Brazil Adopts Freshwater Ecoregions in First National Freshwater Management Plan
The government of Brazil has approved its first national plan for managing its freshwater resources. A critical component of this plan is the adoption of freshwater ecoregions defined through scientific studies resulting from a partnership between The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The Freshwater Management Plan assures that aquatic biodiversity is an important aspect of freshwater planning for the entire country. Before, the most important considerations for the government were hydroelectric potential, navigation and water utilization regimes for drinking water, other household uses, industrial uses and irrigation.
By adopting the Nature Conservancy/WWF ecoregions, the Brazilian government explicitly makes biodiversity a part of the decision-making process for the use of the country's freshwater resources. This represents a great leap forward in the sustainable use of aquatic resources in Brazil.
The Nature Conservancy in Brazil began working with the Brazilian government in 2004 to incorporate the Nature Conservancy/WWF ecoregions into the Freshwater Management Plan. Brazil is the first country in South America to develop such a plan, which encompasses objectives, goals and guidelines for the sustainable uses of freshwater until 2020.
With the world's largest river basin ? the Amazon ? and the world's largest tropical floodplain ? the Pantanal ? the freshwater biodiversity of Brazil is staggering. In fact, Brazil has more freshwater fish species than any other country on Earth.
"In the Amazon River alone, there are an estimated 2,000 species of fish, more than all of North America," says David Oren, the Conservancy's Amazon Conservation Program Science Coordinator.
"Only about 1,200 of those species have been described by science, however, indicating that in Brazil, as in much of the rest of the world, there is much still to be learned about freshwater biodiversity, one of the most fragile components of the Earth's natural heritage."
According to Glauco Freitas, the Conservancy's Great Rivers Partnership (GRP) manager for the Paraguay-Paraná watershed, "from the beginning of our conversations with the Brazilian government about their freshwater management plan, they have been cognizant of the importance of protecting Brazil's waters not only for the sake of their extraordinary aquatic life, but also to protect sources of water for communities. GRP actions will now be closely linked with the Freshwater Management Plan."
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