Your search found 12 records
1 Orr, S.; Cartwright, A.; Tickner, D.. 2009. Understanding water risks: a primer on the consequences of water scarcity for government and business. Godalming, Surrey, UK: World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). 39p. (WWF Water Security Series 4)
Water management ; Conflict ; Water scarcity ; Ecosystems ; Risks ; Climate change ; Poverty ; Economic growth ; Food security ; Health hazards
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 333.91 G000 ORR Record No: H043919)
http://assets.wwf.org.uk/downloads/understanding_water_risk.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H043919.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H043919.pdf
(0.80 MB) (821KB)
2 Osikena, J.; Tickner, D.. (Eds.) 2010. Tackling the world water crisis: reshaping the future of foreign policy. London, UK: Foreign Policy Centre. 94p.
Water crisis ; International relations ; Water security ; Energy ; Irrigated farming ; Climate change ; Water governance ; Water scarcity ; Poverty ; Water management ; Drinking water ; Sanitation ; Women ; Biodiversity / Niger River
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H044440)
(0.82 MB)
This essay collection reveals three overarching themes - the first relates to the centrality of water in tackling 21st century challenges such as peace, food and energy security as well as safeguarding sustainable livelihoods in poor regions and countries. The second theme focuses on governance and investment in water management. The third and final section entitled, 'Nor any drop to drink: Water and habitats for people and nature' provides a collection of essays that aims to raise two important issues. The first is to highlight the importance of the diverse social groups who, despite being central to the water scarcity debate, are often marginalised. The second important issue highlighted in the third section is to look beyond water itself in order to address the importance of rivers and aquifers.
3 Tickner, D.; Acreman, M. 2013. Water security for ecosystems, ecosystems for water security. In Lankford, B.; Bakker, K.; Zeitoun, M.; Conway, D. (Eds.). Water security: principles, perspectives and practices. Oxon, UK: Routledge. pp.130-147. (Earthscan Water Text Series)
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 333.91 G000 LAN Record No: H046272)
4 Zeitoun, M.; Lankford, B.; Krueger, T.; Forsyth, T.; Carter, R.; Hoekstra, A. Y.; Taylor, R.; Varis, O.; Cleaver, F.; Boelens, R.; Swatuk, L.; Tickner, D.; Scott, C. A.; Mirumachi, N.; Matthews, Nathanial. 2016. Reductionist and integrative research approaches to complex water security policy challenges. Global Environmental Change, 39:143-154. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016.04.010]
Water security ; Water policy ; Environmental effects ; Uncertainty ; Ecosystems ; Economic growth ; Rainfall-runoff relationships
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H047786)
This article reviews and contrasts two approaches that water security researchers employ to advance understanding of the complexity of water-society policy challenges. A prevailing reductionist approach seeks to represent uncertainty through calculable risk, links national GDP tightly to hydro-climatological causes, and underplays diversity and politics in society. When adopted uncritically, this approach limits policy-makers to interventions that may reproduce inequalities, and that are too rigid to deal with future changes in society and climate. A second, more integrative, approach is found to address a range of uncertainties, explicitly recognise diversity in society and the environment, incorporate water resources that are less-easily controlled, and consider adaptive approaches to move beyond conventional supply-side prescriptions. The resultant policy recommendations are diverse, inclusive, and more likely to reach the marginalised in society, though they often encounter policy-uptake obstacles. The article concludes by defining a route towards more effective water security research and policy, which stresses analysis that matches the state of knowledge possessed, an expanded research agenda, and explicitly addresses inequities.
5 Dickens, Christopher; McCartney, Matthew; Tickner, D.; Harrison, I. J.; Pacheco, P.; Ndhlovu, Brown. 2020. Evaluating the global state of ecosystems and natural resources: within and beyond the SDGs. Sustainability, 12(18):7381. [doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187381]
Sustainable Development Goals ; Ecosystems ; Natural resources management ; Evaluation ; Water resources ; Water quality ; Land resources ; Biodiversity ; Air quality ; Monitoring ; Marine environment ; Freshwater ; Development indicators ; Social development ; Economic development
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049942)
(0.47 MB) (480 KB)
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) purport to report holistically on progress towards sustainability and do so using more than 231 discrete indicators, with a primary objective to achieve a balance between the environment, social and economic aspects of development. The research question underpinning the analyses presented in this paper is: are the indicators in the SDGs sufficient and fit for purpose to assess the trajectory of natural resources towards sustainability? We extracted the SDG indicators that monitor the state of natural resources, or alternately support policy or governance for their protection, and determined whether these are adequate to provide the essential data on natural resources to achieve the aims of the SDGs. The indicators are clustered into four natural resource categories—land, water (both marine and freshwater), air and biodiversity. Indicators for monitoring land resources show that the most comprehensive land resource indicator for degraded land is not fully implemented and that missing from land monitoring is an evaluation of vegetation health outside of forests and mountains, the condition of soils, and most importantly the overall health of terrestrial ecosystems. Indicators for monitoring water resources have substantial gaps, unable to properly monitor water quality, water stress, many aspects of marine resources and, most significantly, the health of fresh and salt water ecosystems. Indicators for monitoring of air have recently become more comprehensive, but linkage to IPCC results would benefit both programs. Monitoring of biodiversity is perhaps the greatest weakness of the SDG Agenda, having no comprehensive assessment even though narrow aspects are monitored. Again, deliberate linkages to other global biodiversity programs (e.g., CBD and the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework, IPBES, and Living Planet) are recommended on condition that data can be defined at a country level. While the SDG list of indicators in support of natural resource is moderately comprehensive, it lacks holistic monitoring in relation to evaluation of ecosystems and biodiversity to the extent that these missing but vital measures of sustainability threaten the entire SDG Agenda. In addition, an emerging issue is that even where there are appropriate indicators, the amount of country-level data remains inadequate to fully evaluate sustainability. This signals the delicate balance between the extent and complexity of the SDG Agenda and uptake at a country level.
6 Harper, M.; Mejbel, H. S.; Longert, D.; Abell, R.; Beard, T. D.; Bennett, J. R.; Carlson, S. M.; Darwall, W.; Dell, A.; Domisch, S.; Dudgeon, D.; Freyhof, J.; Harrison, I.; Hughes, K. A.; Jahnig, S. C.; Jeschke, J. M.; Lansdown, R.; Lintermans, M.; Lynch, A. J.; Meredith, H. M. R.; Molur, S.; Olden, J. D.; Ormerod, S. J.; Patricio, H.; Reid, A. J.; Schmidt-Kloiber, A.; Thieme, M.; Tickner, D.; Turak, E.; Weyl, O. L. F.; Cooke, S. J. 2021. Twenty-five essential research questions to inform the protection and restoration of freshwater biodiversity. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 22p. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3634]
Freshwater ecosystems ; Biodiversity conservation ; Restoration ; Protected areas ; Ecosystem services ; Infrastructure ; Environmental flows ; Monitoring ; Riparian zones ; Climate change ; Policies ; Investment ; Decision making ; Political aspects
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050513)
(2.18 MB)
1. Freshwater biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate. Freshwater conservationists and environmental managers have enough evidence to demonstrate that action must not be delayed but have insufficient evidence to identify those actions that will be most effective in reversing the current trend.
2. Here, the focus is on identifying essential research topics that, if addressed, will contribute directly to restoring freshwater biodiversity through supporting ‘bending the curve’ actions (i.e. those actions leading to the recovery of freshwater biodiversity, not simply deceleration of the current downward trend).
3. The global freshwater research and management community was asked to identify unanswered research questions that could address knowledge gaps and barriers associated with ‘bending the curve’ actions. The resulting list was refined into six themes and 25 questions.
4. Although context-dependent and potentially limited in global reach, six overarching themes were identified: (i) learning from successes and failures; (ii) improving current practices; (iii) balancing resource needs; (iv) rethinking built environments; (v) reforming policy and investments; and (vi) enabling transformative change.
5. Bold, efficient, science-based actions are necessary to reverse biodiversity loss. We believe that conservation actions will be most effective when supported by sound evidence, and that research and action must complement one another.
These questions are intended to guide global freshwater researchers and conservation practitioners, identify key projects and signal research needs to funders and governments. Our questions can act as springboards for multidisciplinary and multisectoral collaborations that will improve the management and restoration of freshwater biodiversity.
2. Here, the focus is on identifying essential research topics that, if addressed, will contribute directly to restoring freshwater biodiversity through supporting ‘bending the curve’ actions (i.e. those actions leading to the recovery of freshwater biodiversity, not simply deceleration of the current downward trend).
3. The global freshwater research and management community was asked to identify unanswered research questions that could address knowledge gaps and barriers associated with ‘bending the curve’ actions. The resulting list was refined into six themes and 25 questions.
4. Although context-dependent and potentially limited in global reach, six overarching themes were identified: (i) learning from successes and failures; (ii) improving current practices; (iii) balancing resource needs; (iv) rethinking built environments; (v) reforming policy and investments; and (vi) enabling transformative change.
5. Bold, efficient, science-based actions are necessary to reverse biodiversity loss. We believe that conservation actions will be most effective when supported by sound evidence, and that research and action must complement one another.
These questions are intended to guide global freshwater researchers and conservation practitioners, identify key projects and signal research needs to funders and governments. Our questions can act as springboards for multidisciplinary and multisectoral collaborations that will improve the management and restoration of freshwater biodiversity.
7 Mueller, A.; Mirumachi, N.; Tickner, D.; Louw, D.; Weston, D. 2021. Stalemate of the hydrological master variable? The challenge of implementing environmental flows in the Orange-Senqu Basin. Water International, 23p. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2021.2004529]
River basins ; Environmental flows ; Hydrology ; Policies ; Legislation ; Institutions ; Sustainability ; Water management ; Freshwater ; Ecosystems ; International waters / Southern Africa / Lesotho / Botswana / Namibia / South Africa / Orange-Senqu River Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050876)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02508060.2021.2004529
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050876.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050876.pdf
(1.63 MB) (1.63 MB)
In the face of declining rivers globally, the flow regime as the key hydrological determinant for healthy freshwater ecosystems is receiving unprecedented attention. This study investigates the challenge of implementing environmental flows in the Orange–Senqu basin in Southern Africa by assessing progress and its key factors during 1998 and 2013. Based on 22 interviews, the study shows that despite an advanced understanding of e-flows and its requirements, there have been effective implementation actions in only a few river systems to give effect to these e-flow requirements. Ineffective implementing institutions and a challenging basin context are more responsible than largely sufficient policies and legislation
8 Dickens, J.; Dickens, Chris; Eriyagama, Nishadi; Xie, H.; Tickner, D.. 2022. Towards a global river health assessment framework. Project report submitted to the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE). Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 131p. [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2022.224]
River basins ; Environmental health ; Assessment ; Frameworks ; Aquatic ecosystems ; Freshwater ecosystems ; Ecological factors ; Monitoring ; Water quality ; Habitats ; Sustainable Development Goals ; Goal 6 Clean water and sanitation
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051560)
(8.25 MB)
9 Lynch, A. J.; Cooke, S. J.; Arthington, A. H.; Baigun, C.; Bossenbroek, L.; Dickens, Chris; Harrison, I.; Kimirei, I.; Langhans, S. D.; Murchie, K. J.; Olden, J. D.; Ormerod, S. J.; Owuor, M.; Raghavan, R.; Samways, M. J.; Schinegger, R.; Sharma, S.; Tachamo-Shah, R.-D.; Tickner, D.; Tweddle, D.; Young, N.; Jahnig, S. C. 2023. People need freshwater biodiversity. WIREs Water, 10(3):e1633. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1633]
Freshwater ecosystems ; Biodiversity conservation ; Ecosystem services ; Nature-based solutions ; Fisheries ; Health ; Education ; Genetic resources ; Climate change ; Cultural factors ; Recreation ; Water purification ; Nutrient cycles ; Catchment areas / Asia / Europe / North America / South America / South Africa / Australia / Uganda / Lower Mekong River Basin / Hindu-Kush Himalayan Region / Amazon River / Laurentian Great Lakes / Parana-Paraguay Corridor
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051734)
https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/wat2.1633
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051734.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051734.pdf
(16.70 MB) (16.7 MB)
Freshwater biodiversity, from fish to frogs and microbes to macrophytes, provides a vast array of services to people. Mounting concerns focus on the accelerating pace of biodiversity loss and declining ecological function within freshwater ecosystems that continue to threaten these natural benefits. Here, we catalog nine fundamental ecosystem services that the biotic components of indigenous freshwater biodiversity provide to people, organized into three categories: material (food; health and genetic resources; material goods), nonmaterial (culture; education and science; recreation), and regulating (catchment integrity; climate regulation; water purification and nutrient cycling). If freshwater biodiversity is protected, conserved, and restored in an integrated manner, as well as more broadly appreciated by humanity, it will continue to contribute to human well-being and our sustainable future via this wide range of services and associated nature-based solutions to our sustainable future.
10 Arthington, A. H.; Tickner, D.; McClain, M. E.; Acreman, M. C.; Anderson, E. P.; Babu, S.; Dickens, Chris W. S.; Horne, A. C.; Kaushal, N.; Monk, W. A.; O’Brien, G. C.; Olden, J. D.; Opperman, J. J.; Owusu, Afua G.; Poff, N. L.; Richter, B. D.; Salinas-Rodríguez, S. A.; Shamboko Mbale, B.; Tharme, R. E.; Yarnell, S. M. 2023. Accelerating environmental flow implementation to bend the curve of global freshwater biodiversity loss. Environmental Reviews, 27p. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2022-0126]
Environmental flows ; Freshwater ; Biodiversity ; Ecosystem services ; Resilience ; Rivers ; Water availability ; Water users ; Stakeholders ; Climate change ; Constraints ; Legislation ; Regulations ; Monitoring ; Funding ; Socioeconomic aspects ; Ecological factors ; Infrastructure ; Human resources ; Capacity development ; Training ; Case studies / USA / Guatemala / Mexico / Canada / UK / South Africa / Zambia / India / China / Australia / Putah Creek Tributary / Usumacinta River / Peace-Athabasca Delta / Savannah River / Roanoke River / Great Brak River Estuary / Olifants River / Luangwa River / Nile River Basin / Ramganga River / Yangtze River / Lower Goulburn River
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052092)
(1.91 MB) (1.91 MB)
Environmental flows (e-flows) aim to mitigate the threat of altered hydrological regimes in river systems and connected waterbodies and are an important component of integrated strategies to address multiple threats to freshwater biodiversity. Expanding and accelerating implementation of e-flows can support river conservation and help to restore the biodiversity and resilience of hydrologically altered and water-stressed rivers and connected freshwater ecosystems. While there have been significant developments in e-flow science, assessment, and societal acceptance, implementation of e-flows within water resource management has been slower than required and geographically uneven. This review explores critical factors that enable successful e-flow implementation and biodiversity outcomes in particular, drawing on 13 case studies and the literature. It presents e-flow implementation as an adaptive management cycle enabled by 10 factors: legislation and governance, financial and human resourcing, stakeholder engagement and co-production of knowledge, collaborative monitoring of ecological and social-economic outcomes, capacity training and research, exploration of trade-offs among water users, removing or retrofitting water infrastructure to facilitate e-flows and connectivity, and adaptation to climate change. Recognising that there may be barriers and limitations to the full and effective enablement of each factor, the authors have identified corresponding options and generalizable recommendations for actions to overcome prominent constraints, drawing on the case studies and wider literature. The urgency of addressing flow-related freshwater biodiversity loss demands collaborative networks to train and empower a new generation of e-flow practitioners equipped with the latest tools and insights to lead adaptive environmental water management globally. Mainstreaming e-flows within conservation planning, integrated water resource management, river restoration strategies, and adaptations to climate change is imperative. The policy drivers and associated funding commitments of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework offer crucial opportunities to achieve the human benefits contributed by e-flows as nature-based solutions, such as flood risk management, floodplain fisheries restoration, and increased river resilience to climate change.
11 Lynch, A. J.; Hyman, A. A.; Cooke, S. J.; Capon, S. J.; Franklin, P. A.; Jahnig, S. C.; McCartney, Matthew; Hoa, N. P.; Owuor, M. A.; Pittock, J.; Samways, M. J.; Silva, L. G. M.; Steel, E. A.; Tickner, D.. 2023. Future-proofing the emergency recovery plan for freshwater biodiversity. Environmental Reviews, 16p. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2022-0116]
Freshwater ecosystems ; Biodiversity conservation ; Risk reduction ; Climate change ; Environmental flows ; Water quality ; Habitats ; Invasive species ; Ecosystem restoration ; Rivers ; Protected areas ; Resilience ; Strategies ; Uncertainty / South Africa / New Zealand / Waikato River
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052163)
(3.72 MB) (3.72 MB)
Freshwater biodiversity loss is accelerating globally, but humanity can change this trajectory through actions that enable recovery. To be successful, these actions require coordination and planning at a global scale. The Emergency Recovery Plan for global freshwater biodiversity aims to reduce the risk for freshwater biodiversity loss through six priority actions: (1) accelerate implementation of environmental flows; (2) improve water quality to sustain aquatic life; (3) protect and restore critical habitats; (4) manage exploitation of freshwater species and riverine aggregates; (5) prevent and control nonnative species invasions in freshwater habitats; and (6) safeguard and restore freshwater connectivity. These actions can be implemented using future-proofing approaches that anticipate future risks (e.g., emerging pollutants, new invaders, and synergistic effects) and minimize likely stressors to make conservation of freshwater biodiversity more resilient to climate change and other global environmental challenges. While uncertainty with respect to past observations is not a new concern for freshwater biodiversity, future-proofing has the distinction of accounting for the uncertainty of future conditions that have no historical baseline. The level of uncertainty with respect to future conditions is unprecedented. Future-proofing of the Emergency Recovery Plan for freshwater biodiversity will require anticipating future changes and developing and implementing actions to address those future changes. Here, we showcase future-proofing approaches likely to be successful using local case studies and examples. Ensuring that response options within the Emergency Recovery Plan are future-proofed will provide decision makers with science-informed choices, even in the face of uncertain and potentially new future conditions. We are at an inflection point for global freshwater biodiversity loss; learning from defeats and successes can support improved actions toward a sustainable future.
12 Kuehne, L. M.; Dickens, Chris; Tickner, D.; Messager, M. L.; Olden, J. D.; O’Brien, G.; Lehner, B.; Eriyagama, Nishadi. 2023. The future of global river health monitoring. PLOS Water, 2(9):e0000101. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000101]
Rivers ; Environmental health ; Monitoring ; Frameworks ; Freshwater ecosystems ; Biodiversity ; Indicators ; Water quality ; Habitats ; Biology ; Hydrology ; Surface water ; Environmental restoration ; Agreements ; Policies ; Sustainable Development Goals
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052227)
https://journals.plos.org/water/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pwat.0000101&type=printable
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052227.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052227.pdf
(1.33 MB) (1.33 MB)
Rivers are the arteries of human civilisation and culture, providing essential goods and services that underpin water and food security, socio-economic development and climate resilience. They also support an extraordinary diversity of biological life. Human appropriation of land and water together with changes in climate have jointly driven rapid declines in river health and biodiversity worldwide, stimulating calls for an Emergency Recovery Plan for freshwater ecosystems. Yet freshwater ecosystems like rivers have been consistently under-represented within global agreements such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Even where such agreements acknowledge that river health is important, implementation is hampered by inadequate global-scale indicators and a lack of coherent monitoring efforts. Consequently, there is no reliable basis for tracking global trends in river health, assessing the impacts of international agreements on river ecosystems and guiding global investments in river management to priority issues or regions. We reviewed national and regional approaches for river health monitoring to develop a comprehensive set of scalable indicators that can support “top-down” global surveillance while also facilitating standardised “bottom-up” local monitoring efforts. We evaluate readiness of these indicators for implementation at a global scale, based on their current status and emerging improvements in underlying data sources and methodologies. We chart a road map that identifies data and technical priorities and opportunities to advance global river health monitoring such that an adequate monitoring framework could be in place and implemented by 2030, with the potential for substantial enhancement by 2050. Lastly, we present recommendations for coordinated action and investment by policy makers, research funders and scientists to develop and implement the framework to support conservation and restoration of river health globally.
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