3.1.1 “By 2015, XX additional countries shall have established policies and strategies to protect and sustainably use their water resources and the ecosystems so that they that provide enough water, of adequate quality, as well as other ecosystem services, and by 2018 these policies and strategies have been institutionalised in the mandates of X national organisations and platforms”

The value of freshwater ecosystems

Natural ecosystems provide a huge range of environmental goods and services that are essential to human well-being. Specifically freshwater ecosystems and the services they provide are a vital underlying factor to achieving all of the Millennium Development Goals. The degradation of freshwater ecosystems leads to a loss of goods and services provided by them, e.g. food, fibre, flood mitigation / prevention, drinking water, tourism opportunities, and climate regulation. This undermines sustained well-being for future generations as well as the livelihood of many poor directly and indirectly dependent on these services.

Protecting and managing freshwater ecosystems is essential to sustain the current human population and to achieve sustainable development in generations to come. In a world where water is increasingly scarce, and subject to a lot of competition, the future of these natural ecosystems is dependent on robust water policies that ensure adequate standards in water quality, as well as on water allocation (timing, quality and amount) to these areas. Policy frameworks need to take environmental needs for water into account and allow for the development and implementation of strategies that are aimed at securing the environmental services provided by freshwater ecosystems, such as PES and MES schemes.

Water policy

In many countries targets, rules and regulations exist for the protection of the water resources and ecosystems. Few explicit linkages are made however to the benefits of these water resources and ecosystems to the provision of enough water, of the right quality. Quantification of services provided by these areas contributes to justifying the protection measures and helps with planning of the protection areas, in an integrated approach towards sustainability, which will also discussed in the PFA 2.4. In practice, how does one include ecosystems and the services provided by these into regional or national policy? Experiences have been gained in various countries, like in Pakistan where 6 steps are identified to include Ecosystem Services in the national policy (with strategies and tools identified per step).

Also other countries have gone through similar or different exercises to include the ecosystems and the related services on the policy level. It would be highly valuable to compare methodologies and ultimate results for people and nature.

Also from the reversed perspective, i.e. water allocation, there are new examples on policy development worldwide in which nature is explicitly a stakeholder in the competition for that same resource, i.e. water. Examples are China and Mexico. There are examples in which water was reserved for priority purposes, including how water to meet environmental requirements. A lesson from the recent years is that explicit water policy alone is not the panacea. There is an even stronger need for integrated planning policy between water and land based areas like agriculture and forestry.

Approach of the target

The proposed target will focus on:

1. Governmental water allocation processes (quantity – policy)

2. Government water quality protection (quality - WFD – policy)

3. Community based approaches (e.g. PES – strategy)

4. Watershed protection mechanism (strategy)

Showcases and best practices:

1. China

2. Peru

3. Pakistan

4. Tanzania

5. Indonesia

6. Europe (WFD)

 

Draft Target Action Plan: FINAL 3 1 1 TAP - WWF

Key organisations :

Coordinator: WWF

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