The current state-of-play – protected areas Existing protected areas are not sufficiently...
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Transcript of The current state-of-play – protected areas Existing protected areas are not sufficiently...
The current state-of-play – protected areas
• Existing protected areas are not sufficiently comprehensive or adequate to achieve conservation targets.
• The degraded state of many rivers poses a practical barrier to effective implementation of conservation targets through the designation of protected areas.
• Restoration of some currently degraded ecosystems will be required to complement existing reserves.– These “bits in between” are rarely considered in conservation
planning
Aquatic ecosystem restoration.
• Most project small-scale, and rarely integrated with conservation programs to achieve specific biodiversity targets.– Artificial distinction between conservation &
restoration
• Conservation biology and reserve selection principles a useful means of prioritising restoration activities, but rarely applied in aquatic ecosystems.
Principles for ecosystem restoration
• To be effective restoration must target the ecosystem level - the river and its surrounding catchment, and be based around well defined objectives.
• Lateral and longitudinal connectivity must be considered, both in restoring key processes and protecting restored areas from external threats.– hydrologic alteration a major threat in most rivers
• Prioritisation should also consider metapopulation dynamics, redundancy, otogenetic habitat needs
Summary
• Restoration of degraded rivers provides a means of integrating protected area management and “the bits in between” to achieve biodiversity targets and maintain ecosystem structure & function
• Protected areas, their management, and associated objectives frequently treated separately from restoration programs– Disciplinary divides– Implicit in many government portfolios/legislation– Water/private/public land divisions – especially protected public
lands
• Conservation biology has already developed the necessary tools to identify priority sites for ecosystem restoration