Rivers and Sustainable Development: Alternative Approaches and Their Implications
https://CourseLala.com
English | ISBN: 0190079029 | 2020 | 488 pages | PDF | 21 MB
Rivers are a vital component of ecology-the earth's hydrological cycle depends on them. However, across the world, rivers are under stress and even in crisis. With rising populations, the demand for river water is increasing. Many rivers fail to reach the sea because of excessive withdrawal of
water, and many other rivers are heading toward the same fate. Conflicts over river water are increasing, and climate change is making matters worse. River policies pursued so far are often aggravating these challenges rather than solving them. Yet, sustainable development requires healthy rivers.
Urgent change in the approach and policies toward rivers is therefore required.
In this book, Nazrul Islam points to the ways in which river policies need to change to ensure sustainable development. He offers a new conceptual framework, using such concepts as the Commercial and Cordon approaches to rivers and their opposite, the Ecological and Open approaches. He shows that
while the former generally work against sustainability, the latter are conducive to sustainable development. The book illustrates this reality by drawing upon worldwide experience regarding rivers. Going forward, river policies therefore should be based on Ecological and Open approaches.
