Scientists urge expansion of freshwater protected areas.

R. T. Kingsford and J. Nevill
Ecological Management and Restoration, 6, 3, 161-162 plus full statement

Although freshwater protected areas are regarded as an essential component of biodiversity conservation programmes, a systematic approach to their development in Australia has been slow, and is hindered by incomplete ecosystem inventories at State and national levels. We review this situation and examine avenues for action. While there is no shortage of relevant policy in Australia, some protective mechanisms have not yet been used (many years after their development). In other cases ‘protection’ has been only partially applied without regard to important issues of hydrologic connectivity – with species extinction1 as a direct consequence. The most urgent initiative is to identify those ecosystems most at risk. A comprehensive national assessment of the conservation status of freshwater ecosystems should be undertaken immediately. Such an assessment would provide both a platform and an impetus for the systematic expansion of the nation’s freshwater protected areas.
http://aerg.canberra.edu.au/cgi-bin/pubs_archive.cgi?target=G