Felicitations for the Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management Society

Abstract

I first became involved in the activities of the Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management Society (AEHMS) (Canada) when I was invited to participate in the Tropical Ecosystems Congress in Dehradun, Uttarakhand State, India. This meeting was co-organised by the International Society for Tropical Ecology and H. N. B. Garhwal University. Within the congress, AEHMS co-sponsored an international symposium on Climate Change: Impact, Assessment and Management. This brought together scientists from Europe, North America and India highlighting research on aquatic, terrestrial and alpine ecosystems. The symposium enabled researchers from very different environments to share results, experience and approaches to tacking problems associated with changing climate globally. The meeting provided a platform for me to present some of the methods and approaches being used in Europe to deal with the effects of interactions between climate change and other key drivers of change on freshwater ecosystems (under the auspices of the EU Project Euro-limpacs) as well as highlighting two decades of work on European Mountain Lakes. In turn I was able to learn more about some of the presssing issues facing environmental scientists in a very vulnerable and stressed part of the world. By co-organising this session within the Tropical Ecosystem Congress, AEHMS provided a forum whereby scientists and managers from India were able to exchange ideas and explore approaches with researchers in Europe and North America, across a range of ecosystem types. This typifies the key role played by AEHMS in promoting an integrated, holistic approach to aquatic resource management at the global scale. Since the society was established, similar meetings have been held in Mexico, Brazil, Malaysia, the Gulf States, Tanzania, China, and Nepal, as well as in Europe and North America. Conferences and symposia are generally accompanied by special issues of the journal Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management providing a legacy of the discussions held in the meetings and a vehicle for the publication of interdisciplinary, and cross-­sectoral research at a truly international level.Globally problems arising from agricultural intensification, urbanisation, land use change, industry and globalisation and climate change present a range of increasingly complex management challenges. Those responsible for the protection, conservation, and sustainable management of global aquatic resources are required to tackle a wide variety of stressors resulting from these pressures such as organic and inorganic pollution, flow and morphology alteration, surface and groundwater abstraction, land use change, climate variability and change, invasive species, pathogens. This multitude of interacting stressors adversely affects physical, chemical and ecological water status. It is no longer possible to examine stresses, nor indeed ecosystems, in isolation. Management solutions require integrated, multidisciplinary approaches. Many of these stresses occur at a global scale. A key role is played by organisations such as AEHMS in promoting “international, interdisciplinary, and cross-­sectoral communication and collaboration among scientists, universities, governments, industry, and public sectors for the development of practices and measures for aquatic ecosystem health.” The AEHMS in particular has a significant impact through its practical approaches to increasing the understanding, communication and integrated thinking required to sustainably manage aquatic resources. A key mission is to “disseminate information and provide training on the concept of aquatic ecosystem health.” The objectives of the Society are thus achieved tangibly through publications, newsletters, conferences, symposia and workshops. In addition to the bienniel AEHMS conferences organised across the world, the Society has also organised symposia focusing on specific key issues such as, the ecology and fisheries of Lake Huron, assessments of sediment quality, ecosystem modelling, and Great Lakes of the World. At these meetings key scientists and others with vested interests are brought together to tackle some of the critical aquatic management issues we are facing. Further, AEHMS has taken concrete steps to advance integrated and holistic approaches by (i) initiating working groups within the context of specific topics such as Sediment Quality Assessment, Great Lakes of the World (GLOW) and ecotechnology bioassays, remediation and restoration and (ii) establishing chapters across the world promoting ecosystem health, restoration, and conservation.More recently, the AEHMS has recognised the importance of adopting an integrated ecosystem-based approach in aquatic sciences. The Society has focused considerable effort on promoting the ecosystem approach and management not only in developed regions but also globally particularly in developing regions of Africa, the Middle East, South America, India, China and Malaysia.With aquatic ecosystems and resources facing truly global problems, problems caused by multiple interacting stresses operating across ecosystem types, all inextricably linked to human/socio-economic systems, the role of the AEHMS in promoting and supporting holistic, integrated management approaches at the global scale will be crucial.