Durable Freshwater Protection: A Framework for Establishing and Maintaining Long-Term Protection for Freshwater Ecosystems and the Values They Sustain

Abstract

Long-term protection is needed to secure threatened freshwater ecosystems and the social and biodiversity values they provide. In the face of existing and future pressures, current approaches to freshwater protection are often inadequate for maintaining ecosystem values into the future. While terrestrial and marine ecosystem protection are well recognized and have area-based protection goals in global conventions, freshwater ecosystem characteristics have remained poorly represented in these goals. Freshwater ecosystems are commonly secondary or unaddressed components of area-based terrestrial protection. The design and management for terrestrial-based protection are generally inadequate for addressing freshwater ecosystem processes and attributes critical for maintaining their natural patterns and the values they provide to people and nature. Given that freshwater-dependent species are declining at a faster rate than marine and terrestrial species, and the reliance and use of freshwater ecosystems by people living around such areas, approaches to protect them must balance the needs of people and nature and accommodate these complexities.

Safeguarding Free-Flowing Rivers: The Global Extent of Free-Flowing Rivers in Protected Areas

“…The database (WDPA) used in this and other studies of river protection (e.g., [8,9]) includes some but not all of these areas and so this study potentially misses some length of river under protection. Higgins and others [22]) reviewed a set of policies, regulations, judicial actions, water and land rights, and community-based efforts that can provide protection to rivers but are often not included in the WDPA and thus in most global tracking of protection [22]. Further, water allocation mechanisms or other water-management policies can serve as de facto river protection policies.…”

“…Although maintaining natural vegetation is important for water quality in a downstream reach, the highest priority for protecting a downstream FFR may not be in protecting land cover but in ensuring the channel network remains connected. Thus, the concept of comprehensive protection should be expanded to include more than just the upstream extent of protected areas, but also the protection of key network characteristics, perhaps requiring a broad suite of protection mechanisms [22]. Policies that prohibit dam construction on certain tributaries, or on the downstream main river, may be more important for maintaining a given FFR than broad spatial coverage of protected areas over the upstream drainage (though that may be important for sediment and water quality).…”

“…These mechanisms include legislation, administrative designations, regulations, acquisition of enforceable rights in land or water, judicial actions, and collective management of pooled resources that are directed at maintaining free-flowing rivers and are long-lasting. These mechanisms can focus on protecting connectivity as well as other key processes and resources, such as water quality and biota (reviewed in [22]).…”

“…Further, we acknowledge that protected areas are just one mechanism for river protection, and it is the mechanism quantified by the various studies cited here [8][9][10]. However, there are other mechanisms to protect rivers, including river-specific policies, such as the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in the United States or the Salmon Rivers of Norway [20][21][22]. These types of policies can provide strong protections for rivers, but these mechanisms are not always included in global databases of protected areas.…”

“…Rivers protected by water allocation or other water-management policies that serve as de facto river protection policies. Examples include Environmental Water Reserves in Mexico and instream flow standards, such as those of Connecticut (USA) [22,23].…”