WWF and the World Water Forum

Our solutions to the global freshwater crisis

Water is life. But it is running out fast. More than one billion people lack access to clean water; more than two billion lack adequate sanitation services and water-borne diseases kill more than 3 million people annually. Freshwater resources support food production, energy generation, transport and business and the only way to ensure these lasting services is to use the resources themselves sustainably. The freshwater species crash – 50% decline in populations since the 1970’s - reflects the impacts of overdamming, pollution, overirrigation, and wetlands destruction. Sustainable solutions are at hand.

Solutions for managing water depend on cooperation for managing rivers and wetlands, resisting harmful infrastructure as a first option, curbing water waste in agriculture and reducing poverty as a result of strong environmental policies.

WWF's Global Freshwater Programme has therefore established the following global freshwater targets:

• Ensuring healthy environmental processes in at least 50 river basins and ecoregions, including some threatened by unsustainable infrastructure
  
  
• Protecting and sustainably managing 250 million hectares of representative wetlands by 2010
  
  
• Promoting adoption by government and industry of policies and techniques that conserve life in rivers and reduce poverty for dependent communities

Natural resources in wetlands and rivers represent billions of dollars in economic benefits and a vital life support system on which people, plants and animals all depend. We need to find new and long-lasting solutions and strategies if people and nature are to benefit from these natural resources in the next century. Further degradation is not an option. There are alternatives at our disposal for meeting needs for energy, food, water and transport.

Programme: Conserving the source of life.

Some examples:
Wetlands conservation and restoration instead of drainage for land development. Protection and restoration of wetlands and improved management and use will allow them to provide rich goods and services including water supply. The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar, 1971) is a vital instrument for wetlands conservation worldwide.

Renewable Energy and Natural Gas instead of large dams. Natural and bio-gas, solar and wind energy and decentralised power grids are proving to be better for the environment and more beneficial to rural communities. As the cost of these technologies comes down, they are proving competitive with conventional energy sources.

Natural flood damage reduction instead of dykes and dams. Methods include floodplain restoration, watershed management and flood warning and evacuation systems. These all allow the rivers to continue to provide natural benefits; they are also generally much less expensive than dams and dykes.

Conservation agriculture instead of wasteful irrigation. Practices and technologies that work with ecological processes are proving beneficial in drier parts of the world, including many that suffer from food shortages. Growing crops without ploughing the soil, harvesting rainwater, better crop selection, and fisheries management can result in large increases in food produced, without the need for wasteful, large-scale irrigation schemes.

Appreciation for rivers' natural riches instead of just their short-term economic potential. Crucial to other practical measures will be building awareness among diverse communities - including decision-makers - of the range of natural functions and values of wetlands and river basins.