EVALUWET European Valuation and Assessment tooLs sUpporting Wetland Ecosystem legislaTion

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EVALUWETEuropean Valuation and Assessment
tooLssUpporting Wetland Ecosystem legislaTion

• Richard Thorne
• Royal Holloway Institute
• for Environmental Research

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Catchment User Fora

• Three meetings
• May 2001
• October 2001
• January 2004
• Aims
• To engage local decision makers and managers of
  wetlands
• To take account of existing needs and priorities
• To ensure development of appropriate tools
• To strengthen links between science, policy and
  society

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Third Catchment User Forum

• Aims
• To disseminate project results
• To show tools developed
• To identify future development of tools
• Format
• Review of results
• Demonstrations/illustrations of tools
• Discussions

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EVALUWETOverview

• 11 partner institutions in 8 countries
• 6 study catchments (UK, Netherlands, Romania,
  Germany, Greece, Sweden, Slovakia)
• Royal Holloway Institute for Environmental
  Research
• Project co-ordinator
• Lead Partner in Tamar catchment
• University of East Anglia
• Leading economic and social investigations
• Running focus groups and interviews in Tamar
  catchment

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The Wetland Functional Analysis Research Programme

• To develop a methodology for evaluating the
  functioning of European wetland ecosystems based
  on detailed process studies.
• For a variety of non-expert users
• Rapid implementation
• Three projects
• Functional Analysis of European Wetlands - FAEWE
  (1991-1994)
• FAEWE II (1994-1999)
• Procedures for the Operationalisation of
  Techniques for the Functional Analysis of
  European Wetland Ecosystems - PROTOWET (1996-1999)

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Key Developments

• FAEWE
• Identification of key processes and functions in
  river marginal wetlands
• Assessment of human impacts on functioning
• System of functional analysis
• FAEWE II
• More detailed studies
• Incorporation of socio-economic valuations
• Pan-European consultation of users
• PROTOWET
• Generic classification of European wetlands
• High latitude, estuarine and lake marginal
  wetlands

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EVALUWETObjectives

• To investigate the impact on wetland management
  of the Water Framework Directive and the possible
  contributions to compliance of wetland
  functioning.
• To develop a Wetland Evaluation decision support
  system (WEDSS) which integrates wetland function
  and value information.
• To develop and demonstrate methodologies for the
  socio-economic valuations of wetlands.

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EVALUWETWork Packages

• Harmonisation of European Policy and
  Specification of the WEDDS
• Catchment User For a at catchment and European
  levels
• Cross referencing WFD to wetland functional
  evaluation
• Development of the WEDSS
• Generic WEDSS and Catchment specific WEDSS
• Catchment Scale Methodologies and Tools
• Linkage of wetland functions, land-use and
  catchment features
• Development of GIS based catchment specific and
  generic tools
• Incorporation of Economic Valuation and
  Stakeholder Analysis into WEDSS
• Development of multi-criteria framework and model