Das Projekt "Enhancing the role of wetlands in integrated water resources management for twinned river basins in EU, Africa and South-America in support of EU water initiatives (WeTwin)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Antea Belgium NV durchgeführt. Objective: The overall objective of the WETwin project is to enhance the role of wetlands in basin-scale integrated water resources management, with the aim of improving the community service functions while conserving good ecological status. Strategies will be worked out for: utilizing the drinking water supply and sanitation potentials of wetlands for the benefit of people living in the basin, while maintaining (and improving as much as possible) the ecosystem functions adapting wetland management to changing environmental conditions integrating wetlands into river basin management improving stakeholder participation and capacity building with the aim of supporting sustainable wetland management. The project will work on 'twinned' case study wetlands from Africa, South America and Europe. Management solutions will be worked out for these wetlands with the aim of supporting the achievement of the above objectives. Involvement of local stakeholders into the planning process will play a crucial role. Knowledge and experiences gained from these case studies will be summarized in general guidelines in order to support achieving project objectives on global scale. The project also aims at supporting the global exchange of expertise on wetland management. Stakeholder participation, capacity building and expertise exchange will be supported by a series of stakeholder and twinning workshops.
Das Projekt "WP5: Vulnerability assessment and scenario design" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Vituki Kornyezetvedelmi es Vizgazdalkodasi Kutato Intezet Kozhasznu Tarsasag durchgeführt. Objective: The overall objective of the WETwin project is to enhance the role of wetlands in basin-scale integrated water resources management, with the aim of improving the community service functions while conserving good ecological status. Strategies will be worked out for: utilizing the drinking water supply and sanitation potentials of wetlands for the benefit of people living in the basin, while maintaining (and improving as much as possible) the ecosystem functions adapting wetland management to changing environmental conditions integrating wetlands into river basin management improving stakeholder participation and capacity building with the aim of supporting sustainable wetland management. The project will work on 'twinned' case study wetlands from Africa, South America and Europe. Management solutions will be worked out for these wetlands with the aim of supporting the achievement of the above objectives. Involvement of local stakeholders into the planning process will play a crucial role. Knowledge and experiences gained from these case studies will be summarized in general guidelines in order to support achieving project objectives on global scale. The project also aims at supporting the global exchange of expertise on wetland management. Stakeholder participation, capacity building and expertise exchange will be supported by a series of stakeholder and twinning workshops.
Das Projekt "Arctic biodiversity and indigenous people of Eastern Siberia in a changing climate" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. Global warming, occurred from the 2nd half of the 20th century, has already intensively influenced on the Earths biota (Climate change, 2005). The average temperature of the planets surface, expected to rise further, will impact more on biological processes in the biosphere in particular and on the ecological situation of the whole planet. Climate change is expected to affect not only biological processes, but also every sector of society. In the short-run some of these impacts could be profitable, however in the longer term most of the effects could be harmful to local communities and society as a whole. Arctic regions are sensitive to climatic change because global warming is mostly noticeable at high latitudes, and Arctic processes are particularly vulnerable to effects of temperature (Chapin et al, 2009). This investigation is planned to be carried out in the Arctic regions of Eastern Siberia, Russia. Arctic indigenous people are dependent on subsistent harvesting. And changes in environment may cause severe changes to their livelihood. Therefore it is vital to conduct this investigation to get insights about subsistence practices of the Arctic inhabitants, the relation of the indigenous population to the environment and changes referred to global warming in the region.
Das Projekt "Sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity in riparian areas in developing countries (LIVEDIVERSE)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von University Linköping durchgeführt. Objective: LiveDiverse (LD) will develop new knowledge on the interactions between human livelihood and biodiversity in riparian and aquatic contexts in four developing countries (Vietnam, India, South Africa, Costa Rica). It has a strong emphasis on dissemination and the constructive engagement of a broad selection of social groups and their governmental and non-governmental representatives. The analysis of biodiversity values, sustainable use and livelihoods (biodiversity governance) within the project adopts vulnerability as a unifying concept, taking the point of departure in the concepts of biodiversity and livelihood vulnerability. Vulnerability will be considered from a combination of bio-physical, socio-economic and cultural/spiritual perspectives, where human ability to conserve and husband biodiversity while at the same time achieving sustainable livelihoods is of vital importance. The analyses of areas will analyse vulnerability in terms of biophysical, socio-economic- legal, and cultural/spiritual issues. Maps of these three perspectives will then be constructed in each case study and incorporated into a GIS system. These maps will identify biodiversity and livelihood hot-spots, that is, places where there is a high risk (according to natural science criteria), and a low capability (according to the socio-economic, law and policy criteria). Finally, biodiversity and livelihood scenarios will be developed. These scenarios will take into account the main perspectives; biological diversity risk, socio economic ability and cultural perceptions to cope with effects of this risk. Working in a 15-year perspective, the scenarios will examine future possible trends, threats and developments in order to formulate strategies and policy to meet the needs of both biodiversity and livelihoods.