Sustainable Water Future Programme Freshwater Biodiversity Working Group Ian Harrison – Working Group Chair Conservation International Side Event: GEOGLOWS and the Harmonization of GEO Water Activities

1) Integrating in-situ observations with remotely sensed earth observation data Objectives To link satellite imagery as well as environmental data of societal relevance (pollution, water stress, hydropower), so that trajectories of species and ecological assemblages can be predicted

Methodology Biological information, from the Freshwater Information Platform (FIP; http://www.freshwaterplatform.eu/) - ca. 53,184 freshwater species, and 13 million georeferenced occurrences from 34,260 species; IUCN Red List (www.redlist.org) GIS variables from HydroATLAS - more than 50 spatial layers with over 200 variables, mapped to 1,034,000 planning units worldwide Other remotely-sensed variables, which are essential for trajectories; temporal change in land-use/land-cover, water dynamics, soil moisture and water quality from both optical and radar satellite data

2) Flow alteration and threatened species Objectives A global analysis of the spatial distribution of flow alteration and threatened species richness, coupled with regional case studies that will: Identify the relationship (if any) between increased flow alteration and species vulnerability; and Develop regional case-studies in the context of the global analysis

Methodology Aquatic biota have evolved to take advantage of prevailing hydrology – even low and highly variable flows - spawning at different stages of the hydrograph has different advantages; eg. - Low flows concentrates potential prey for larvae - High flows can deliver food items to larvae With increasing availability of global hydrological models and efforts to document global biodiversity loss, we can relate the spatial distribution of threatened species to the spatial distribution of flow alteration - Identify globally consistent patterns and relationships to improve flow management

Plans for cross SBA linkages and SDG support Links to other SBAs or initiatives The work will support: mobilisation and integration of freshwater ecosystem data for application to diverse research programs; priority setting for major international conventions and agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Convention on Migratory Species, The UN/World Bank convened High Level Panel on Water, the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), which allocates resources to recipient countries in the themes of biodiversity, land degradation and climate change mitigation Contributions to SDGs Goal 6 on water and sanitation, including a focus on protecting and restoring water-related ecosystems (target 6.6); and Goal 15, on halting biodiversity loss, including target 15.1 to ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their GEOGLOWS and the Harmonization of GEO Water Activities

Thank You iharrison@conservation.org