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Environmental Flows and Human Well-Being
Tuesday 19 August
Afternoon Seminar
Convenors: USAID Global Water for Sustainability Program (IMCAFS-GLOWS), Swedish Water House (SWH), Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Global Environmental Flows Network (eFlowNet), DIVERSITAS, Global Water Systems Project (GWSP), UNESCO International Hydrology Program (UNESCO IHP), World Conservation Union (IUCN) and Wetlands International (WI)
Human health, especially in rural areas of the developing world, is inextricably linked to the health of aquatic ecosystems. Human communities depend directly on goods and services of these ecosystems, including food to meet nutritional requirements, clean freshwater from springs, rivers, and lakes, and natural controls on pathogens and other pests. These ecosystem services underpin all subsequent interventions promoted by health, sanitation and hygiene programmes, either supporting or counteracting them. They also strongly influence efforts to combat disease, prepare for climate change, and achieve Millennium Development Goals. The fundamental requirement for maintaining aquatic ecosystem health is to maintain critical components of natural flow regimes, including sufficient quantity and quality. This seminar will feature speakers from leading international organisations working to understand the linkages between healthy aquatic ecosystems and healthy human communities. It will also explore the prospects for improving human health by safeguarding and restoring aquatic ecosystems. Speakers will address the latest research findings on the topic, share examples from specific case studies, and present some of the cutting-edge approaches to estimate environmental flow requirements.
Seminar Programme 13:30-17:00, Room K21
Chair: Michael McClain, Florida International University/Global Water for Sustainability Program, USA
Co-chair: Anna Forslund, World Wide Fund for Nature/Swedish Water House, Sweden
13.30 |
Welcome and Introduction
Michael McClain, Florida International University, USA |
13.50 |
Environmental Flows and Human Well-Being
Karen Meijer, Delft Hydraulics, The Netherlands |
14.10 |
Water Development and Change in Biodiversity: Current and Future Implications for Human Health
Thomas K. Kristensen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark |
14.30 |
Coffee Break |
14.50 |
River on the Edge: Australia's River Murray, E-Flows and Climate Change
Jamie Pittock, Australian National University, Australia |
15.10 |
Livelihood Benefits from the Lake Dongting Floodplain Restoration Project
Li Lifeng, World Wide Fund for Nature, China |
15.30 |
Wetland Conservation and Human Health: Making the Link With the Development Sector
Chris Baker. Wetlands International. The Netherlands |
15.50 |
ELOHA: A New Framework for Determining and Managing Environmental Flows Over Large Regions
Eloise Kendy. The Nature Conservancy, USA |
16.10 |
Integrating Environmental Flows with the Global Development Agenda
Birgitta Malm Renöfält, Umeå University, Sweden |
16.30 |
Discussion |
17.00 |
Close of Seminar |
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