Handbook on Water Management - page 12

Each year, WorldWetlands Day is celebrated on 2 February, to commemorate the signature of
the Convention onWetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian town of Ramsar. The Ramsar
Convention provides a framework for the preservation and rational use of wetlands and their
resources. Wetlandsmanagement is an international issue and the Convention currently counts
160member countries that recognize the value of a single international treaty devoted to one
type of ecosystem.
On this day, governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and citizens’ groups
are encouraged to initiate and take part in activities to raise public awareness of the value and
benefits of wetlands in general, and the Ramsar Convention in particular. In recent years, this
has involved a special theme or message defined by the Convention. The chosen theme for
2015 is “Wetlands for our Future”.
More information:
Box 1:WorldWetlands Day
12
2.1.2 Identifying the parameters
Describing the status anddiversity of aquatic ecosystems is basedon structuringparameters that
determine their functioning characteristics. Generally, water sciences distinguish four categories of
parameters:
n
Biological components;
n
Hydromorphological components;
n
Hydrological components (treated either separately fromhydromorphology, or grouped
together, as in the EuropeanUnion);
n
Chemical andphysicochemical components.
For eachof these categories, awide set of parameters canbe used and combined todetermine
the status of aquatic ecosystems. The parameters are qualitative or quantitative variables. In
Europe for instance, with the adoptionof theWater FrameworkDirective in2000, they take the
formofmonitoringparameters that are combined todefine the “ecological status” of the aquatic
environment.
www.
inbo-news
.
org | www.
gwp
.
org
THEHANDBOOK FORMANAGEMENT
ANDRESTORATIONOF AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS INRIVERAND LAKE BASINS
2FUNCTIONSANDBENEFITSOFAQUATICECOSYSTEMS
TheWater Framework Directive (WFD) is a European directive that defines a framework for a
general EU Community policy on water. It requires achieving good water status by 2015. This
water status is based on different parameters:
n
Biological
parameters - relating to the composition and abundance of aquatic
flora and fauna;
n
Hydromorphological
parameters - the hydromorphological status of watercourses takes into
account different factors - the hydrological regime (water flow, etc.), the ecological
continuity (circulation capacity of aquatic species and sediment) and themorphological
conditions (depth and width of the watercourse, structure of the bed or river banks, etc.);
n
Chemical and physico-chemical
parameters - theWFDmakes a distinction between chemical
parameters, i.e. the content of different polluting substances (priority and toxic substances),
and physico-chemical parameters supporting the biology, such as the oxygen balance, water
temperature, or nutrient concentrations.
In an undisturbed pristine water cycle, aquatic ecosystems are considered as having at least
“good ecological status” or good quality, according to these criteria.
More information:
Box 2: EuropeanWater Framework Directive
1...,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,...96
Powered by FlippingBook