Restoring South America's rivers
The goal of the SERELAREFA (Semillas red latina recuperación ecosistemas fluviales y acuáticos- (Seeds of a Latin network on fluvial and aquatic ecosystems restoration)) project was to foster the River Restoration (RR) philosophy and the creation of a RR network in Latin America. This will help to conserve river ecosystems and achieve a more sustainable development. RR indeed provides a fundamental conceptual, methodological and operational framework to take advantage of the multiple environmental services that fluvial ecosystems provide when well maintained. These include the ability to reduce the risk of flooding and morphological disruption. Latin America (LA) can greatly benefit from introducing these ideas at an early stage of planning and management because changes in LA countries are far reaching, very fast and imminent. SERELAREFA brought together research organisations, institutions, practitioners and NGOs. Project partners shared information, delivered lectures, trained a number of researchers, carried out physical and virtual workshops and undertook networking activities. Study trips to European sites enabled LA researchers to identify the potential benefits of RR for LA, particularly by increasing knowledge and awareness. The joint analysis of LA case studies enabled the team to visualize new challenges both at the scientific and at the decision making level, so enriching EU experts with new information. In addition, the experience of some of LA partners proved to be inspiring to EU colleagues and enabled them to enrich their methodological tool box. The main result was the significant momentum generated within the project team. Moreover, the partners ideas and messages were widely disseminated, contributing to a major change in thinking. The RR concept is now circulating within Latin America. A core network was established and several documents drafted. They include a comparative paper on the fluvial space, which highlights similarities, peculiarities and open issues where the input of international cooperation and legislation is mostly needed. In addition, a number of cases studies were defined and developed. A number of researchers and staff were also trained and are pursuing their academic, professional or policy making careers following exposure of RR ideas, knowledge, tools and contacts.
Keywords
River restoration, fluvial aquatic ecosystems, Latin America, flooding, water resources, ecosystem services
