Safeguarding Free-Flowing Rivers: The Global Extent of Free-Flowing Rivers in Protected Areas

Jeffrey J. Opperman, Natalie Shahbol, Jeffrey Maynard, Günther Grill, Jonathan Higgins, Dieter Tracey and Michele Thieme
Additional contact information
Jeffrey J. Opperman: World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC 20037, USA
Natalie Shahbol: World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC 20037, USA
Jeffrey Maynard: SymbioSeas, Carolina Beach, NC 28428, USA
Günther Grill: Confluvio, Montreal, QC H2V 4E6, Canada
Jonathan Higgins: The Nature Conservancy, Protect Lands and Waters, Arlington, VA 22203, USA
Dieter Tracey: SymbioSeas, Carolina Beach, NC 28428, USA
Michele Thieme: World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC 20037, USA

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-18

Abstract: Approximately one-third of long rivers remain free-flowing, and rivers face a range of ongoing and future threats. In response, there is a heightened call for actions to reverse the freshwater biodiversity crisis, including through formal global targets for protection. The Aichi Biodiversity Targets called for the protection of 17% of inland water areas by 2020. Here, we examine the levels and spatial patterns of protection for a specific type of inland water area—rivers designated as free-flowing. Out of a global total of 11.7 million kilometers of rivers, 1.9 million kilometers (16%) are within protected areas and 10.1 million kilometers are classified as free-flowing, with 1.7 million kilometers of the free-flowing kilometers (17%) within protected areas. Thus, at the global level, the proportion of rivers in protected areas is just below the Aichi Target, and the proportion of free-flowing rivers within protected areas equals that target. However, the extent of protection varies widely across river basins, countries, and continents, and many of these geographic units have a level of protection far lower than the target. Further, high discharge mainstem rivers tend to have lower extent of protection. We conclude by reviewing the limitations of measuring river protection by the proportion of river kilometers within protected areas and describe a range of mechanisms that can provide more effective protection. We also propose a set of recommendations for a more comprehensive quantification of global river protection.

Keywords: free-flowing rivers; freshwater biodiversity conservation; protected areas; river protection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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