Aquatic Commons

Falling through the cracks: are European directives and international conventions the panacea for freshwater nature conservation?

Boon, Philip J. and Lee, Alison (2005) Falling through the cracks: are European directives and international conventions the panacea for freshwater nature conservation? Freshwater Forum, 24, pp. 24-37.

[img]
Preview
PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Download (290Kb) | Preview

    Abstract

    There are many ways of practising freshwater nature conservation: from strict legislative protection of individual species considered rare or threatened to protecting whole lakes or long stretches of rivers; from practical conservation management at a local scale to integrated catchment management at the river basin scale; and from the encouragement of better habitat management through codes of good practice to statutory control of pollution or abstraction. Whatever the mechanism, an essential pre-requisite is a way of choosing where to put the effort, especially when resources for nature conservation are severely limited. The aim of this article is to review the contribution from four specific international measures to the task of assigning priorities for conservation. The 1990s saw the introduction of two European directives (the Habitats Directive (HD) and the Water Framework Directive (WFD)) and one international convention (the Biodiversity Convention (CBD)) each with the potential for influencing, to a greater or lesser extent, the conservation of freshwater habitats and species. This article also discusses a much older convention – the Ramsar Convention – adopted in 1971 specifically to help tackle the conservation and management of wetlands and aquatic ecosystems. Although the authors have focused mainly on the UK, the subject is relevant to other parts of Europe and beyond. The article explores the degree to which these measures help in identifying the most important fresh waters for conservation, and asks whether or not they present the right conservation message to a wide audience.

    Item Type: Article
    Title: Falling through the cracks: are European directives and international conventions the panacea for freshwater nature conservation?
    Personal Creator/Author:
    CreatorsEmail
    Boon, Philip J.
    Lee, Alison
    Refereed: No
    Journal or Publication Title: Freshwater Forum
    Volume: 24
    Page Range: pp. 24-37
    Date: 2005
    ISSN: 0961-4664
    Issuing Agency: Freshwater Biological Association
    Uncontrolled Keywords: Nature conservation; Environmental legislation; International agreements; Biodiversity; Environment management; Inland water environment; UK
    Subjects: Ecology
    Law
    Limnology
    Item ID: 4712
    Depositing User: Hardy B Schwamm
    Date Deposited: 11 Jan 2011 13:45
    Last Modified: 29 Sep 2011 17:59
    URI: http://aquaticcommons.org/id/eprint/4712

    Actions (login required)

    View Item

    Document Downloads

    More statistics for this item...