Brochure “Water bodies and floodplains” Benefits for society, incorporating current data and new examples for evaluating ecosystem services
Natural and near-natural river landscapes – water bodies and their adjacent floodplains – are highly valuable to society because they provide a wide range of functions and services. They are hotspots for biodiversity, and their structural diversity offer high recreational and aesthetic value as well as rich opportunities for nature-based experiences. In addition, they deliver other key ecosystem services: they regulate high and low water levels, improve water quality, bind greenhouse gases, and provide drinking and process water.
The interests in using water bodies and floodplains are correspondingly diverse: hydropower and shipping, settlement development, agricultural use, and flood protection sometimes compete with one another – in the water bodies themselves and in the adjacent riparian and floodplain areas. This illustrates that rivers and floodplains are subject to very high anthropogenic pressure, which impairs their functionality and, consequently, their ability to provide ecosystem services. At the same time, the degradation and loss of near-natural river landscapes illustrate that the social benefits of natural ecosystems have not been sufficiently considered in planning and political decision-making in the past, for example, regarding changes in the use of river landscapes. In order to develop water bodies and floodplain landscapes sustainably, a better understanding is needed of how changes in land use interact with the provision of ecosystem services.
In 2015, the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) illustrated in its brochure “Rivers and Floodplains – Benefits for Society” (in German only) how floodplain restoration can help improve ecosystem services. To promote a broad understanding of the importance of ecosystem services in society and among decision-makers, the IÖW, in cooperation with the biota Institute, is updating and expanding the brochure. The aim is to place the statements on the societal value of ecosystem services provided by rivers and floodplains on a current scientific basis. In addition, services that were previously not considered – such as the provision of drinking water and process water, sediment regulation, and cooling effects – are being added. The information will be presented in a clear and accessible way in order to help ensure that the value of near-natural river landscapes and floodplains is given greater consideration in societal and political decision-making.
