Visiting Fellow Dr Bob Ferrier (Macaulay Institute, Scotland)

Visiting Fellow Dr Bob Ferrier called the European Union's Water Framework Directive the 'most significant legislative instrument in water management ever established'. During his recent Fellowship with the Flagship he was able to put its philosophies to work on our Great Barrier Reef catchment.

Linking the ecology of water resources to water management policy is a significant global challenge being met head-on in the European Union (EU). An insider's perspective on how it is proceeding and how it compares to alternative strategies for resource management is being shared in Australia through a CSIRO Flagship Collaboration Fund Fellowship in Townsville.

The experiences of scientists and policymakers in the EU since the introduction of landmark legislation called the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in recent years are of great interest to Australian scientists and policymakers who are likewise engaged in the complex task of best managing water.

Dr Bob Ferrier, Head of Catchment Management at the Macaulay Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland, recently spent time at the Davies Laboratory in Townsville on a Water for a Healthy Country Fellowship. His central involvement with the WFD brought a wealth of ideas around its interdisciplinary research and policy development to share with scientists and water managers facing similar issues here.

Dr Ferrier called the WFD the 'most significant legislative instrument in water management ever established' as it reflects a philosophical move towards sustainable integrated management that had its beginnings at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.

"EU legislators have acted upon a view that previous ad hoc management of water was no longer adequate and that an integrated system predicated on the ecological integrity of resources was the only realistic way forward," said Dr Ferrier.

"For the first time in the EU, science is enshrined in legislation as the driving force in water policy development, which is a positive step forward," Dr Ferrier continued. This presents significant scientific challenges that cut across many disciplines. It may have implications for science and policy in other parts of the world, including Australia.

He says that setting environmental objectives is critical to successfully implementing the WFD and its aim of achieving "good ecological status" for all waters in the EU by 2015.

The broad themes of this process were evaluated in a pilot project in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchment as part of his Fellowship. Working closely with Davies Lab officer-in-charge Professor Iain Gordon, Dr Ferrier ran a series of workshops to tease out a range of questions, including using the catchments and lagoon of the GBR as a model system to ask:

• How can we link physico-chemical changes with ecosystem impacts which are separated in both time and space?
• What are the most important components of ecosystem response
• Do different aquatic ecosystems respond to different triggers (such as loads, concentrations, seasonal thresholds or loss of functionality)?
• Is there a role for evolving approaches such as stress ecology in supporting impact analysis?

Dr Ferrier reiterated the importance of an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates the work of economists and social researchers as well as biophysical scientists to resource management in Europe and globally. Similar to the synergies under way at CSIRO's Davies Laboratory, research at the Macaulay Institute links soil, water, land use, ecology and socio-economics.

Using a framework of WFD principles of river basin characterisation, environmental objectives, programs of measures, stakeholder integration and economic instruments, Dr Ferrier worked with local researchers to clarify regional aspirations, perspectives, problems and develop potential solutions.

He also spent time drawing on the well-developed community engagement processes within CSIRO, and to establishing a mutually beneficial two-way flow of ideas and information.

The fund report will be available in early 2007

Contact: Dr Bob Ferrier: R.Ferrier@macaulay.ac.uk







 

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Snippets

About this email
 

Meet visiting Fellow
from the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship

Meet Dr Bob Ferrier
 

Meet the Flagship's new Science Director

 
Meet Dr Ian Prosser
 

Meet one of our
PhD students

Meet Deborah Reed
 

EARLIER UPDATES 

April 2006

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April 2005

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The Water for a Healthy Country Flagship is a CSIRO initiative and part of the National Research Flagships program that aims to deliver scientific solutions to advance Australia's most important national objectives. One of the largest scientific initiatives ever mounted in Australia, it aligns closely with the Federal Government's National Research Priorities. The initiative brings together our national research resources to deliver breakthroughs in fields ranging from healthcare to light metals and the environment.

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