State of the Lagoon: the Story We Want to Tell the Primary Task of the ARCH

shortcoming has been compensated by intensive dialogues which have taken place in the project workshops and the consortium’s efforts to achieve a better degree of integration among the partners and their State of the Lagoon: the story we want to tell knowledge and expertise. The primary task of the ARCH Project is the The ‘state‐of‐the‐lagoon’ reports, presented production of ‘integrated lagoon management by each case study team, proved that such plans’ for the chosen ten case study sites. An integration is not an easy task. A balanced important milestone towards this goal is the description of both natural and human preparation of ‘state‐of‐the‐lagoon’ reports systems, including the socio‐economic and for each case study, sketching a holistic governance systems, as well as the interplay picture of the present ‘lagoon system’ from an between the natural and human systems was integrated social, economic and ecological challenging at most case sites. This should be point of view that can be used for sustainable treated as strong evidence of the underlying management purposes. need for changing the nature of EU science policy towards a more interdisciplinary and The ‘state‐of‐the‐lagoon’ reports have been cohesive approach. developed to integrate data and bring together information on the human and An important function of ‘state‐of‐the‐lagoon’ natural systems in the context of ecosystem reports is to direct the case study teams services, with an emphasis on minimizing the towards integrated, problem‐oriented boundaries between the different scientific analysis. The reports have provided a disciplines. Furthermore, pressures on the framework for an integrated methodology for lagoons and possible long‐term developments analyzing the lagoon or estuary regions. at the local scale as a result of social, During the next stage of the project, the economic and climate change have been information collected will be cross checked to addressed. achieve a more holistic picture. This will allow case study teams to identify the key themes The ‘state‐of‐the‐lagoon’ report is only a first that require targeted management. step in the preparation of the management plans for each lagoon. However, already some lessons have been learned, both with regard to the situation of the European lagoons and estuaries and with regard to the management process considered by ARCH, focusing on the integration of different disciplines and fields of expertise. The ARCH consortium is multi‐disciplinary, bringing together expertise from the social and natural, and economic sciences. However, this applies to the consortium as a whole and not necessarily at each case study level. As far as the individual case studies are concerned, the initial ‘state‐of‐the‐lagoon’ reports were assembled by national teams, some of which do not include the requisite spread of Consortium participants at the Instruction disciplines and thus had limited access to all Workshop in Norwich, September 2012. 'fields of expertise.’ However, this The Broads, United Kingdom: a case study Place. The Broads is the UK’s most extensive lowland wetland and falls within the Anglian River Basin District catchment on the East Coast of England, approximately 200 km North‐East of London. The Broads area consists of a network of rivers and shallow lakes surrounded by calcareous fens and drained marshes. Boating on the Broads Social communities. The economy of the Broads is intrinsically linked to its environment. Considering that most of the land in the Broads executive area is privately owned, there is a potential conflict of use in the Broads. Local residents, farmers and land owners, water companies, conservationists, official agencies, holiday makers, the hire boat Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Hickling Broad and boat building industry, services industry, and private boat owners, all bring different The boundary of the Broads executive area is interests and requirements into the political tightly drawn around the flood plains and and management process. The tourism lower reaches of the three principal rivers industry is very important for the Broads, and (Bure, Yare and Waveney) and encompasses it is likely that increased tourism demand will an area of approximately 300 km2. be a key issue in the future. The Broads executive area is managed by the Natural system. The Broads executive area Broads Authority, a special statutory authority includes 28 Sites of Special Scientific Interest with similar responsibilities to those of the (SSSI). Almost one third of these are English National Park Authorities, i.e. designated as National Nature Reserves and conserving and enhancing the natural beauty, most of the SSSI network is designated as wildlife and cultural heritage of the area, and internationally important for nature promoting opportunities for the conservation. A large proportion of the area is understanding and enjoyment of the special also designated as an internationally qualities of the area by the public. In addition important wetland under the Ramsar it has a navigation duty. convention. The Broads is the only wetland national park equivalent area in England and Wales. It is especially renowned for many species of birds. Teal and wigeon spend the winter on the open broads, and birds such as reed and sedge warblers, and the rarer Cetti's warbler, inhabit the reed beds. The marsh harrier has made a comeback and now breeds successfully in the fens. The flagship species of the fens is the bittern, with 23‐28% of the UK population of booming males. Numbers of bitterns have Guided tour of The Broads. increased in recent years following restoration of fen habitat and improvements to water quality. One of the best ways to observe them is enjoying a silent ride on the Broads A Stakeholder’s perspective Authority solar‐powered boat. This section reproduces an interview undertaken by Simon Hooton (Head of Strategy & Projects at The Broads Authority) with John Hiskett, the Conservation officer for the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, that explores the perspective of the Trust in relation to the goals of the ARCH project. What category of stakeholder do you represent and how would you characterize your role? Photo of Bittern wading in the reed bed. We are a voluntary charity dedicated to improving Norfolk’s wildlife. We own and Vulnerabilities. The impact of agricultural manage a network of reserves across Norfolk activities over the years has changed from including a number in the Broads. As well as land conversion (i.e. drainage schemes to managing sites we seek to influence collective convert marshland into intensive grazing or approaches to the important landscapes of the arable cultivation), to diffuse pollution mostly county and have two ‘Living Landscapes’ areas arising from outside the Broads boundary (e.g. in the Broads where we work with other from farm and road run‐off), which cause landowners and agencies to tackle wildlife eutrophication in the shallow lake systems of conservation at a landscape scale. the Broads and ecosystem regime shifts over relatively short periods of time. The rivers and We are a membership organization and seek connected broads are also intensively used for to inform our members about wildlife and how recreational boating; in the light of climate it can be conserved. This involves them in change and carbon footprint concerns and the voluntary work as well as helping their consequent demand for ‘local’ holidays, this understanding. pressure may increase. However, in parts of the Broads, water quality has improved A central feature of ARCH is to overcome the markedly in recent decades, helped by lack of integration between science and policy improvements and new initiatives in sewage by actively using existing knowledge and treatment, agri‐environmental practices and policy, with the engagement of stakeholders, the boating industry. to form the basis for a management strategy. In your opinion, what does not get enough What do you perceive as the three most focus when integrating and interpreting important contributions of the ARCH project science and policy? to the case study site? Research into the hydrology, nutrient flows Clearer information about the likely and changing water quality is still fragmented climate change impacts and how these and does not always create knowledge that can be interpreted to the public and can be applied at the reserve level. The many especially decision makers so the policy bodies involved in water management have framework can rapidly evolve to cope. differing objectives and so the blending of the Positive examples of new ways to manage policy is hard. Good, clear and simple the land in a low carbon economy – evidence on impacts will help that policy to perhaps new techniques, new uses for come together although it will always be conservation by‐products. hampered by different politics. Clear Stressing the need to find ways of working information about the decline or otherwise of at a landscape scale with multiple benefits wildlife and habitats will help policy makers for the environment rather than the and land managers to agree the priorities for skewed way the emphasis is currently improvement. decided in favour of economic growth. What is the main challenge in your view, for What would you like to learn from other ARCH The Broads? case studies? Water level management and water Any examples of the way the above issues quality. Climate change and rising sea have been tackled in other countries. levels altering water regimes. Ways of bringing the different strands of Declining management of the key habitats science together to produce a more as the products previously gathered from holistic and prioritized way of working. the land are no longer needed in the same way and labour costs mean they cannot be managed in the same way. Fragmentation of habitats. Need to find ways to re‐join and/or expand the areas of habitat.

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