Policy objectives for conserving freshwater ecosystems: How many rivers, which ones, and what level of protection are required

Abstract

A current initiative aims to develop a set of operational policy objectives for facilitating national-level coordination in the conservation of freshwater ecosystems and their associated biodiversity. This initiative draws from the relatively new discipline of freshwater conservation planning, which incorporates concepts from across the fields of systematic conservation planning, conservation biology, aquatic ecology, water resources planning and management, and spatial information technology.