Water management: pragmatic and ethical issues for species-inclusive and sustainable water policies

Kopnina, Helen and Strang, Veronica (2022) Water management: pragmatic and ethical issues for species-inclusive and sustainable water policies. Visions for Sustainability, 2022 (18). pp. 73-92. ISSN 2384-8677

[img]
Preview
Text
document.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

Download (389kB) | Preview

Abstract

The Leaders’ Pledge for Nature highlights the fact that since ecosystems underpin human well-being, we need to “recognize that the business case for biodiversity is compelling”. In this article we argue that, in all areas of water management, there is an urgent need for a paradigmatic and practical shift to species-inclusive and sustainable water policies and practices. We believe that policies prioritizing human interests inevitably promote unsustainable forms of water management and use. This article outlines an alternative vision based on the “Half-Earth” (Wilson 2016) perspective, emerging from the “nature needs half” or NNH movement. NNH researchers state that to maintain viable long-term populations of most of the Earth's remaining species, approximately 50 of landscapes and seascapes need to be protected from intensive human economic use. However, while terrestriaconservation measures are prominent in the literature, a Half-Earth, of fresh and sea waterscapes is rarely discussed. Our article addresses this omissionWe ask what species-inclusive policies and practices in marine and freshwater conservation would look like? If government policy-makers direct spending towards sustainable fishing, for example, how can this align with a focus on marine biodiversity? How can an ecocentric view tackle the illicit finance involved in illegal fishing? How do we marry up existing conservation policywhich is people-centric, with ecocentric 'nature positivity'? We reflect on possible implications for ecocentric water management and sustainable water policies and practices from examples of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace. We also note the potential for Strang’s proposed ‘re-imagined communities’ approach to be applied to river catchmenand marine management, providing a conceptual model for rebalancing wider decision-making processes to include non-human needs and interests.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: biodiversity, Half-Earth vision, marine and freshwater conservation, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), re-imagined communities, species-inclusive, water management, “nature needs half” (NNH)
Subjects: F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences
L900 Others in Social studies
Department: Faculties > Business and Law > Newcastle Business School
Depositing User: Rachel Branson
Date Deposited: 11 Jan 2023 11:48
Last Modified: 11 Jan 2023 12:00
URI: https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/51127

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics