Overview of practical climate adaptation strategies in European freshwaters at sub-catchment and local scales

This is a practical guide to the most effective management strategies for freshwater ecosystems, applicable at sub-catchment and local scales, for use throughout Europe.

A list of sub-catchment and local scales adaptation measures was compiled for stream and rivers, and for lakes. The list was specified per climate region Atlantic, boreal, alpine, continental, and Mediterranean. The list comprises measures that are normally being taken by local authorities/managers in different ecoregions and water types (for all kinds of purposes).

Strategic adaptation measures aim to either improve resistance and resilience thus to enable persistence of aquatic ecosystems or to accept change and accommodate this. Therefore, three building blocks of a best practice framework for managing resilience in aquatic ecosystems were put into practice: 1. the principles from resilience thinking (nine basic principles) 2. the ecosystem approach (including the 5-S-Model and the DPSIRR chain), 3. strategic adaptive management.