Global Perspectives on River Conservation

Throughout the world, river conservation is becoming an increasingly important concern. In arid regions, for instance, rivers often form the only water resource for human sustenance: indeed, the World Bank has predicted that future wars will be about water. In many parts of the developing world, rivers are used as repositories for waste, and river ecosystems consequently reflect the worst excesses of human exploitation. In the industrialised nations, the focus of attention is beginning to move from chemical clean-up to restoring the structural damage to rivers caused by decades of river engineering. Recognition is growing that river management needs a catchment-wide perspective if the needs of human populations, river habitats and wildlife are to reach a sustainable balance. The development of river conservation strategies has become a global imperative. Global Perspectives on River Conservation is the first book that provides a truly global synthesis of knowledge on river conservation, with the aim of encouraging strategic river planning. It does this in two ways. First, it sets out a worldwide, region-by-region overview of the science, policy and practice of river conservation. Second, it provides a topical review of different river settings (such as tropical/temperate; temporary/perennial; large/small) and contemporary issues in river conservation (such as classification and evaluation; environmental legislation; the role of public participation). Global Perspectives on River Conservation is an invaluable reference for river managers, planners and developers, conservationists, statutory water agencies, government departments, academics, researchers, postgraduates and final-year under-graduates working in the field of environmental management of inland waters.