Toward integrated wetland conservation: a diagnostic framework

Abstract

Integrated environmental management and related approaches have been widely endorsed for emphasising interconnections between water, land and related resources and placing them within a broader social and institutional context. Yet there has been limited application of those approaches to wetland conservation. This paper introduces an integrated wetland conservation (IWC) framework for analysing and identifying opportunities for integration within state (subnational) wetland programmes. The authors apply the IWC framework to an evaluation of the state wetland programme in Wisconsin. The framework identified limited current integration in Wisconsin, although the state programme has opportunities to improve IWC by increasing watershed-scale planning and mechanisms for interaction and co-ordination between stakeholders.

Keywords:

• wetland
• governance
• watershed
• integration
• IWRM