HR: 09:00h
AN: NB51D-03 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: Assessing the Natural Values of Fresh Waters: Science or Art?
AU: Pringle, C M
EM: cpringle@uga.edu
AF: Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, 711 Bio. Sci. Bldg., Athens, GA 30602 United States
AU: * Boon, P J
EM: phil.boon@snh.gov.uk
AF: Scottish Natural Heritage, 2 Anderson Place, Edinburgh, EH6 5NP United Kingdom
AB: If conservation is to be effective, there needs to be agreement on how priorities are assessed - especially among scientists, resource managers, and policy-makers. Although tensions remain between some sectors, considerable progress has been made. In the UK, for example, the recent implementation of the EC Water Framework Directive has brought the aspirations of 'freshwater management' and 'freshwater conservation' closer, although there are still legitimate differences between the two. Effective conservation also requires robust and objective methods of assigning 'value' to fresh waters. To compare approaches used in the UK and the US, a survey was conducted among selected individuals, classified within three broad affiliations: universities and research institutes, conservation bodies, and resource managers. Respondents assigned scores to reflect the importance attached to each of 27 features, grouped within broad conservation criteria. Naturalness and rarity were ranked the highest both in the UK and the US, with representativeness and diversity rated significantly lower. The naturalness of channels and banks, and littoral and shoreline zones, respectively, were considered the most important features for rivers and lakes. Results indicate much common ground between the two countries, suggesting that some 'core' features are essential components in determinations of freshwater conservation value.
DE: 9810 New fields (not classifiable under other headings)
SC: North American Benthological Society [NB]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly