11 - Lost in muddy waters: freshwater biodiversity.

This chapter provides an overview of the status of freshwater biodiversity in a number of selected river basins, discusses some of the key pressures on freshwater ecosystems and illustrates possible conservation strategies. It does this by discussing the factors affecting the number of fish species in the largest lake and river basins, using fish as an indicator of aquatic ecosystem biodiversity because they are more easily understood and more extensively documented than most microscopic organisms due to their economic importance. Inland aquatic ecosystems are rapidly deteriorating worldwide; they are the global ecosystem type that has undergone the most significant modifications. Freshwater presents one of the greatest conservation challenges. The chapter outlines conservation strategies that address options for the preservation of single water bodies. Several success stories have emerged from integrated conservation policies targeting broader objectives as well.