System approach to sustainable management of inland floodplains - declaration on sustainable floodplain management.
2010
Zalewski, M. | Kiedrzynska, E.
In the face of a dramatic acceleration of global environmental degradation and a progressing shortage of water and energy, there is increasing scientific evidence that the biogeosphere is a self-stabilizing system controlled by feedback mechanisms between climate, water and biota, which has developed during Earth's evolution. At present, we are in the Anthropocene period, during which 80% of Earth's surface has been influenced by human activities. Consequently, the natural homoeostatic regulation of hydrological and biogeochemical processes has been dramatically reduced, resulting in the decline of biodiversity and ecosystem services. River valleys and floodplains usually occupy lower elevations in the landscape and thus they are highly exposed to cumulative human impacts from the surrounding catchment, yet they are also havens for aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity and therefore should be-particularly protected, restored and managed. This paper introduces a new ecohydrological approach to sustainable management of inland floodplains and presents the general assumptions of the international Declaration on Sustainable Floodplain Management.
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