Scarr A. UK EA, River Restoration Best Practices
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Transcript of Scarr A. UK EA, River Restoration Best Practices
River Restoration Best Practices:
Important tools to enhance river management
and works in partnership with
The RESTORE project is made possible with the contribution of the LIFE+
financial instrument of the European Community
1. Environmental conditions in European rivers
• Widespread decline in river ecosystems across Europe
• < 20% of European rivers in their natural physical state
• Threat to quality of life and biodiversity
• Loss of the ecosystem services that have (potential) value
• Threat to traditional land-use systems and livelihood of local communities
• Large number of rivers failing to achieve WFD/GES due to hydromorphology
2. River restoration
• Restoring the natural state and functioning of the river and the riverine environment
• A large variety of management activities including reconnecting river channels and their floodplain
3. Status of river restoration in Europe
• Historically single site, single funder and single policy driven• Narrower range of benefits• Smaller scale of impact
• Increasing range of relevant EU policy drivers• Flood risk reduction, increased biodiversity, CCA…
• More recently increasing landscape scale approaches• Multiple benefits • Experiences biased to northern and western European regions
• Need to gather, develop and share information on best RR practices to support the implementation of EU Directives
4. RESTORE Project review of EU policy drivers
• Those which drive the delivery of river and catchment restoration, e.g. WFD, Habitats and Birds Directive, Floods Directive
• Those which support the delivery of river restoration, e.g. CAP, Nitrates Directive
5. Obstacles to river restoration implementation
• Policy- inflexibility- alignment of multiple policies
• Financial- limited funding- funding arrangements
• Societal- Institutional and administrative
boundaries- (lack of) capacity building- lack of understanding of RR- stakeholder involvement
• Spatial planning- agricultural land use and
practices- multiple and competing
floodplain uses
• Land use- requirement to purchase land- land use change / planning
• Other- promotion of hydropower
schemes- water quality- time scale
Challenges
• Limited awareness of planners and practitioners
• Insufficient access to best practice
• Geographical variation in understanding and capacity
The RESTORE project and the 6th World Water Forum process will seek to tackle these challenges.
6. Consensus on river restoration best practices as a means to support delivery of European policy goals
7. Solutions and Way forward
Support policy makers and practitioners to make more informed decisions
• 1. Consensus on river restoration best practice- What is best RR practise and how is this needed by different countries?
• 2. Communication of information to key target audiences- Engage stakeholders, establish networks and build information resource
• 3. Stimulate integrated catchment approaches
8. Round table discussions on policy drivers
14:45 – 15:30 • What do you regard as the principal drivers for restoration in your
country and why?e.g. WFD, Habitats and Birds, Floods Directive; Land Use Planning, CAP.
• In general what do you regard as the main obstacles to delivering river restoration?
• And what are the opportunities to support you delivering river restoration?
• What knowledge do you need to help you deliver river restoration?
15:30 – 15:45• Reporting
Please contact us about your:
• River restoration needs
• Experiences of river restoration
and works in partnership with
The RESTORE project is made possible with the contribution of the LIFE+
financial instrument of the European Community
Miss Antonia Scarr Environment [email protected]
Romana Gaspirc Wetlands International