Intecol 9, Day 3

The third day of Intecol 9 had two good key-note presentations. Richard Beifuss from the International Crane foundation spoke about his experience from wetland conservation in the Zambezi river basin. He mentioned that the threats to wetlands in Africa in general and the Zambezi region as well is hydropower, biofuel production and shrimp production. At the same time poverty is a big problem and power generation is needed to lift the region out of poverty. Temperature trends for southern Africa are on the upper parts of the climate models, and the Zambezi basin has among the worst outlooks in the world with an expected 26-40 % water loss. Beifuss stated that he is an optimist. Communities are advocating for wetland ecosystem services and research and monitoring capacity is being build up.

Lynn Scarlet spoke about challenges of shared governance for coastal and wetlands management. Hurricane Ike caused 20 billion USD in coastal damages along the Gulf Coast, and the response of such an event demands effective shared governance for success. Many of the challenges the world faces, such as climate change and biodiversity loss transcends political jurisdictions. Most of all, collaborative shared government saves money.