Public lecture: Prof Dirk Roux – Fresh water resource
Freshwater: most precious natural resource, critically threatened, yet so difficult to protect
Abstract
Of Earth’s impressive stock of 1.4 billion km2 of water, only about 0.01% occurs as surface freshwater in lakes, wetlands and rivers. Yet, the well-being of humanity is highly dependent on the distribution, quality and availability of this tiny fraction of freshwater. Freshwater ecosystems must be the most precious natural resource on Earth. If so, then surely these ecosystems should be maintained with great care. Unfortunately, freshwater ecosystems have already deteriorated to critical levels and are regarded as more endangered than land-based and marine ecosystems, worldwide and in South Africa.
While the world’s protected areas are cornerstones for conserving biodiversity and keeping our planet healthy, their historical land-based (and now also marine) bias has not served freshwater ecosystems well. For example, rivers are not easily contained in protected areas, either flowing through such areas or forming their boundaries. To address the freshwater conservation deficit in South Africa, scientists, government agencies and stakeholders worked together over the past decade to identify strategic areas for conserving freshwater ecosystems. These areas, known as Freshwater Ecosystem Priority Areas (FEPAs), comprise 22% of South Africa’s river length, 38% of wetland area and 44% of estuaries. These FEPAs, if properly managed, have the potential to contribute meaningfully to water security, human well-being as well as environmental conservation. To this end, this lecture will explore the challenges and opportunities in freshwater conservation in South Africa.
Biography
Prof Roux is a freshwater conservation scientist who has worked for CSIR, Monash University and now SANParks. He works at the interface between science, policy and practice to promote conservation of freshwater ecosystems inside and outside protected areas. During the past decade he has been intimately involved with collaborative processes to develop policy objectives and identify strategic priority areas for freshwater conservation. His current interests include linking global conservation targets, through national policy, with the management of freshwater ecosystem at local levels.