WATERSHED - In its simplest, scientific meaning,
it is the drainage basin of a river, the area through
which all waters flow from their highest source before draining naturally to the sea. Within the watersheds of the great Himalayan rivers, the Salween or the
Mekong for example, are the watersheds of thousands of smaller rivers, streams and lakes, each with their own particular character and history. In
the broader ecological sense, the term watershed includes not only the land
and water but the mountains and forest, flood plains and valleys, as well
as the communities of plants, animals and people who live there.
These watersheds, large and small, have been ravaged by war in the past
and still are today. But the battles that now pervade the region are more
commonly conflicts over natural resources - who has rights to use, conserve, expropriate, destroy, buy and sell. Lowlanders blame highlanders for destroying the forests and water supplies for rice fields below, rural communities blame
urban and industrial centres for draining and polluting their rivers, while many traditional systems of management and conservation are discarded