A plethora of recent regulations and policies seek to halt the loss of restore or safeguard fresh waters, their biodiversity, and the ecosystem services they provide. Ecosystem‐based management (EBM), an approach that considers human society as an integral part of ecosystems, is increasingly being promoted to help meet this challenge. EBM involves an overarching regulatory framework and local solutions with trade‐offs and compromises - factors that not only make decision processes
complex but also provide the means for combining top–down regulation with bottom‐up priorities into collaborative management strategies. Although stakeholder participation is encouraged in most modern freshwater management, community values are often largely neglected. We use a participatory decision support framework based on multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to operationalize EBM and promote community‐inclusive decision making in freshwater management. Using this method cultural values, which inherently embed strong links between the environment and people, can be used together with typical ecological and socio‐economic values. |
The overall aim of this project is to develop a generally applicable workflow to prioritize the removal of barriers along river corridors, considering different targets such as reconnected river length, freshwater biodiversity health, floodplain and wetland habitat provision, and cost-effectiveness and to test the workflow at different spatial and jurisdictional scales in Europe. The project will be embedded in an international team-setting, benefitting from additional guidance by experts from Germany and Spain.
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Langhans et al. 2016. Science of the Total Environment 560-561: 266-273.
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Lake Wanaka and upper catchment
Central Otago Lake Wanaka is a large ultra-oligotrophic lake in the Clutha River catchment of Otago in the very south of NZ. Lake Wanaka is one of the main tourist attractions on the South Island and it also provides drinking water for the region. Although still exhibiting good water quality, the lake has recently experienced problems related to an increase in algal biomass, a shift in algal community structure and the development of nuisance slime (called "lake snot" or the nicer form of it "lake snow") growths suspended in the water column, which impacts the Wanaka drinking water infrastructure. The lake also has a long history of nuisance growth of the invasive macrophyte, Lagarosiphon major and farming in parts of the catchment has intensified. Hence, there is growing concern that these combined changes negatively impact on the water quality and the various ways people use and enjoy the lake.
This part of my research I am doing in close collaboration with the Upper Clutha Lakes Trust. |
Blueskin Bay Estuary and catchment
20 minutes north of Dunedin Blueskin Bay is one of Otago’s largest estuarine environments. It is an ecosystem rich in birds, shell fish, fish and other forms of life. On any weekend one can expect to see many locals and visitors gathering cockles and other shell fish, fishing for flounder, picnicking and generally enjoying the inner Bay and its ocean beach. The coastal region including the beach and estuary are part of the East Otago Taiāpure Management Area – a fishery management arrangement with Ngai Tahu, limiting recreational takes and highlighting both the food gathering value of the region and the importance of protecting the marine resources of the region for future generations. The Blueskin Estuary is a highly productive cockle (Austrovenus stutchburyi) habitat providing large quantities of large-size shellfish to both recreational and commercial harvesters.
In Blueskin Bay, I am closely collaborating with the Blueskin Bay Watch. |
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