Mobilizing practitioners to support the Emergency Recovery Plan for freshwater biodiversity

Abstract

Freshwater biodiversity loss is one of the greatest environmental threats in our changing world. Although declines have been reported extensively in the literature, much less attention has been devoted to solving the freshwater biodiversity crisis relative to other ecosystems. The recently proposed Emergency Recovery Plan for Freshwater Biodiversity (Tickner et al., 2020, BioScience, 70 (4), 330-342) outlines an ambitious but necessary set of overarching actions that can help "bend the curve" for freshwater biodiversity declines. This plan is timely given the present opportunity to adjust freshwater biodiversity targets in

A global agenda for advancing freshwater biodiversity research

“…Field and system-wide experimentation that draws on short-(1-3 years) and long-term (>20 years) studies, with associated funding streams, will be necessary to understand the dynamics of change, coupled with modelling to develop future scenarios. C Explore the acclimation, evolutionary and evasion potentials of organisms (Merilä & Hendry, 2014), and the associated ecosystem responses to global change (Heino et al, 2009;Kelly, 2019;Orr et al, 2021;Urban et al, 2016). Targeted field surveys will be most effective when combined with coordinated multi-site experiments through global research networks and spatially explicit modelling (Alberti et al, 2020).…”

“…By identifying the most pressing needs to counter the freshwater biodiversity loss, our agenda is intended to maintain the global momentum recently exemplified by calls for action (Darwall et al, 2018), such as the Emergency Recovery Plan for freshwater biodiversity (Tickner et al, 2020). This includes mobilising practitioners (Twardek et al, 2021), promoting strategic activities (Arthington, 2021) and embracing the 25 essential questions to inform the protection and restoration of freshwater biodiversity (Harper et al, 2021). Our succinct and clear agenda comes at a pivotal time when governments around the world are revising major international agreements relevant to biodiversity conservation, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, or are at the brink of major conventions including the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.…”

Towards vibrant fish populations and sustainable fisheries that benefit all: learning from the last 30 years to inform the next 30 years

“…Tickner et al (2020) present an "Emergency Recovery Plan" to address the following priority actions: accelerating implementation of environmental flows; improving water quality; protecting and restoring critical habitats; managing the exploitation of freshwater ecosystem resources, especially species and riverine aggregates; preventing and controlling non-native species invasions; and safeguarding and restoring river connectivity. This plan is gaining traction within the global conservation community (Twardek et al 2021) and its priority actions will be particularly critical for resolving transboundary river issues and conflicts between diverse freshwater users. As the frontier of hydropower and river damming moves towards large, tropical, transboundary rivers (e.g., Amazon, Mekong), integrated and coordinated international management will become fundamental to halt fisheries declines (Van Damme et al 2019).…”

TheRACEfor freshwater biodiversity: Essential actions to create the social context for meaningful conservation

“…Collaborate with natural resource managers, policy makers, and the public to frame the science of freshwater conservation in a way that is compelling and solutions-focused (Twardek et al, 2021).…”