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Conservation Strategies
Learn more about conservation strategies that support aquatic biodiversity:
Due to factors such as human modifications to the environment, overexploitation, habitat loss, exotic species and others, aquatic biodiversity is greatly threatened. Ecosystems and species important in sustaining human life and the health of the environment are disappearing at an alarming rate. In order to preserve these threatened areas and species for future generations, immediate action in the form of aquatic biodiversity conservation strategies are necessary.
In general, aquatic conservation strategies should support sustainable development by protecting biological resources in ways that will preserve habitats and ecosystems. In order for biodiversity conservation to be effective, management measures must be broad based. This can be achieved through many mechanisms including:
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Aquatic Diversity Management Areas (ADMAs): As first proposed by Moyle and Yoshiyama (1994) the creation of ADMAs, are a systematic management approach for watersheds, where the primary goal is to protect the aquatic biodiversity in a given area. ADMAs range from individual species protection acts to full-scale biodiversity oriented programs. The best way to properly manage ADMAs is to stop or greatly reduce all human activity contributing to habitat degradation in that area. This concept has been applied in the Sierra Nevada area.
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Marine Reserves: A marine reserve is a defined space within the sea in which fishing is banned or other restrictions are placed in an effort to protect plants, animals, and habitats, ultimately conserving biodiversity. Marine reserves can also be used for educational purposes, recreation, and tourism as well as potentially increasing fisheries yields by enhancing the declining fish populations. Marine reserves are also very similar to marine protected areas, fishery reserves, sanctuaries, and parks.
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Bioregional Management: Bioregional management is a total ecosystem strategy, which regulates factors affecting aquatic biodiversity by balancing conservation, economic, and social needs within an area. This consists of both small-scale biosphere reserves and larger reserves. Biosphere reserves, generally small in scale, have a strong conservation focus, and consist of one or more protected central habitats and surrounding buffer zones. In these bioresevation units, activities such as fishing, hunting, harvesting, and development activities are strictly limited. In contrast, nonbiosphere reserve areas encompass much broader ranges, and many more habitat types (e.g., the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary). Other examples of National Marine Sanctuaries
include Stellwagen bank, and Monterey Bay. -
Threatened or endangered species designations: The World Resources Institute documents that the designation of a particular species as threatened or endangered has historically been the primary method of protecting freshwater biodiversity. Threatened species include organisms likely to become endangered if not properly protected. Endangered species are plants and animals that need protection in order to survive, as they are in immediate danger of becoming extinct. Once species are "listed," they become subject to national recovery programs and will be placed under international protection. Severe monetary penalties can occur if threatened and endangered species regulations are broken, and can even result in jail sentences. For more information, please visit EPA's Endangered Species Protection Program, Endangered Species Act, or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Endangered Species Program
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Local watershed groups: Rivers and streams, regardless of their condition, often go unprotected since they often pass through more than one political jurisdiction, making it difficult to enforce conservation and management of resources. However, in recent years, the protection of lakes and small portions of watersheds organized by local watershed groups has helped this situation. For more information on how you can become involved in your watershed please visit EPA's Surf Your Watershed site.
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Freshwater Initiatives: The Nature Conservancy has instituted a program referred to as the Freshwater Initiative (FWI)
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The objective of the FWI is to significantly increase freshwater
conservation within the United States and other areas, through three
strategies: watershed action, water science, and water lessons. -
Specialized Programs: Many specialized programs have been instituted to protect biodiversity. For example, the USDA Forest Service initiated Bring Back the Natives
,
a cooperative state-federal program. The goal of this program is to
restore the health of riverine systems and associated species.
Areas targeted for this program include lands managed by the U.S. Forest
Service and the Bureau of Land management. -
Research: Various organizations and conferences that research biodiversity and associated conservation strategies help to identify areas of future research, analyze current trends in aquatic biodiversity, even conduct specialized studies. Examples of such organizations include the Nature Conservancy
, Natural Heritage Network , World Conservation Monitoring Centre , World Resources Institute , NOAA Fisheries
Office of Protected Resources ,
and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) . -
Increase Public Awareness: Increasing public awareness is one of the most important ways to conserve aquatic biodiversity. This can be accomplished through educational programs, incentive programs, and volunteer monitoring programs. For example, the State of Delaware has an Adopt-a-Wetland Program
designed increase public awareness as to the value and of wetlands and
the need for conservation. The EPA developed a site with
links to organizations that teach the public how to become involved
in volunteer monitoring programs at http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/monitoring/vol.html. -
Restoration/Mitigation Efforts: Aquatic areas that have been damaged or suffered habitat loss or degradation can be restored.Even species populations that have suffered a decline can be targeted for restoration (e.g., Pacific Northwest salmon populations). Some management practices such as the establishment of riparian buffer zones and the restoration of natural flow patterns and discharge regimes are being applied to riverine areas. Recently, habitat restoration has also been performed in various areas to replace losses from dredging projects and in many wetland habitats.
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Regulatory Measures: This may include wastewater discharge regulations like NPDES or fishery conservation measures, fisheries management councils, even fishery bans. For example, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 and the associated 1996 Sustainable Fisheries Amendment require the conservation and management of the marine fishery resources in the United States, predominately managed by NOAA and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). This creation of sustainable fisheries is largely completed through regulatory actions including the collection of the best scientific data available.
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Local community actions: The demand for freshwater - and the threats to its health - originate from the actions of millions of people. To solve these challenges also requires actions of many. State and federal governments, and many local governments and public agencies, are already at work. So, too, are numerous citizen volunteers. Any individual can take steps to make healthy water a welcome part of everyday life. Learn how you can make a difference!
For more information regarding aquatic biodiversity conservation strategies refer to the following web sites:
World Resources Institute
Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project
National Aquarium in Baltimore
Restoration Links