OSLO (Reuters) – Deforestation is often wrongly blamed for causing floods, like in Guatemala this month, under a myth that has skewed agricultural policies, an international report said on Thursday.

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Oct. 12 – Deforestation cannot be blamed for widespread flooding such as the recent massive and deadly inundations in Central America, according to an international research report to be released Thursday.

The study, issued by a U.N. agency and the Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research, asserts that major floods tend to occur at regular intervals and are driven by major climatic patterns, rather than human activities such as logging. It notes that massive flooding occurred in northern Thailand in 1918 and 1953, when lush forests were abundant.

Note: Report posted on Center for International Forestry Research website October 13, 2005

BOGOR, INDONESIA and BANGKOK, THAILAND – The massive flooding this week in Central America has prompted the press and well-intentioned advocacy groups to blame the flooding following heavy rain from Hurricane Stan on excessive runoff caused by "extensive deforestation."

OSLO – Deforestation is often wrongly blamed for causing floods, like in Guatemala this month, under a myth that has skewed agricultural policies, an international report said on Thursday.

"There is no scientific evidence linking large-scale flooding to deforestation," the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) said in a report.

OSLO – Deforestation is often wrongly blamed for causing floods, like in Guatemala this month, under a myth that has skewed agricultural policies, an international report said on Thursday.

La deforestación no aumenta el riesgo de cuantiosas inundaciones indicaron científicos de Naciones Unidas en un nuevo informe.

Las zonas arboladas no tienen capacidad para detener las grandes inundaciones. La organización para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (FAO) de la ONU asegura que la evidencia muestra que no existe una relación entre la tala de árboles y las inundaciones como las que en días recientes devastaron a Centroamérica.

OSLO: Deforestation is often wrongly blamed for causing floods, like in Guatemala this month, under a myth that has skewed agricultural policies, an international report said on Thursday.

"There is no scientific evidence linking large-scale flooding to deforestation," the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) said in a report.