Hydrology and Earth System Sciences www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net 1027-5606 1607-7938 12 5 2008 10.5194/hess-12-1241-2008 http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/12/1241/2008/ http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/12/1241/2008/hess-12-1241-2008.html http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/12/1241/2008/hess-12-1241-2008.pdf 1241 1248 2008-10-21 Suitability of soil bioengineering techniques in Central America: a case study in Nicaragua A. Petrone alessandro.petrone@unifi.it F. Preti Department of Agriculture and Forestry Engineering, University of Florence, Italy In the last few years "D. I. A. F." (Department of Agriculture and Forestry Engineering of Florence University), has been testing the effectiveness of soil bioengineering techniques in Central America. The focus of the present study was to find out which native plants were most suited for soil bioengineering purposes, particularly in the realization of riverbank protection in Nicaragua. Furthermore, we have also been aiming at economic efficiency. <br><br> These techniques are appropriate for sustainable watershed management especially in underdeveloped countries. Concerning the plants to be used we experimented four native species. <i>Gliricidia Sepium</i>, <i>Cordia dentata</i> and <i>Jatropha curcas</i> are suitable for soil bioengineering more than <i>Bursera Simaruba</i>. Economically speaking, the sustainability of such interventions in underdeveloped countries, has been shown by the evaluation of the cost of riverbank protection using vegetated crib-walls in Nicaragua compared to the cost in different contexts. Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Enseñanza (CATIE): Cordia dentata Poiret, Proyecto Semillas Forestales (PROSEFOR), Nota técnica sobre manejo de semillas forestales, 49, 2 pp., Costa Rica, 1998. Ferrari, R., Petrone, A., and Preti, F.: La Riscoperta dell'America, ACER, 5(5), 74–79, 2005. Florineth, F.: in: Stabilization of gullies with soil – bio-engineering methods in the Alps and in Nepal, edited by: Yong, Li, Poisen, J., and Valentin, C., Gully Erosion under Global Change, 315–339, Sichuan Science and Technology Press, Chengdu, China, 2004. Ghimire, S. K. and Karki, K. K.: Mitigation of soil erosion hazards through bioengineering: a case study of Mid-Himalaya, Nepal, in: Eco- and Ground Bio-Engineering: The Use of Vegetation to Improve Slope Stability, edited by: Stokes, A., Spanos, I., Norris, J. E., Cammeraat, L. H., Proceedings of the First International Conference on Eco-engineering 13–17 September 2004, Thessaloniki, Greece, Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences 103, Springer, Dordrecht. ISBN-10:1-4020-5592-7; ISBN-13: 978-1-4020-5592-8, 2007. IRENA: Arboles forsestales utiles para su propagacion, Instituto Nicaraguense de Recursos Naturales y del Ambientes, Managua, Nicaragua, 246 pp., 1992. Lammeraner, W., Rauch, H. P., and Laaha, G.: Implementation and monitoring of soil bioengineering measures at a landslide in the Middle Mountains of Nepal, Plant and Soil, 278, 159–170, 2005. Petrone, A. and Preti, F.: Ingenieria Naturalistica en Centroamérica, Manuali Tecnici per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo, Istituto Agronomico per l'Oltremare, Società Editrice Fiorentina, Firenze, 108 pp., ISBN 88-89507-02-0, 2005. Petrone, A., Matassoni, P., and Preti, F.: Sperimentazioni con talee di specie autoctone in interventi di ingegneria naturalistica in Nicaragua, Quaderni di Idronomia montana, 26, 477–488, Nuova Editrice Bios, Castrolibero, 2006. Rauch, H. P., Belihart, S., Ertl, D., Lammeranner, W., and Wibmer, S.: Implementation and Monitoring of BioEngineering Measures at a Landslide in the Middle Mountains of Nepal, in: Eco- and\vadjust Ground Bio-Engineering: The Use of Vegetation to Improve Slope Stability, edited by: Stokes, A., Spanos, I., Norris, J. E., Cammeraat, L. H., Proceedings of the First International Conference on Eco-engineering 13–17 September 2004, Thessaloniki, Greece. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, 103, Springer, Dordrecht. ISBN-10: 1-4020-5592-7; ISBN-13: 978-1-4020-5592-8, 2007. Regione Lazio, Assessorato per l'Ambiente: Manuale di Ingegneria Naturalistica applicabile al settore idraulico. Ed. Punto Stampa s.r.l., Roma., 421 pp., 2002 Schiechtl, H. M.: Bio-ingegneria forestale, Edizioni Castaldi, Feltre (Belluno), 263 pp., 1991. Sutili, F. J., Durlo, M. A., and Bressan, D. A.: Bio-technical capability of "sarandi-branco" (\textitPhyllanthus sellowianus mull. Arg.) and "vime" (\textitSalix viminalis L.) for re-vegetation water corse edges, Ciencia Florestal, 14(1), 13–20, ISSN 0103-9954, Santa Maria, Brasile, 2004. UNDP (United Nations Development Programme): Lo sviluppo umano rapporto 2006 – L'acqua 10 tra potere e poverta, Legoprint, Lavis (Trento), 494 pp., ISBN 88- 7885-099-3, 2006.