Outline of the Ecological Master Plan for the Rhine

Schulte-Wülwer-Leidig, Anne

doi:10.2166/wst.1994.0119

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Following improvements in water quality since the early 1950s, protection and restoration of habitats became a main goal of the Rhine Action Programme started in 1992. The International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) established the `Ecological Master Plan for the River Rhine' (Schulte‐Wülwer‐Leidig, 1994), also known as `Salmon 2000', with the following objectives:…”

Section: Realised Projectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re‐establishing and assessing ecological integrity in riverine landscapes

Jungwirth¹,

Muhar²,

Schmutz³

2002

Freshwater Biology

223

172

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1. River–floodplain systems are among the most diverse and complex ecosystems. The lack of detailed information about functional relationships and processes at the landscape and catchment scale currently hampers assessment of their ecological status. 2. Intensive use and alteration of riverine landscapes by humans have led to severe degradation of river–floodplain systems, especially in highly industrialised countries. Recent water‐related regulations and legislation focussing on high standards of ecological integrity back efforts to restore or rehabilitate these systems. 3. Most restoration projects in the past have suffered from a range of deficits, which pertain to project design, the planning process, the integration of associated disciplines, scaling issues and monitoring. 4. The so‐called `Leitbild' (i.e. a target vision) assumes a key role in river restoration and the assessment of ecological integrity in general. The development of such a Leitbild requires a multistep approach. Including explicitly the first step that defines the natural, type‐specific reference condition (i.e. a visionary as opposed to an operational Leitbild), has great practical advantages for restoration efforts, primarily because it provides an objective benchmark, as is required by the European Water Framework Directive and other legal documents. 5. Clearly defined assessment criteria are crucial for evaluating ecological integrity, especially in the pre‐ and postrestoration monitoring phases. Criteria that reflect processes and functions should play a primary role in future assessments, so as to preserve and restore functional integrity as a fundamental component of ecological integrity. 6. Case studies on the Kissimmee River (U.S.A.), the Rhine River (Netherlands and Germany), and the Drau River (Austria) are used to illustrate the fundamental principles underlying successful restoration projects of river–floodplain systems.

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Section: Realised Projectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re‐establishing and assessing ecological integrity in riverine landscapes

Jungwirth¹,

Muhar²,

Schmutz³

2002

Freshwater Biology

223

172

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“…By 1992 the total number caught had increased to 18 (Figure 9). It seems that recent stockings of young salmon in the Sieg have been successful and that salmon are able to use the downstream stretches of the Rhine as migration routes to and from -Leidig, 1995-Leidig, ) 1967-Leidig, 1972-Leidig, 1977-Leidig, 1982-Leidig, 1987-Leidig, 1992 time (years) Figure 9. Cumulative number of salmon catches in the past 25 years in the German and Netherlands' reaches of the River Rhine (adapted from Cazemier, 1994) upstream section of the River Sieg (Cazemier, 1994).…”

Section: Perspectives and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological rehabilitation of the River Rhine: Plans, progress and perspectives

Dijk

Marteijn

Schulte-Wülwer-Leidig³

1995

Regul. Rivers: Res. Mgmt.

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The River Rhine has suffered because of numerous drastic environmental changesfor example, the regulation of the river bed and the construction of weirs and dams. Furthermore, discharges of agricultural, industrial and municipal wastewater have caused a deterioration in the water quality. This problem became particularly acute in the 1960s and 1970s. After the Sandoz accident in Basle in November 1986, the states bordering the River Rhine agreed the Rhine Action Programme for its ecological rehabilitation. This programme has the following four aims, which should be realized by the year 2000: (1) to create conditions which will enable the return of higher species (such as salmon); (2) to safeguard Rhine water as a source for the preparation of drinking water; (3) to abate the contamination of sediments due to toxic compounds; and (4) to fulfil the requirements of the North Sea Action Plan, as the River Rhine flows into the North Sea. Water quality criteria have been developed for about 50 contaminants or contaminant groups and for phosphorus and ammonium. Early signs of the ecological recovery of some aquatic communities in the River Rhine have been observed, but eutrophication and pollution by micropollutants, in particular polychlorinated biphenyls found in suspended matter, sediments and biota, still form a serious threat. In addition to further improving the water quality, river habitats must be improved, reversing the artificial river control measures taken in the past for the return of a number of characteristic riverine organisms such as migratory fish. The 'Ecological Master Plan for the River Rhine' aims to restore the mainstream, along with the main tributaries, as habitats for migratory fish (e.g. salmon). This involves protecting, preserving and improving ecologically important reaches of the River Rhine and the Rhine valley. The first steps for realizing the hydrological and morphological modifications have been taken, starting with the development of a specific ecological network focusing on the most important floodplain areas along the Rhine. Habitat improvement measures started later than the pollution abatement measures and, so far, relatively few studies on the effectiveness of the ecological rehabilitation techniques concerning habitat improvements in the Lower Rhine have been published. A major task for research programmes will be to identify the detailed quantifiable and verifiable ecological objectives (e.g. water quality criteria, hydrological and morphological targets) to guarantee the actual ecological rehabilitation of the River Rhine.

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“…Flagship species have also been used successfully to directly promote river restoration projects that challenge the status quo. Notable examples include the role of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) and other migratory species including eels (Anguilla anguilla) in promoting early restoration efforts in the Rhine River basin (Plum & Schulte-Wülwer-Leidig, 2014;Schulte-Wülwer-Leidig, 1994). These were followed by use of the Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) as a flagship species for expanding restoration efforts to encompass natural floodplain processes (Buijse, et al, 2002).…”

Section: Indigenous Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Restoration opportunities assessment for the Avon Ōtākaro Red Zone using a local knowledge approach.

Orchard¹,

Meurk²,

Smith³

2018

Preprint

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Following the Canterbury earthquake sequence of 2010-11, a large and contiguous tract of vacated ‘red zoned’ land lies alongside the lower Ōtākaro / Avon River and is known as the Avon-Ōtākaro Red Zone (AORZ). This is the second report in the Ecological Regeneration Options (ERO) project that addresses future land uses in the AORZ. The purpose of this report is to present results from an assessment of restoration opportunities conducted in April 2017. The objectives of the assessment were to identify potential benefits of ecological restoration activities across both land and water systems in the AORZ and characterise the key options for their implementation. The focus of this report is not to provide specific advice on the methods for achieving specific restoration endpoints per se. This will vary at different sites and scales with a large number of combinations possible. Rather, the emphasis is on providing an overview of the many restoration and regeneration options in their totality across the AORZ. An additional objective is to support their adequate assessment in the identification of optimum land uses and adaptive management practices for the AORZ.Participatory processes may play a useful role in assessment and stakeholder engagement by providing opportunities for social learning and the co-creation of new knowledge. We used a facilitated local knowledge based approach that generated a large quantity of reliable and site specific data in a short period of time. By inviting participation from a wide knowledge-holder network inclusivity is improved in comparison to small-group expert panel approaches. Similar approaches could be applied to other information gathering and assessment needs in the regeneration planning process.Findings from this study represent the most comprehensive set of concepts available to date to address the potential benefits of ecological regeneration in the AORZ. This is a core topic for planning to avoid missed opportunities and opportunity costs. The results identify a wide range of activities that may be applied to generate benefits for Christchurch and beyond, all involving aspects of a potential new ecology in the AORZ. These may be combined at a range of scales to create scenarios, quantify benefits, and explore the potential for synergies between different land use options. A particular challenge is acquiring the information needed within relatively short time frames. Early attention to gathering baseline data, addressing technical knowledge gaps, and developing conceptual frameworks to account for the many spatio-temporal aspects are all key activities that will assist in delivering the best outcomes. Methodologies by which these many facets can be pulled together in quantitative and comparative assessments are the focus of the final report in the ERO series.

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Outline of the Ecological Master Plan for the Rhine

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Re‐establishing and assessing ecological integrity in riverine landscapes

Re‐establishing and assessing ecological integrity in riverine landscapes

Ecological rehabilitation of the River Rhine: Plans, progress and perspectives

Restoration opportunities assessment for the Avon Ōtākaro Red Zone using a local knowledge approach.

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