Birgitta Malm Renöfält, Swedish Water House Environmental flows and human well-being Benefits of environmental flows beyond ecosystems?

The flow regime provide services important for Human well-being Ex. 1. Vegetables and fruits Floodplain inundation, flows sustaining riparian vegetation 2. Pest control Instream flow regime 3. Erosion control (riverbank/bed and delta dynamics) Flows sustaining riparian vegetation

Information on the round table discussion topic Images, schematics, facts, examples, etc. MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALEX. OF ENVIRONMENTAL FLOW LINKAGES 1. Eradicating extreme poverty and hungerSecuring environmental flows will ensure healthy fish populations. 2. Achieve universal primary educationWater- related diseases such as diarrhea infections costs about 4423 million school days each year, and diminishing learning potential. 3. Promote gender equality and empower womenWoman and girls are often the ones responsible of collecting water, an assignment that gets more difficult when water gets degraded. 4. Reduce child mortalityWater related diseases kill and estimated 3 million people/year in developing countries, the majority whom are children under the age of five. 5. Improve maternal healthProvision of clean water reduces the incidences of diseases that undermine maternal health and contribute to maternal mortality 6. Combat major diseasesMany amphibians have developed a variety of compounds that they release when stressed or injured. Many of them have or can have important medical use for humans. Amphibians are among the most threatened organism on Earth; most of them have close ties with water and threaten by the degradation of freshwater. 7. Ensure environmental sustainabilityCurrent trends in freshwater degradation must be reversed in order to sustain the health and productivity of these ecosystems. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, freshwater ecosystem is the worst off. About 50% of inland water systems have been lost during the twentieth century. 8. Develop a global partnership for developmentUnfair globalization practices export harmful side- effects. E.g. extensive trade of so called virtual water from water scarce areas that often lack effective governance, to regions with water abundance, are aggravating global water stress.

Poor people most depended on the ecosystem services provided by the flow regime Mid term evaluation of MDGs showed raising inequality between rich and poor Many countries are seriously off track to meet the MDG target on Water Impact from climate change are expected to hit poor people hardest- and trough water –its distribution and its seasonal and annual variability –people will feel the impact of climate change more strongly

Integrate environmental flows indicators within countries work to reduce poverty e.g. in the Millennium Development Goals Make Environmental flows Assessment a core part of any water development project. Ensure entry in to force of the United Nations Convention on the Law of Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses. Revise national water policies to include legislation of the allocation of water resources to the environment and assign institutions and policy frameworks to include environmental flow regulation within appropriate governing bodies. Include environmental flows assessments and management strategies within national climate adaptation. Estimate the economic value of ecosystem services as a tool to quantify and justify the benefits of ecosystems services to advise in managing flows and help maintain ecosystem function and stewardship within the water agenda To be able to reduce the worlds poverty and meet the Millennium Development Goals it is important to:

The Global Environmental Flows Network (EFlowNet) asserts the critical need for estimating and maintaining environmental flows to ensure equitable distribution of water among multiple users and sectors including the environment, to promote long term sustainable development, and to address water provision as a core component of poverty alleviation.