Three major steps toward the conservation of freshwater and riparian biodiversity.

Freshwater ecosystems and their bordering wetlands and riparian zones are vital for human society and biological diversity. Yet, they are among the most degraded ecosystems, where sharp declines in biodiversity are driven by human activities, such as hydropower development, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. Because freshwater ecosystems are characterized by strongly reciprocal linkages with surrounding landscapes, human activities that encroach on or degrade riparian zones ultimately lead to declines in freshwater-riparian ecosystem functioning. We synthesized results of a symposium on freshwater, riparian, and wetland processes and interactions and analyzed some of the major problems associated with improving freshwater and riparian research and management. Three distinct barriers are the lack of involvement of local people in conservation research and management, absence of adequate measurement of biodiversity in freshwater and riparian ecosystems, and separate legislation and policy on riparian and freshwater management. Based on our findings, we argue that freshwater and riparian research and conservation efforts should be integrated more explicitly. Best practices for overcoming the 3 major barriers to improved conservation include more and sustainable use of traditional and other forms of local ecological knowledge, choosing appropriate metrics for ecological research and monitoring of restoration efforts, and mirroring the close links between riparian and freshwater ecosystems in legislation and policy. Integrating these 3 angles in conservation science and practice will provide substantial benefits in addressing the freshwater biodiversity crisis.

Tres grandes pasos hacia la conservación de la biodiversidad ribereña y de agua dulce Resumen Los ecosistemas de agua dulce y los humedales y zonas ribereñas que los bordean son vitales para la sociedad y la biodiversidad. Sin embargo, se encuentran entre los ecosistemas más degradados en donde las declinaciones graves de la biodiversidad son causadas por actividades humanas como el desarrollo hidroeléctrico, la agricultura, la silvicultura y las pesquerías. Puesto que los ecosistemas de agua dulce se caracterizan por tener un vínculo recíproco con los paisajes que los rodean, las actividades humanas que invaden o degradan las zonas ribereñas terminan en la declinación del funcionamiento del ecosistema ribereño de agua dulce. Sintetizamos los resultados de un simposio sobre los procesos e interacciones de agua dulce, ribereños y de humedales y analizamos algunos de los principales problemas asociados con la mejora de la investigación y gestión de agua dulce y ríos. Tres barreras claras son la falta de participación de la población local en la investigación y gestión de la conservación, la ausencia de una medición adecuada de la biodiversidad en los ecosistemas de agua dulce y ribereños, y una legislación y política separadas sobre la gestión ribereña y de agua dulce. Con base en nuestros hallazgos, argumentamos que la investigación y los esfuerzos de conservación de agua dulce y ríos deberían integrarse de manera más explícita. Las mejores prácticas para sobreponerse a las tres grandes barreras incluyen un mayor uso sustentable de los conocimientos tradicionales y otras formas de conocimiento, la selección de medidas apropiadas para la investigación ecológica y el monitoreo de los esfuerzos de restauración y la replicación de los vínculos cercanos entre los ecosistemas ribereños y de agua dulce en la legislación y en las políticas. La integración de estos tres ángulos dentro de las ciencias y prácticas de conservación proporcionará beneficios importantes en la manera de abordar la crisis de la biodiversidad de agua dulce.

Well-being of artisanal fishing communities and children's engagement in fisheries amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: a case in Aklan, Philippines.

This study describes and explains the multifaceted effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the socio-economic and psychosocial well-being of the artisanal fishing communities in Central Philippines. The state of child labour and their education amidst the COVID-19 lockdown were also explored. Four hundred artisanal fishing households, with 792 children, from the 10 coastal municipalities in Aklan province were surveyed in May-December 2020 through face-to-face household interviews. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened poverty in these highly vulnerable fishing communities primarily through severe disruptions in their fishing and marine tourism-related livelihoods. The proportion of households living below the Philippine poverty threshold of PHP12,030 (USD232.7) monthly for a family of five members increased from 78% pre-COVID to 91% peri-COVID. This economic impoverishment was more pronounced in larger families with limited income, as in the survey sites, where 41% of the households have more than five family members. Furthermore, 57% of the surveyed households believed that learning difficulty increased by 81% among children due to the blended online education modality. Amidst increased impoverishment, child labour intensified, and children stopped schooling. A significant decline in happiness index peri-COVID was also observed in the study sites indicating extreme socio-economic challenges. Contrary to expectations, however, interpersonal relations in most households improved, underscoring women's stabilising and nurturing role. This latter phenomenon signifies that cooperative and nurturing actor relationships can be generated even in a crisis. Policies that mainstreamed local communities' reproductive health, family planning, and programmes that diversify socio-economic, environmental, and technological assets must be renewed and promoted. The goal is to holistically improve human well-being by increasing or sustaining stocks of these assets to promote resilience and sustainability amidst crisis and complexity.

Evaluating the impacts of mangrove rehabilitation in Cogtong Bay, Philippines.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been hailed worldwide as vehicles toward sustainable development (SD) in coastal zones. The prominent model by which MPAs operate is through a comanagement approach, a shift from traditional top-down management. This paradigm shift must be reviewed continuously to evaluate its social and ecological impacts, thereby allowing adaptive management. We evaluated the perceived impacts of the Cogtong Bay Mangrove Rehabilitation Project (CBMRP; Philippines) by using 12 perception indicators categorized into 3 comanagement impact criteria (equity, efficiency, and sustainability). We also collected 16 contextual attributes of each respondent to determine the correlates of perceived impacts. Our results showed that there were significant improvements in all indicators under the efficiency criterion but mixed impacts in the equity and sustainability criteria. Access to resource and household income (equity) and fisheries abundance (sustainability) were perceived to have decreased during the last 15 years and were not expected to improve in the future. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the asymmetries of the perceived impacts of the CBMRP were principally caused by disparities in perceptions by gender and by location (Candijay and Mabini). This highlighted the importance of cross-scale institutional linkages between Cogtong Bay municipalities to systematically address baywide management issues. Our results further demonstrated the necessity of integrating gender issues into the evaluation of MPA impacts to ensure a robust evaluation. Finally, we recommend that a rigorous evaluation of MPAs using a common set of impact indicators should be encouraged to allow comparison of studies both spatially and temporally.