security or Coastal Vulnerability. This award provides support for the U.S. researchers to cooperate in consortia that consist of partners from at least three of the participating countries and that bring together natural scientists, social scientists and research users (e.g., policy makers, regulators, NGOs, communities and industry). This award supports research activities that will examine issues surrounding freshwater security associated with the expansion of intensive crop agriculture in tropical forests. Intensification of crop agriculture is a global phenomenon that is rapidly shifting land use as populations and incomes increase. These agricultural changes have important implications for water use and quality, but land use changes are rarely associated with changes in water governance and management. This project will (1) identify how impacts from land conversion, cropland expansion and agricultural intensification interact to affect regional evapotranspiration, rainfall generation, river flooding, water quality and stream habitat and the thresholds of change that will endanger agricultural production, livelihoods and infrastructure, and (2) what mechanisms of governance and communication are best suited to facilitate effective and efficient water management. Farmers, ranchers, families, municipal officials and businesses will be engaged to assess what mechanisms can influence water security assessments and manage tradeoffs. This project will contribute toward an improved understanding of how shifts in land use impacts water use and governance and how engagement and management can impact freshwater sustainability in regions with rapidly changing land use.