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dam-l (Fwd) Freshwater report released/LS
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date sent: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 12:40:40 -0800 (PST)
From: lori@irn.org (Lori Pottinger)
Subject: Freshwater report released/LS
To: irn-safrica@igc.org
>FRESHWATER BIODIVERSITY REPORT RELEASED
>
>NAIROBI, 22 March 1999 - World Day for Water celebrates the
>importance of water - for people not just for drinking and washing,
>but also as a source of food and biodiversity. In a new report
>released today, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and
>the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) identify priority
>areas where conservation action is needed to retain the diversity of
>fish, molluscs and crustaceans - key sources of food to people
>world-wide.
>
> "Freshwater Biodiversity: a preliminary global assessment"
>identifies the African Great Lakes, Madagascar, Tasmania, the
>Mississippi basin and Lake Titicaca amongst 23 "hotspots" of
>freshwater biodiversity. Freshwater ecosystems have come under
>severe pressure in the past 25 years - even more than the
>much-publicised plight of the world's forests. "Freshwater
>Biodiversity" catalogues the scale of the problem for the first time
>-- and indicates where to start taking action.
>
> Action for freshwaters means taking a "watershed" approach -
>tackling river basins as a whole, particularly where they cross
>international boundaries. Thirty priority river basins that support
>high biodiversity but are vulnerable to future pressures are listed
>in the report. Amongst them are the Nile, the Volta, the Irrawaddy
>and the Mekong.
>
> "National and international institutions aiming to preserve
>the diversity of freshwater life for all its services to people will
>benefit from this UNEP/WCMC analysis," said WCMC's Brian Groombridge,
>co-author of the report. "Freshwaters are fundamental to human life
>and wildlife - action to conserve their diversity and maintain their
>productivity is well overdue. International co-operation is needed to
>protect the world's great rivers and lakes." The report will be
>distributed widely to encourage nations to tackle freshwater issues
>in their national action plans for biodiversity.
>
> *******
>To obtain a copy of Freshwater Biodiversity: a preliminary global
>assessment please contact WCMC for an order form. Email:
>info@wcmc.org.uk or Fax: +44 1223 277136. The report costs o15
>sterling plus postage and packing. Discounts are available to
>non-profit institutions. Preparation of the report was made possible
>by generous support from freshwater scientists and conservationists
>worldwide. Particular thanks go to members of the IUCN Species
>Survival Commission.
>
>For further information on the study or WCMC please contact:
>Laura Battlebury, Press Office, World Conservation Monitoring Centre
>219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, UK Tel: +44 (0)1223 277314, Fax:
>+44 (0)1223 277136, Email: laura.battlebury@wcmc.org.uk
>
>For more information on World Day for Water go to UNEP's Home Page
>
>http://www.unep.org
>
>UNEP Information Note 1999/9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Elizabeth Soderstrom, PhD
>USAID
>Regional Center for Southern Africa
>P.O. Box 2427
>Gaborone, Botswana
>
>tele 267 324 449
>fax 267 324 404
>esoderstrom@usaid.gov
>
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Dianne Murray, Coordinator/Webmistress
Dam-Reservoir Working Group; Ottawa, Canada
Dam-Reservoir Impacts and Information Archive
http://www.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca/dams