Suchergebnisse

Wetlands are too often perceived as standalone elements and are poorly integrated into river basin management. The Ramsar Convention recognizes the critical linkage between wetlands, water and river basin management; the governments that are party to the Convention have committed to conserving their wetlands within a framework of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). The �Critical Path� approach and related guidance have been adopted by Contracting Parties of the Ramsar Convention in order to effectively integrate wetland conservation and management into river basin management planning and decision-making. However, despite international acceptance of the approach, it is not widely implemented. This paper provides one of the first case study based assessments of the Critical Path approach. The analysis of two contrasting Ramsar sites is presented in order to better understand the barriers to implementation in different development contexts. These are the Lobau wetland in Austria, where management institutions and regulatory frameworks are highly developed; and the Inner Niger Delta in Mali, where the capacity to implement IWRM is less evolved. A planning approach is proposed which involves structured and transparent methods for assessing ecosystem services and institutional capacity, and is suitable as a tool for identifying, prioritizing and negotiating trade-offs in ecosystem services and improving livelihoods. Based on the analysis, two main barriers to implementation are identified; mismatch between local and national or basin level priorities, and a lack of recognition of the ecosystem services provided by wetlands.

Wetlands are too often perceived as standalone elements and are poorly integrated into river basin management. The Ramsar Convention recognizes the critical linkage between wetlands, water and river basin management; the governments that are party to the Convention have committed to conserving their wetlands within a framework of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). The "Critical Path? approach and related guidance have been adopted by Contracting Parties of the Ramsar Convention in order to effectively integrate wetland conservation and management into river basin management planning and decision-making. However, despite international acceptance of the approach, it is not widely implemented. This paper provides one of the first case study based assessments of the Critical Path approach. The analysis of two contrasting Ramsar sites is presented in order to better understand the barriers to implementation in different development contexts. These are the Lobau wetland in Austria, where management institutions and regulatory frameworks are highly developed; and the Inner Niger Delta in Mali, where the capacity to implement IWRM is less evolved. A planning approach is proposed which involves structured and transparent methods for assessing ecosystem services and institutional capacity, and is suitable as a tool for identifying, prioritizing and negotiating trade-offs in ecosystem services and improving livelihoods. Based on the analysis, two main barriers to implementation are identified; mismatch between local and national or basin level priorities, and a lack of recognition of the ecosystem services provided by wetlands.

The AQUACROSS project was an unprecedented effort to unify policy concepts, knowledge, and management of freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems to support the cost-effective achievement of the targets set by the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020. AQUACROSS aimed to support EU efforts to enhance the resilience and stop the loss of biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems as well as to ensure the ongoing and future provision of aquatic ecosystem services. The project focused on advancing the knowledge base and application of Ecosystem-Based Management. Through elaboration of eight diverse case studies in freshwater and marine and estuarine aquatic ecosystem across Europe covering a range of environmental management problems including, eutrophication, sustainable fisheries as well as invasive alien species AQUACROSS demonstrated the application of a common framework to establish cost-effective measures and integrated Ecosystem-Based Management practices. AQUACROSS analysed the EU policy framework (i.e. goals, concepts, time frames) for aquatic ecosystems and built on knowledge stemming from different sources (i.e. WISE, BISE, Member State reporting within different policy processes, modelling) to develop innovative management tools, concepts, and business models (i.e. indicators, maps, ecosystem assessments, participatory approaches, mechanisms for promoting the delivery of ecosystem services) for aquatic ecosystems at various scales of space and time and relevant to different ecosystem types.

ZusammenfassungDie meisten Flüsse der Erde sind durch interagierende soziale und natürliche Prozesse geformt und verändert worden. Als industrialisierte Flusslandschaften (Industrialized Riverine Landscapes – IRL) sind sie Teil unserer kritischen Infrastruktur geworden, entscheidend für den Nexus Wasser-Energie-Nahrung, aber auch geprägt durch Extremereignisse und anfällig für den Biodiversitätsverlust im Zuge des globalen Wandels. Diese Situation stellt das Management von Flusslandschaften vor große Herausforderungen und erfordert dringend einen interdisziplinären Ansatz, der Natur‑, Sozial- und Ingenieurwissenschaften integriert, um die Ursachen und den Verlauf des Wandels von Flusssystemen zu analysieren und zu Lösungsansätzen beizutragen. Das FWF-Doktoratsprogramm IRL baut auf der Doktoratsschule "HR21 – Human Rivers Systems in the 21st century" (hr21.boku.ac.at) an der BOKU Wien auf und erforscht Flusslandschaften als gekoppelte sozio-ökohydrologische Systeme (SEHS). Im Rahmen von Promotionsprojekten werden die Ursachen des Wandels und der Wandel selbst analysiert und mögliche Zukunftsszenarien dargestellt. Die Erforschung von Flüssen als SEHS bringt neue Einsichten in die Koevolution von Natur und Gesellschaft als Wissensgrundlage in eine nachhaltigere Zukunft. Die Doktoratsschule ist in vier Forschungscluster gegliedert, die sich an wesentlichen Systemgrößen der aktuellen Fluss- und Nachhaltigkeitswissenschaft orientieren: (1) Konnektivität, (2) Governance und Planung, (3) Metabolismus und (4) Vulnerabilität. Die DoktorandInnen forschen gemeinsam mit Teams aus BOKU-WissenschaftlerInnen und internationalen KooperationspartnerInnen mit dem Ziel, ein umfassendes Verständnis der Kopplung von natürlichen mit sozialen Systemen zu erhalten. Drei Forschungsfelder, die gleichzeitig drängende Probleme in Flusslandschaften und für die Gesellschaft darstellen, bilden den thematischen Schwerpunkt der fünfzehn neuen Doktoratsprojekte: (1) Extremereignisse, (2) Infrastruktur und Urbanisierung und (3) der Nexus Wasser-Energie-Nahrung.