HYDRO-ECOLOGY CONFERENCE IN INDONESIA 2014

Global water environment has deteriorated and there has been significant loss of biodiversities worldwide, which severely impacts global ecosystems. Such trends provide ample evidence that conventional approaches to water resources management (based on the application of engineering techniques, sectoral interventions, and the elimination of such direct threats as point source pollution) are no longer sufficient to stem the tide of the water crisis. Ecohydrology aims to find solutions that, rather than focusing exclusively on technical issues, better respond to sustainable water resource policies and promote social development.

Ecohydrology is a new integrative science that involves finding solutions to issues surrounding water, people, and the environment. One of the fundamental concepts involved in ecohydrology is that the timing and availability of freshwater is intimately linked to ecosystem processes, and the goods and services provided by freshwaters to societies. This means that emphasis is placed on the hydrological cycle and its effects on ecological processes and human well-being.

To bring the concerned people together and to discussed the issues on ecohydrology a Conference had been organized in conjunction with the 22nd Meeting of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) Regional Steering Committee (RSC) for Southeast Asia and the Pacific under the topic “Ecohydrology Approaches Facing the Global Water Environment Challenges”.The objectives of the proposed International Conference on Ecohydrology (ICE) held from 10-12 November 2014 was aimed to synthesize information and knowledge gaps for addressing issues related to critical water environment systems; how the ecohydrology and ecotechnology could provide low cost environmentally sound technology for sustainable water management, especially in the Asia Pacific region. The past experiences and on-going projects related to terrestrial ecosystems processes, water issues in landscapes, rivers, floodplains, wetlands, reservoirs, coastal and urban areas will be discussed in the Conference.

The conference venue was the Royal Ambarukmo Palace Hotel at Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

One of the fundamental concepts involved in ecohydrology is that the timing and availability of freshwater is intimately linked to ecosystem processes, and the goods and services provided by freshwaters to societies. This means that emphasis is placed on the hydrological cycle and its effects on ecological processes and human well-being.

Global water environment has deteriorated and there has been significant loss of biodiversities worldwide, which severely impacts global ecosystems. Such trends provide ample evidence that conventional approaches to water resources management (based on the application of engineering techniques, sectoral interventions, and the elimination of such direct threats as point source pollution) are no longer sufficient to stem the tide of the water crisis. Ecohydrology aims to find solutions that, rather than focusing exclusively on technical issues, better respond to sustainable water resource policies and promote social development. Ecohydrology is a new integrative science that involves finding solutions to issues surrounding water, people, and the environment.

The subtopics of the conference were:

1.        Development of Ecohydrological Concepts and Implementation Issues

2.        Ecotechnology for Water, Food and Energy Security

3.        Sustainability Issues in Water Environment

4.        Ecohydrology in Lakes and Reservoirs

5.        Ecohydrology in Wetlands

6.        Ecohydrology in Karst and Terrestrial Ecosystems

7.        Hydroinformatics and Modelling

8.        Human and Water Environment

9.        Local Tradition, Knowledge , Wisdoms and Cultural Values

10.    Water Environment Related Disasters

11.    Governance and Management Challenges

12.    Biodiversity and Water Environment

13.    Public Participation

The conference was sectioned in four parallel sessions where about 70 papers were presented. More than 200 delegates from different countries of Asia and Europe attended the conference.

The programme for third day was a field trip to the spring zone of Merapi volcano, the villages of Kali Khod and to the water castle of Taman Sari. One of the main tourist spots of Yogyakarta is the 800 AD Prambanan temple. This was also included in the field trip.

The main take away from the conference is that Ecohydrology is developing as a separate paradigm in the context of human- nature-water relationship. The understanding of the changes in the backdrop of climate change and anthropogenic activities the new science is gaining importance. Some of the research papers from Indonesia, Thailand and China had been very thought provocating and contained serious efforts in depicting the science in local contexts.

The conference was organized by UNESCO, Indonesia and the Asia Pacific Centre for Ecohydrology, Jakarta, Indonesia in collaboration with some other related organizations.