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Submitted by Rob Wesley-Smith on
Congratulations on this paper, Chris, it is spot on, imho You don't say how to convince the East Timor government to take it on board. The need for environment rehabilitation and careful planting of trees in association with road works has been clear for a long time. Also, it is clear that people can use the water that soaks into the landscape and comes out slowly in springs , rather than seeing it all rush off in dirty rivers into the sea. ---- Terrific to see a roads report (building roads resilience into East Timor roads) highlighting the need for planting trees to reduce erosion above the roads. In an unusually Wet year in East Timor, all the north-south roads have had major problems. The biggest problem is: how to get government to understand these issues, and build environment protection and repair into road works!! Incorporating forestry practices into road building and maintenance is also a great way to involve local rural communities and allow them to earn a few dollars too. In East Timor to my observation the roadside drains are not quite big enough, especially with global warming factored in, plus there are not enough cross road drains to take the water away. East Timor is getting short of drinking water, partly because so much rushes off into rivers which flow fast and dirty into the sea, instead of soaking in and emerging as springs, like it used to!! Rob Wesley-Smith