Three major steps toward the conservation of freshwater and riparian biodiversity

J.M. and J.H. thank Stiftelsen Längmanska kulturfonden for funding travel to the conference. As.L. and K.R. thank the Estonian Research Council (grant 1121) for financial support, and A.M. acknowledges the Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2019-402). H.H. was supported by the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (grant agreement 860800): RIBES (river flow regulation, fish behaviour, and status), and V.A. acknowledges the support from the Leibniz Competition project Freshwater Megafauna Futures. E.J. received support through the National Laboratory for Health Security (RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00006), Centre for Ecological Research, Budapest, Hungary, and thanks Z. Molnár for support.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.Peer reviewe