Rivers, lakes, and wetlands are among the most biodiverse places on earth. They cover less than 1 percent of the planet’s total surface, yet they’re home to almost a quarter of all vertebrate species – including over half of all the world’s fish species. Freshwater fishes play important roles within our ecosystems and serve as indicators of the health of those ecosystems. If freshwater ecosystems deteriorate to the point where they can’t support a healthy population of fish, they won’t be fit for humans either. Yet, in many senses, these are the world’s forgotten fishes. Today, nearly a third of freshwater fish species are threatened with extinction due to a devastating combination of threats from damming rivers to draining wetlands, abstracting too much water for irrigation to releasing too much untreated waste, from unsustainable and damaging fishing practises to introductions of invasive non-native species – and, of course, the escalating impacts of climate change.
Despite their importance, rivers continue to be valued primarily as water pipes for cities, industry, agriculture, and power, ignoring their many ‘hidden’ benefits, such as the freshwater fisheries they sustain. Very rarely, for example, are the full values of freshwater fisheries factored into decisions about hydropower dams or dredging for navigation or sand mining.
This report calls for the implementation of an Emergency Recovery Plan for freshwater biodiversity. Developed by scientists and freshwater experts from across the world, this practical, science-based plan incorporates six pillars – each of which has been implemented in different parts of the world:
1. Let rivers flow more naturally;
2. Improve water quality in freshwater ecosystems;
3. Protect and restore critical habitats;
4. End overfishing and unsustainable sand mining in rivers and lakes;
5. Prevent and control invasions by non-native species; and
6. Protect free-flowing rivers and remove obsolete dams.