Water and Biodiversity Issue Now Available
A special themed issue of Science for Environment Policy focusing on water and biodiversity is now available to download, free, from: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/22si.pdf.
Over-fishing, pollution and invasive species are significant threats to aquatic and marine ecosystems. Policy measures to protect life in Earth's waters must be scientifically sound in order to deal with the complexity of such pressures. The research featured in this issue can help policymakers understand biodiversity in water and different ways in which human activity can be managed to ensure both wildlife and humans benefit from healthy ecosystems.
The articles explore topics including:
- How can we design marine reserves to benefit both fisheries and conservation?
- Are deep-sea ecosystems being damaged by commercial fishing in shallower waters?
- How much are the public willing to pay to protect river biodiversity?
A number of EU polices and directives aim to improve the biodiversity in European waters. For example, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive aims to achieve good environmental status of the EU's marine waters by 2020 and to protect the resources upon which many economic and social activities depend. This is in line with the objectives of the 2000 Water Framework Directive 2000, which requires lakes, streams, rivers, estuaries, and coastal waters to be ecologically sound by 2015.
Science for Environment Policy is a free news service designed to strengthen links between environmental research and policy. "Water and Biodiversity" is the 22nd in a series of special thematic Issues. It is guest-edited by Viera Straškrábová, Ph.D., of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.
The title is published by the European Commission’s DG Environment and has 12,000 subscribers. It is edited by the Science Communication Unit at the University of the West of England.