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ECOHYDROLOGY WORKSHOP AND STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
Paris, France 20-21 May 2014
1 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
In 2010, during the seventh phase of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP), a call for the establishment of demonstration sites was launched in the context of the Ecohydrology programme.
The main purpose for this call was to set up a network of Ecohydrology demonstration projects which could showcase how to identify, quantify and improve the critical interactions between water, biota and social systems for sustainable water management, following the principles of the concept of UNESCO IHP Ecohydrology.
The Ecohydrology concept was intended to operate in Demonstration Projects on four levels:
- Information (monitoring, collecting of empirical data, defining interactions and hydrology-biota-society feedbacks),
- Knowledge (defining patterns, describing and explaining processes),
- Wisdom (ability to formulate policy, principles for action, problem solving by system solutions, stakeholders involvement, education, implementation),
- Cooperation for solving problems (willingness of different stakeholders to effectively contribute actively to the implementation of the Ecohydrology approach in the demonstration).
Following the submission of the proposals (32 sites from 24 countries, including one site shared between 3 countries), the “International Workshop on UNESCO’s new Ecohydrology Demonstration Site Projects” was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, 21-23 March 2011. This workshop aimed to bring together experiences of the following areas of interest in the demonstration sites:
- Relationships among ecological patterns and hydrological process;
- Disturbance and dynamics in natural and anthropogenic ecology and hydrology;
- Ecohydrological approaches to biodiversity conservation, environmental management, and ecological restoration;
- Integrating hydrology with ecological planning, design, and architecture, or reverse;
- Transdisciplinary studies of regional sustainability from scopes of ecohydrology, ecology, or both.
As a start-up of the eighth phase of IHP in January 2014, the Ecohydrology Workshop and Steering Committee Meeting was organized in Paris, France, 20-21 May 2014, with the following objectives:
- Reactivate the Ecohydrology programme within UNESCO IHP.
- Re-establish/reinforce the Scientific Advisory Committee (Steering Committee), represented so far by UNESCO Centres and Chairs.
- Include other members and associate members in the committee to be chosen among the different scientists/researchers joining the meeting.
- Revitalize the UNESCO Ecohydrology demonstration sites.
- Discuss and plan the activities within the Ecohydrology Theme 5 of the new IHP Phase 8.
- Seek partnerships and synergies to implement projects on topics of common interests with other organizations/partners (Ramsar, IAH, EU, IGRAC, etc.) to join efforts in addressing common issues (e.g. natural/constructed wetlands regulation processes, etc.) using
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ecohydrology as a transdisciplinary, scientific approach to achieve water security (quality improvement, biodiversity enhancement, social interactions, etc.), at all scales.
The workshop meeting was organized during one and a half days and included presentations from UNESCO category 1 and 2 Water Centres and discussions on cooperation with related international programmes, and a last session on “Views, perspectives, challenges and opportunities for the eight phase of IHP”. The workshop agenda and the complete list of participants are included as Annex 1 and 2, respectively.
Thirty-one participants from seventeen countries attended the meetings. This included also the participation of UNESCO colleagues from field offices (Nairobi and Venice), from the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), as well as from the section of Groundwater Systems and Settlements.
The Steering Committee was held during the afternoon of the last day (21 May).
All the presentations can be obtained through the following link:
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002284/228453E.pdf
2 OPENING
Ms Blanca Jiménez-Cisneros, Director, UNESCO Division of Water Sciences, and Secretary, UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP), opened the meeting and welcomed the participants. She remarked that ecohydrology is an innovative integrated scientific approach to achieving more sustainable management of natural resources in a fast-changing world that poses many challenges to science. She stressed main challenges, including the need to achieve and maintain harmony between the biogeosphere, humanity and water. She introduced UNESCO’s Ecohydrology programme of the IHP, which is entering its eighth phase (IHP VIII, 2014 – 2021).
She expressed the hope that the workshop and the steering committee could introduce a visionary view and direction for the future implementation of ecohydrological activities to be included in the final long-term programme, through policy, relevant knowledge, and the promotion of technical capacity building in line with cooperation for problem solving, which will consequently bridge the gap between the hydrology, social and ecological/environmental sciences by exploring community cultural values.
The Ecohydrology Steering Committee Chair, Mr. Luis Chícharo, also welcomed the participants and thanked IHP for organizing the meeting in Paris.
3 INTRODUCTION OF ECOHYDROLOGY PROGRAMME OF IHP-VIII
Mr. Giuseppe Arduino, Chief of the Ecohydrology, Water Quality and Water Education Section, introduced the IHP programme and presented the activities and projects along with the current status of the Ecohydrology demonstration sites.
The International Hydrological Programme (IHP) is the only intergovernmental programme of the UN system devoted to water research, water resources management, and education and capacity building. Since its inception in 1975, IHP has evolved from an internationally coordinated hydrological research programme into an encompassing, holistic programme to facilitate education and capacity building, and enhance water resources management and governance. IHP facilitates an interdisciplinary and integrated approach to watershed and aquifer management, which incorporates the social dimension of water resources, and promotes and develops international research in hydrological and freshwater sciences.
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Among the six themes identified in the eighth phase of IHP, the fifth is devoted to “Ecohydrology, engineering harmony for a sustainable world”. The Ecohydrology programme has evolved into a trans-disciplinary scientific programme to analyse the dynamic relationships between hydrological, social and ecological systems, while focusing on an integrated understanding of biological and hydrological processes at a catchment scale in order to create a scientific basis for a socially acceptable, cost-effective and systemic approach to the sustainable management of freshwater resources. There are five focal areas in the theme of Ecohydrology:
- 5.1 Hydrological dimension of a catchment - identification of potential threats and opportunities for a sustainable development.
- 5.2 Shaping of the catchment ecological structure for ecosystem potential enhancement - biological productivity and biodiversity.
- 5.3 Ecohydrology system solution and ecological engineering for the enhancement of water and ecosystem resilience and ecosystem services.
- 5.4 Urban Ecohydrology - storm water purification and retention in the city landscape, potential for improvement of health and quality of life.
- 5.5 Ecohydrological regulation for sustaining and restoring continental to coastal connectivity and ecosystem functioning.
Among 32 demonstration sites that the IHP contacted to assess the state of the art of the projects over the world, 12 sites from 9 countries (Argentina, Bahamas, China, Costa Rica, Germany, Indonesia, Philippines, Poland, Sweden) replied and informed UNESCO-IHP about the current status and progress.
4 PRESENTATION OF THE ON-GOING ACTIVITIES OF THE UNESCO CENTRES
The Representatives from UNESCO category 1 and 2 Centres focused on Ecohydrology presented their activities in contribution to the IHP-VIII. UNESCO Ecohydrology centres and Chairs have undertaken studies to pursue systems solutions for the integration of ecohydrological technologies at different scales.
4.1 European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology
Mr Maciej Zalewski presented on “Ecohydrology-integrative process-oriented thinking for desirable vision of the future”. He emphasized “Dual Regulation” which is a strategy that regulates biota by altering hydrology and regulates hydrology by shaping biota.
4.2 International Centre for Coastal Ecohydrology
Mr Luis Chícharo introduced “Coastal Ecohydrology: examples from Guadiana and future challenges”. He presented an on-going research on ecohydrology model for the management of river flow in the Guadiana estuary, which is located in the transboundary region between Portugal and Spain.
4.3 International Centre for Integrated Water Resources Management (IciWarm)
Mr Robert Pietrowsky spoke about “The importance of Ecohydrology and the quantification of ecosystem services within an IWRM evaluation framework”. He presented the IciWarm activities to advance science and to use contemporary tools and models for consideration of ecosystem services in decision-making.
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Mr Ignasius Sutapa presented on “Managing water through Ecohydrology approach: integration of local wisdom, culture and modern sciences”. He introduced the APCE, a category II centre of UNESCO. It focuses on ecological approaches to water resources management, to provide sustainable water for the people by harnessing science and technology, education and culture.
4.5 UNESCO Institute for Water Education (UNESCO-IHE)
Mr Michael McClain presented on “Seeking synergies between UNESCO IHP VIII Ecohydrology and the research and innovation Agenda of UNESCO-IHE”. He introduced the ecohydrology activities at UNESCO-IHE around the world, and suggested possible cooperation works between UNESCO-IHP, UNESCO-IHE and international educational institutions for ecohydrology.
5 COOPERATION WITH RELATED INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES The representatives of the international programmes involved in ecohydrology activities presented their programmes and projects highlighting the specificity of their actions and the need to coordinate with each other to avoid any duplication. The scope of the session was to seek partnerships and synergies for the implementation of projects on common interest with other organizations/partners (Ramsar, IAH, EU, IGRAC, IPBES). Moreover, efforts were made to address common issues (example natural/constructed wetlands regulation processes, etc) using ecohydrology as a transdisciplinary, scientific approach to achieve water quality improvement and biodiversity enhancement, through low cost systems that can, for example, be applied to small scale projects in developing countries for water quality improvement and crop production.
5.1 RAMSAR
Mr Tobias Salathé presented on “Disseminating ecohydrological understanding to decision-makers through the Ramsar Convention”. He introduced the Ramsar Convention, and the Ramsar tools for improving measurement and assessment for better management and integrating the value of water and wetlands into decision-making.
5.2 Joint Research Centre-European Commission (JRC)
Mr Giovanni Bidoglio spoke about “Ecohydrology for policy making”. He regarded ecohydrology as background science for the achievement of EU water policy objectives, and presented the European Commission’s blueprint “The water milestone in the 2020 Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe”. He emphasized that policy making needs to build on integrative science.
5.3 International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH)
Ms Africa de la Hera presented the “IAH Network on Groundwater Ecosystems”. She introduced the concept of Groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs), which are defined as ecosystems that require access to groundwater to meet all or some of their water requirements so as to maintain the communities of plants and animals and ecological processes they support, and the ecosystem services they provide. She also spoke about the IAH network on groundwater and ecosystems.
5.4 United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and Global Environment Facility (GEF)
Mr Matthew Lagod presented on “Hydrogeological management of Mediterranean coastal wetlands-contribution from the MedPartnership project”. He introduced the MedPartnership, which is a collective effort of leading organizations (regional, international, non-governmental, etc.) and countries sharing the Mediterranean Sea towards the protection of the marine and coastal
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environment of the Mediterranean. The MedPartnership is being led by UNEP/MAP and the World Bank, implemented by UNESCO and financially supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
5.5 International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC)
Ms Nienke Ansems presented on “Ecosystem-based adaptation in groundwater management”. She introduced Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), which is an adaptation strategy for increasing ecosystems resilience, securing the ecosystem service and improving sustainable groundwater management.
5.6 UNESCO-Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB)
Mr Philippe Pypaert presented the “IHP-MAB interactions in Ecohydrology”. He suggested new opportunities for interaction between IHP and MAB, including managing water resources in the biosphere reserves.
5.7 The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (UNESCO-IPBES)
Mr Salvatore Aricò spoke about “Side intervention on the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services”. He introduced the function and objective of IPBES, which is providing policy relevant scientific knowledge to inform decision-making processes.
6 VIEW, PERSPECTIVES, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ECOHYDROLOGY IHP-VIII
This session was devoted to all international experts who gave a presentation on their activities and, in particular, their vision on the future of Ecohydrology. This session was facilitated to highlight an interdisciplinary and integrated approach to watershed and aquifer management, which incorporates the social dimension of water resources and promotes and develops international research in hydrological and fresh water sciences. To deal with all the complexity and the rapid environmental changes (population, climate change, land use change, globalization, etc.), in the context of the IHP-VIII, an overall approach integrating population, ecosystems, water, culture and economy was envisioned.
Mr Yohannes Zerihun Negussi (Ethiopia) presented “Harmonization of ecohydrological biotechnologies with existing water management efforts in Ethiopia”. He spoke about the results obtained from a joint Ethiopia-Poland ecohydrology project, of which ecohydrology has been considered as a tool for the design, establishment and monitoring of buffer zone of water bodies.
Mr Felix Toteu (UNESCO Office, Nairobi, Kenya) presented the “Impacts of mining activities in sub-Saharan African countries: focus on water use”. He introduced the Sida-UNESCO project on identifying the impact of mining activities on water pollution, and to promoting responsible mining industry.
Mr Marcelo Gaviño Novillo (Argentina) presented on “Challenges and opportunities for Ecohydrology VIII LAC regional programme (PRELAC)”. He introduced a regional programme of Ecohydrology for Latin America and The Caribbean, and presented the Lacar Lake demonstration project.
Mr Gilberto Fonseca Barroso (Brazil) spoke about “Hydrological flows and aquatic ecosystem health: case studies form south eastern coast of Brazil”. He presented recent water challenges in
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Brazil, and introduced two ecohydrological case studies in the Lower Doce River Valley and the Santa Maria da Vitória River Basin.
Mr Xia Jun (China) presented on “Key challenges for water security and conflicts between human and environmental water needs in China”. He introduced water problems that China is facing and emphasized the issue of how to guarantee water security related to ecological civilization construction.
Mr Demin Zhou (China) presented the “Wetland ecohydrology: a case study in the northeast China floodplain”. He introduced a case study of Sangjian Plain in China, where all the natural landscapes have been largely shrunk in the past 30 years.
Mr Yasuhiro Takemon (Japan) presented the “Japanese challenges and perspectives in Ecohydrology as a sustainability science and basis for moral philosophy”. He introduced academic, educational and practical challenges for ecohydrology in Japan, and suggested integrated basin management as a solution. He also emphasized the importance of moral philosophy, which is required for sustainable social systems to overcome conflicts among social needs.
Ms Lucilla Minelli (UNESCO-IHP) presented the “Knowledge management strategies and awareness raising tools for effective communication on water-related initiatives”. She emphasized that a good communication strategy greatly helps in achieving the programme objectives, and introduced an exemplary project IW:LEARN dedicated to knowledge and information management within the GEF International Waters portfolio.
Mr William Mitsch (USA) presented the “Ecohydrology and ecological engineering in practice:
comparing some of the world's major wetland restorations”. He introduced the concept of ecological restoration, and compared the results of six case restoration studies.
Mr Pascal Breil (France) presented on “Integrating ecohydrology within urban development strategy”. He discussed how to implement ecohydrology within urban areas in combination of emerging water technologies.
Mr Stefano Fazi (Italy) presented on “Ecohydrology of intermittent Mediterranean streams: When microbes come in”. He introduced molecular methods for microbial assessment in water. He explained that the complex hydrological dynamics strongly influence biotic communities as well as nutrient and organic matter processing in intermittent rivers.
Ms Veronica Strang (UK) presented on “Navigating interdisciplinarity in river catchment research”.
She discussed about a way to integrate social science aspects into ecohydrology.
Mr Philippe Van Cappellen (Canada) introduced “Our changing rivers”. He discussed the human pressures on river systems, which resulted in modifying absolute and relative nutrient fluxes, with far-reaching impacts, from individual ecosystems to the global biosphere.
7 DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Mr Maciej Zalewski facilitated the discussion session concerning how and what type of priorities and actions should be developed in the Ecohydrology Programme. He suggested producing a publication out of this workshop. He emphasized the added value of “dual regulation” of hydrology and biology. He also mentioned a need of paying attention to small impacts occurring more frequently that can lead to bigger impacts at all scales.
He asked to participants to present their impressions from the workshop.
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Mr Xia Jun suggested forming several working groups which focus on different Ecohydrology dimensions. He stated that an international workshop on Ecohydrology should be organized with sufficient time. He noted that the time assigned for each presenter in this workshop was too short to discuss the topic thoroughly.
Mr Demin Zhou emphasized the establishment of methodologies in regional and national scales for more practical solutions, and pointed out that UNESCO has exemplary case studies internationally.
He also suggested that the publication should be organized on special issue annually or bi-annually.
Mr Takemon Yasuhiro mentioned that historical geo-morphological data are a good source of information that can be integrated in Ecohydrology studies. He asserted that ecohydrological solutions should be made in consideration of both scientific and moral aspects.
Mr William Mitsch suggested to select and to work altogether on selected sites as exemplary case studies. He mentioned that results from the study can be discussed during the next workshop to develop practical methodologies.
Mr Pascal Breil emphasized the importance of understanding human science, and the integration of temporal dimension into regional dimension when we communicate with people.
Mr Stefano Fazi emphasized the importance of studying water mass, organic matter and microbial dynamics in the interface between freshwater and brackish water in order to assess how anthropogenic impacts could affect environmental processes in respect to carbon cycle. He agreed with the idea of working together on specific demonstration sites as case studies.
Ms Veronica Strang emphasised the need for researchers in the Ecohydrology programme to work directly with social scientists and to undertake a genuinely interdisciplinary exchange of knowledges. She suggested that the inclusion of their expertise on the social and cultural dimensions of human relationships with water would greatly enhance the efficacy of the programme.
Mr Philippe Van Cappellen mentioned that Ecohydrology studies have been done in different scales from microbial to global and also dealt with socio-ecological systems. He called attention to ecological indicators that are used to assess ecosystem activities, as well as critical ecohydrological interfaces such as groundwater/surface water, land/ocean, and urban/peri-urban zones. He emphasized the role of Ecohydrology programme as a leading group which should identify the most recent technologies that can be applied to ecohydrology from various fields, and which should also generate recommendations and suggestions.
Mr Salvatore D’Angelo stated that human beings are the most challenging part of biota in integrating process of ecohydrology regulation, since they represent an element that can make a choice in consideration of governance between institution and process. He emphasized the integration of human science into Ecohydrology.
Mr Yohannes Zerihun Negussi explained the situation of water management in Ethiopia. It was not possible to improve the water quality and to manage the water quantity due to the lack of scientific knowledge in the past. With the financial support by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Poland, the Ministry of Water Management, Ethiopia, formulated the 5-year-Ecohydrology project and the ecohydrology methods were applied to manage water resources. He also remarked the endorsement for the establishment of African regional centre of Ecohydrology in Addis Ababa.
Mr Yohannes Zerihun Negussi explained the situation of water management in Ethiopia. It was not possible to improve the water quality and to manage the water quantity due to the lack of scientific knowledge in the past. With the financial support by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Poland, the Ministry of Water Management, Ethiopia, formulated the 5-year-Ecohydrology project and the ecohydrology methods were applied to manage water resources. He also remarked the endorsement for the establishment of African regional centre of Ecohydrology in Addis Ababa.