- Hong Kong Carbon Reduction Campaign
- Global forest carbon research
- Securing water supply in China's heartland
- Taking direct action
- Saving the Freshwater Gharial in the Ganges
- Cleaning up the Ganges
- Untangling our understanding of lianas and climate change
- The Panama Canal Watershed Experiment
- Protecting the Ganges: Interschool Recycling Workshop
- Cooking on natural gas in the Yangtze
- Tackling illegal deforestation
- Johannesburg's Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit Project
- Baicheng wind farm project
The Panama Canal Watershed Experiment
Over five percent of global trade passes through the Panama Canal. 2.6 billion m3 of fresh water are required each year to operate the six locks which raise ships 25.9m above sea level and back down again. A staggering 200,000m3 of freshwater is used every time the locks are opened.
Climate challenge
Floods and high water levels in the watershed put the locks and dams at risk; drought and low water levels reduce ship passage. Too much water or too little water impacts global commerce. In December 2010 flooding in the watershed closed the Canal to ships for 19 hours. This is the first time flooding has closed Canal since it first opened in 1914. The Canal also provides drinking water to 1.5 million people in Panama City, so it is absolutely vital that risk is mitigated and the flow of water is assured.
Insight and action
Ecologists and hydrologists from the Smithsonian are measuring and tracking the way that water flows seasonally, and the role that forests of different types play in regulating water flows. The project, funded by the HSBC Climate Partnership, has reforested degraded land on the banks of the Panama Canal with different native and exotic tree species, including teak, thus establishing a very large scale experiment including pastureland, plantations and forests.
Smithsonian ecologists and hydrologists are measuring and tracking water regulation and storage, as well as carbon capture, across the different land-use experiments.
Outcomes
The knowledge and models derived from this project, will aid land-use decisions in Panama, the Caribbean basin and much of the seasonal tropics. The data will help secure the long-term viability of the Canal and ensure the continuing passage of trade through its waters.
As fees are levied on ships transiting the Canal, it is possible to assign a global financial value to the fresh water vital to Canal operations. HSBC-sponsored science in Panama aims to quantify the financial value of the full range of ‘environmental services’ provided by the forests along the banks of the Canal. In 2014 when new, and much larger locks are opened on the 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal, this will help to focus global attention on the importance of the world's forests and woodlands to water supplies.
The Panama Canal Watershed Experiment has the potential to be the tropical-hydrology project of the decade.
Dr Sampurno Bruijnzeel, Professor of Land Use Hydrology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
The HSBC Climate Partnership is a five-year environmental programme between HSBC, The Climate Group, Earthwatch Institute, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and WWF. It aims to reduce the impact of climate change on people, forests, freshwater and cities and accelerate the adoption of low-carbon policies.
