Investing in Sustainable Catchments PDF

Science of the Total Environment 324 (2004) 124
Investing in sustainable catchments

Mark Everard*
Visiting Research Fellow, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane,
Bristol BS16 1QY, UK
Abstract
Catchments constitute logical units for management of the water cycle. Patterns of development uninformed by
sustainability concerns have degraded catchment integrity and associated ecosystem functions, imposing largely
unquantified costs. Ecosystem functions are central to sustainable social and economic progress; their protection or
restoration may be the only sustainable form of investment in catchments. Despite growing use of catchment functions
in some policy areas, a shortfall in awareness and pragmatic tools limits progress with policies and practical tools to
support sustainable development in catchments, perpetuating damaging practices. This paper reviews methods of
economic valuation of riverine systems. Valuation of ecosystem functions is revealed as particularly pertinent to
sustainable development, as an indicator of the benefits of ecological processes to social and economic progress. A
range of practical projects, targeted at restoration of riverine habitat in the UK with the intent of improving both river
ecology and the social and economic advantages that flow from it, is also reviewed. Emerging principles and themes
are discussed in terms of their potential contribution to policies and practices that promote sustainability. Review of
these projects highlights the importance of planning at adequately broad scalesspatial, temporal and disciplinary
to identify integrated solutions, and to maximise community buy-in and total benefits. In several cases, economic
analyses demonstrate strongly positive benefitcost ratios stemming from habitat improvement. However, major
reform of regulatory and economic instruments is needed to promote sustainable catchment development, since
prevalent perverse incentives continue to degrade ecosystem functions. Measures to recognise and reward ecosystem
service as legitimate outputs from agricultural land use constitute a particular priority. There is a need simultaneously
to address both big picture structural adjustments and locally-appropriate solutions, from which clear local benefits
flow. Pragmatic measures that contribute to systemic outcomes must also be attractive to local decision-makers and
land managers, and yield benefits that ensure they are sustained once intervention ceases. Cost need not be a barrier,
as current environmentally-damaging subsidies may instead be redirected towards sensitive land use andyor measures
to protect biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, particularly where targeted upon habitat of disproportionate
importance to functioning of catchments as whole systems. Internalisation of the costs of damage to ecosystem
functioning will promote valuation of the natural capital of catchments as a primary resource for social and economic
progress.
2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Catchments; Ecosystem functions; Sustainable development; Land use; Partnership; Benefitcost assessment
*Tel.: q44-1249-721208.
E-mail address: mark@pundamilia.co.uk (M. Everard).
0048-9697/04/$ - see front matter 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2003.10.019
M. Everard / Science of the Total Environment 324 (2004) 124
1. Introduction
Sustainable development integrates social and
economic progress with the ecological processes
upon which human health, economic activities and
quality of life depend (World Commission on
Environment and Development, 1987). The water
cycle provides ecosystem functionshydrological,
ecological and physico-chemicalof central
importance to sustainability, including provision of
economic, recreational, aesthetic, educational and
spiritual opportunity. Catchment systems constitute
logical management units, throughout which all
decisions and actions have interdependent ecological, social and economic implications (Golley,
1993; Newson, 1994; Zalewski et al., 1997; Everard, 1997a; Calder, 1999; Powell, 2000). Catchment integrity maximises ecosystem functioning,
carrying capacity and resilience (Everard and
Powell, 2002).
Biodiversity is perhaps the most important indicator of overall ecosystem health and possibly of
function. The literature on the linkage between
biological diversity and ecosystem functioning is
equivocal. On the basis of an extensive review of
observational, theoretical and experimental studies,
Schwartz et al. (2000) concluded that there was
only a weak relationship between species diversity
and ecosystem stability, and suggested that this
was due to dominance patterns in natural and
experimental communities with the contribution of
rare species being practically non-existent. However, this conclusion is based on studies addressing
single or few functions, and on experimental conditions that did not necessarily reflect the variability of environmental conditions to which
ecosystems have to adapt. In another review, Tilman (1997) argues that greater species diversity
maximises the potential for resource exploitation
which, whilst potentially not maximising the
potential of individual ecosystem functions (such
as productivity in the case of agricultural and other
monocultures), maximises the breadth of functions
performed by ecosystems, their inherent stability
and resilience to disturbance, and sustainability.
The beneficial functional processes of diverse biological systems, argues Tilman, do not arise
through direct and simple relationships but are
manifestations of the complex interactions within

adaptable and complex systems. What is quite
clear is that there is a positive relationship between
biodiversity and ecological functions that is of
indeterminate, or at least undetermined, strength.
Cook and Shelton (2000) advance the idea of
biodiversity and ecosystem function protection as
a form of ecological insurance.
Industrialised society is founded upon historic
assumptions that generally externalise the benefits
gained from catchment functions. Unsustainable
decisions relating to river systems commonly arise
from a perspective shaped purely by human utility
(Gardiner and Perala-Gardiner, 2000; Boon et al.,
2000), including resource, land use and planning
decisions that ignore the implications for water in
the landscape (Newson, 1994; Costanza et al.,
1997; Everard, 1997a,b; Calder, 1999; Mance et
al., 2002; Everard and Powell, 2002). Poor management decisions that degrade catchment functions can give rise to substantial social harm,
economic costs and unsustainability (Dugan, 1990;
Doppett et al., 1993; Boon et al., 2000; Brown,
2001). In particular, decisions taken to manage
problems on a parochial, short-term or single
issue basis may overlook catchment-scale processes, generating adverse effects across the system as a whole. Historic, locally-focused
approaches to flood defence provide pertinent
examples of all three issues of scale (space, time
and discipline), often diminishing flood storage
capacity, exacerbating flood risk downstream,
adversely affecting longer-term geomorphological
processes, and with ramifications for water quality,
fisheries, recreation, or ecological health.
Restoration of ecosystem functions to rebuild
carrying capacity may be the only sustainable
form of investment in catchments (Everard, 1997a;
Daily et al., 2000; Everard and Powell, 2002). The
theoretical arguments are persuasive, but practical
demonstration is necessary to help policy-makers
and managers make informed, long-term decisions.
A growing number of studies on aspects of river
basin conservation or restoration, many not subject
to peer review or published for a wide readership,
demonstrate principles and conclusions of value to
decision-makers. This paper discusses methods and
attitudes to valuation of rivers and other environ-
mental resources, and introduces a selection of

practical case studies from the UK. The principal
purposes and conclusions of some additional riverbased initiatives are also outlined where they
provide insights into the costs and benefits of river
functions, together with the findings of some peerreviewed studies set in a broader sustainability
context. The emerging principles and themes are
discussed in terms of their contribution to policies
and practices that promote sustainability.
2. Assessment of costs and benefits in river
catchments
2.1. Valuation of rivers
Traditional economic appraisal methods applied
to rivers by statutory bodies to justify and prioritise
capital expenditure programmes (for example US
Environmental Protection Agency, 1983; Her
Majestys Treasury, 1991; Department of the Environment, 1991; Foundation for Water Research,
1996) have tended to focus predominantly upon
local human uses (drinking and irrigation water
quality, angling, informal recreation, etc.). These
utilitarian evaluations largely exclude or marginalise intangible values yet, notwithstanding this
narrow spatial and disciplinary focus, benefits can
substantially outweigh the costs of water quality
remediation (Newsome and Stephen, 1999).
Wider disciplinary perspectives may add considerably to total benefits, and potentially to benefit
cost ratios. A risk-based approach in an urban
Milwaukee watershed resolved potential conflicts
of objectives among urban flood control, ecological protection and water quality, also revealing
overwhelming public support for a more ecologically-centred set of urban values than traditionally
employed in benefitcost models (Novotny et al.,
2000). This enables more connected thinking,
allowing investment to be directed to address a
wider suite of benefits beyond solutions to perceived local, single-discipline problems.
Wider spatial perspectives can increase benefit
cost ratios still further. Everard (2002a) calls for
a revised approach to UK water industry investment, consistent with growing understanding of
how river catchments function as interconnected
Fig. 1. Indicative location map of UK schemes, rivers and sites

noted in this paper, numbered in order referenced. (1) The
Humber Estuary, (2) the River Wensum, (3) the River Tamar,
(4) the Rivers Taw-Torridge, (5) Cornwall (ten rivers constitute the Cornwall Rivers Project), (6) the River Dart, (7) the
River Tale, (8) the River Eden, (9) the River Tweed, (10)
Darlington (River Skerne site), (11) Coleshill (River Cole
site), (12) High Hullockhowe Farm, (13) River Cole (Birmingham), (14) Tyneside, (15) Wearside, (16) Stoke-on-Trent,
(17) the River Medway, (18) Pembrokeshire, (19) the Rivers
Lune and Wyre, (20) the River Ribble, (21) the Hampshire
Avon (Wessex Salmon and Rivers Trust), (22) Leeds (the River Aire), (23) the Mersey Basin, (24) Malmesbury (the river
valley of the Bristol Avon) and (25) the River Foss.
systems. Citing historic investment in the Humber

Estuary (North-Eastern England) and the River
Wensum (Norfolk, England) (see Fig. 1 for location), Everard (2002a) makes the case for a
catchment-scale perspective, spreading investment
to diffuse and smaller point sources throughout
vulnerable upper reaches to deliver greater environmental, geographical, social and economic benefits than the historic focus on regulation of major
sewage treatment works, which often occur lower
in catchments. There has been a progressive, if not
rapid, penetration of catchment-scale thinking
about investment since the Council of Europe

declared River Basin Management as a guiding
principle of the European Water Charter in 1968
(Krysanova and Kaganovich, 1994). A catchmentscale approach can also promote holistic thinking,
for example since habitat protection and enhancement can be a powerful mechanism to address
diffuse pollution. An ecosystem-focussed approach
also adds a temporal dimension, reflecting the
inherent sustainability of restoring ecosystem function as a method for delivering water quality and
other wider benefits (Zalewski et al., 1997; Everard and Powell, 2002).
2.2. The value of the environment to regional
economies
Awareness of the wider socio-economic benefits
of the environment has grown significantly in
recent years. Studies by the National Trust (2001a)
and the Countryside Agency (2003) explore radical changes to the rural economy of the UK over
the past two decades, highlighting that economic
growth is dependent upon the quality of the natural
and built environments through dynamic activities such as tourism and green industries as well
as through those which traditionally relate to
environmental conservation (National Trust,
2001b). Outcomes of a series of UK studies
evaluating the benefits of the environment to
regional economies are summarised in Table 1.
The UK governments Rogers Report, Towards
an Urban Renaissance (Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, 1999a),
recognises a sustainable environment as a key
factor in its vision for urban regeneration. Rivers
can act as a focal point for urban regeneration,
with urban planning on occasions reviving waterfronts as desirable places to live and work in the
UK (Petts et al., 2002). This reverses a long-term
trend as, Once perceived as symbols of decay and
pollution and a danger to public health, urban
rivers should now be seen as one catalyst for
urban regeneration with attractive waterfronts and
blue networks constituting key elements of urban
design, and clean rivers and wildlife becoming
symbols of a healthy environment, an attractive
city and a stakeholder society (Petts et al., 2002).
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency

(SEPA) also acknowledges the central importance
of urban watercourses (Scottish Environment Protection Agency, 2000), and that Natural processes
lie at the centre of our attempts to manage watercourses. In 1998, SEPA launched its Habitat
Enhancement Initiative (HEI), a partnership
approach to bring about environmental gain that
broke with the traditional focus on direct regulation
alone. Historically, most urban watercourses have
not been valued, often used as sewers, buried to
make way for development and, consequently,
perceived as hazards, not assets. The HEI acknowledges that watercourses can enhance development
value and, through long-term planning, restoration
is perceived as possible with costs recouped by
increased property values.
These assessments of the significant contribution
of the environment to quality of life, albeit often
poorly quantified, are supported by a survey of
public attitudes in the UK (National Statistics and
Department for Environment Food and Rural
Affairs, 2002), and form a key justification for the
intent of UK Government and its advisors to
maintain and develop inland waterways (Inland
Waterways Amenity Advisory Council, 1996,
1998; Department of the Environment, Transport
and the Regions, 2000). Rivers and other waterways can also form wildlife corridors of conservation importance, contributing to the UK
Governments environmentally-based Quality of
Life Counts indicators of sustainability (Department of the Environment, Transport and the
Regions, 1999b). However, despite generally supportive attitudes towards the environment, and
indeed towards the health of rivers, public attitudes
toward functionally important elements of the
water cycle may be less strong. For example,
farmers demonstrate a low enthusiasm for wetland
restoration, perhaps due to their historic involvement in land drainage (Rispoli and Hambler,
1999).
2.3. Accounting for ecosystem services
Wider-scale perspectivesspatial, temporal and
disciplinaryare required to take account of the
full and potential benefits of catchment ecosystems
Table 1
Key outcomes of studies evaluating the benefits of the environment to regional economies
Study
Key outcomes
North-East region of England
National Trust (2001b)
One in 18 jobs in the North-East is environment-linked,

representing 5% of regional GDP and 6% of total current
employment in the region (exceeding the proportions for car
manufacturing, chemicals and constructions).
Wales
National Trust (2001c)
6 billion of Welsh GDP is directly dependent on the

environment, accounting for one in six jobs, 17% of
employment, 9% of GDP and 10% of wages earned
in Wales.
River Wye valley in Powys, Wales
Reported in Marsh-Smith and Everard (2002)
One of the effects of Foot and Mouth Disease in the region

was to depress tourism by a further 30%, following a decadelong decline in excess of 40% of angling visitors (calculated
from sales of Environment Agency Rod Licenses).
Cumbria
National Trust (2001d)
The economic impacts of the National Trust in Cumbria

as a local employer, farm landlord and owner of landscape
and attractions represents some 915% of total jobs in
Cumbrias visitor economy.
Cumbria
Reported in Eden Rivers Trust (2003)
Cumbria Tourist Board statistics show that tourism accounts

for approximately 18% of Cumbrias economic output (GDP)
and 24% of employment.
River Eden Catchment
Eden Rivers Trust (2003)
The estimated revenue from tourism in 2001 was 111.9

million (and a further 91.8 million in neighbouring Carlisle).
Angling is estimated to contribute 1.2 million per year to
the local economy and to support 42 full-time jobs.
North West region of England
Environment Agency and RSPB (2002)
At least 101 200 jobs are sustained by industries that protect,

manage or promote enjoyment of a high quality environment,
representing 5.6% of all employment (five times more than
the energy and water supply sectors combined and slightly
more than in the construction industry). At least 48 000
of the regions jobs are directly dependent upon environmentally-driven tourism, contributing some 570 million to
regional GDP.
Cornwall
Westcountry Rivers Trust (2002b)
One in three jobs in regions of Cornwall with important

recreational fisheries depend upon the quality of the
environment, largely through tourism and leisure, fisheries
and agriculture.
Region
to society (Everard and Powell, 2002). However,

the predominant current emphasis that puts human
utility and immediate economic return at the centre
of decision-making overlooks the importance of
ecosystem integrity and functioning as a core and
irreplaceable resource (Gardiner and Perala-Gardiner, 2000), not merely for life support and
quality of life, but also for economic development. Society is fully dependent upon the goods
and services provided by the capital asset of
ecosystems (Westman, 1977; Odum, 1989; Jacobs,
1991; Berkes and Folke, 1994; Folke et al., 1994;
Costanza et al., 1997; Daily, 1997), of which
aquatic and wetland resources make a significant
contribution (Dugan, 1990; Costanza et al., 1997;
Jones and Pittock, 1997). Natural capital has finite
carrying capacity, which is dependent upon the
resilience of ecosystems (Folke et al., 1994).
However, ecosystems, and the means by which
they produce beneficial functions, are poorly
understood, and the importance of the services
they provide becomes evident only as they are lost
(Daily et al., 2000). Determination of exact monetary value for the benefits of an environmental
good may be impossible if we have incomplete
knowledge of its function in the ecosystem
(Jacobs, 1991). Consequently, benefitcost assessment and other valuation techniques used in development decisions inadequately reflect the true
environmental and socio-economic value of natural
ecosystems and the goods and services they provide (de Groot, 1994). In the face of incomplete
understanding yet progressive deterioration of supportive ecosystems, Turner et al. (1994) argue that
some valuation is better than none, because
none can mean some implicit valuation shrouded
from public scrutiny. Failure to value ecosystems
effectively prices ecosystem functions as zero,
inducing inefficient prices throughout the economy
(Costanza et al., 1997).
Lack of understanding of the true long-term
utility of species and ecosystems results in a failure
to adequately value the wider services provided
by complex ecosystems, externalising them from
mainstream economic considerations (Hawken,
1993; dArge, 1994; Ormerod, 1994; Hawken et
al., 1999). Neo-classical economists argue that
environmental problems arise from market failure
(Bowers, 1997), yet environmental economists

argue that perfect competition is a convenient
fiction for constructing economic models, but it is
remote from the real world (Pearce and Turner,
1990). The established worldview of ecosystem
and human needs as being competitive creates an
apparent conflict between conservation of biodiversity for its own sake and a focus on safeguarding ecosystem services for humanitys sake
(Balvanera et al., 2001). A functional view
resolves this apparent conflict by emphasising the
importance of biodiversity for the functional integrity of integrated socio-ecological systems, in
which appropriate species and habitats serve as
primary indicators of the supportive capacities of
the natural capital of catchment systems (Tilman,
1997; Everard and Powell, 2002). The reality
today is that many of the primary resources of the
economy and social wellbeing are not valued,
constituting commons: public goods, owned by
no-one and perceived as free for use by anyone.
The integrity and vitality of river catchments, and
their many beneficial functions, are an example of
such a common for which degradation is assured
since rational economic agents have no incentive
to pay the costs of protection or improvement.
Marine fisheries demonstrate how such shared
resources may be the subject of some agreements
relating to carrying capacity, such as catch quotas, yet still the legacy is overwhelmingly of overinvestment in exploitative (in this case fisheries)
technologies and progressive under-investment in,
and diminution of, natural capital (Clark and
Munro, 1994; Kurlansky, 1997). Daly (1994) calls
for a shift from investment in man-made to natural
capital, since it is the stock that yields the flow
of natural resources. Salzman (1997) argues that
Perhaps the most fundamental policy challenge
facing ecosystem protection is that of valuation,
and that the prime obstacles to translation of theory
into sustainable practice lie in shortfalls in the
necessary environmental law and economic tools.
James et al. (1999) argue that the benefits of
conservative management of ecosystems often outweigh the costs when the true value of natural
capital (including ecosystem services) is properly
calculated.
An emphasis on ecosystem functions may, therefore, take better account of supportive processes
than a static evaluation of ecological stocks for
which the socio-economic benefits are indeterminate. Understanding of the production methods
of ecosystem functions is far short of perfect
(Daily et al., 2000). For example, despite an
impoverished scientific literature, catchment permeability is of high apparent importance to the
ways land now sheds rainwater, with short-term
agricultural subsidies accelerating soil compaction
and erosion, decreasing biodiversity, exacerbating
animal welfare problems, diminishing soil structure
and the infiltration of rainfall to groundwater, and
contribution to the substantial downstream costs
of flooding and flood defence. (This underresearched issue is the subject of a research study
current at the time of writing, let jointly by the
Department for Environment Food and Rural
Affairs and the Environment Agency under the
Broad Scale Modelling theme. The relevant project is numbered and titled FD2114: Review of
impacts of rural land use and management on
flood generation: short term improvement in modelling and research.) However, uncertainties are
amenable to catchment modelling and therefore
factoring into decision-making (Khatibi, 2003),
and our understanding of the benefits arising from
ecosystem functions now covers a variety of disciplines to which economic methods may be
applied. Numerous studies have addressed the
functional values of wetlands across the world and
their value as a primary resource for sustainable
development (for example Dugan, 1990; Everard
et al., 1995; Costanza et al., 1997). Daily et al.
(2000) report a State Forests of New South Wales
(Australia) worked vision of farming in which
ecosystem goods and services are also marketed
from timber-producing land, with timber and other
agricultural commodities accounting for only 55%
of revenues and the remainder accounted for by
beneficial ecosystem functions.
The protection or restoration of ecosystem services for one or more aspects of flood control, water
quality, erosion control and soil fertility, climatic
stability, human enjoyment and waste processing
are already established practices throughout the
world (Daily et al., 2000). Perhaps one of the
most spectacular examples is the decision by the

city of New York not to invest $4 billion plus
operating expenses in water purification plant to
secure water resources, but instead to invest in
acquisition and restoration of the natural capital of
the Catskills watershed (New York Citys primary
resource for drinking water), funded through public subscription to an environmental bond issue.
This not only secured water resources, but had a
payback period of only 57 years, and coincidentally increased flood protection at no extra charge
(cited in Salzman, 1997). Flood risk management
is one example where the importance of functioning catchments is becoming increasingly recognised in the UK. The Learning to Live with Rivers
report (Institution of Civil Engineers, 2001), commissioned by government largely in recognition of
policy failure and substantial economic damage
following winter 2000y1 flooding, marked a metaphorical watershed in UK public policy. It highlighted the importance of protection and restoration
of the natural hydrological processes of catchments, encouraging more sensitive urban development in areas at risk from flooding, and
supporting improved catchment-scale flood management planning and more effective use of modelling. Evans et al. (2002) report on the
implementation of catchment flood management
plans (CFMPs), providing the basis for long-term
(50 year horizon) sustainable flood risk management that integrates technical, environmental and
economic factors. The CFMP for the pilot Parrett
catchment (South-Western England) identifies
present and future flood risk, uncertainties such as
climate change, and options to protect the environment and property at catchment scale (Environment Agency and Lewin, Fryer and Partners,
2002). In addition to traditional engineering solutions, the Parrett CFMP identifies softer options
including flood storage in upper catchments, more
flood-sensitive agricultural land management, sustainable drainage systems in new urban developments, use of a local canal for flood storage, and
diversion of flows to adjacent watercourses.
CFMPs proceed by consultation with a wide range
of stakeholders, recognising the need for longerterm, broad-scale thinking to deliver more sustainable flood management integrated with local and
regional development plans. Turning this vision

and pilot scheme into reality remains the challenge,
and by substantial majority existing economic
mechanisms are poorly-adapted to ensure sustainable flood risk management of the catchment, or
indeed most other sustainable attributes of catchment management. Whilst some good examples of
the principles of functional assessment have been
established, widespread policy implementation
remains nascent.
Catchments should provide ideal management
units within which sustainable policies are to be
implemented. They comprise semi-closed ecological and economic systems, providing both convenient frameworks to investigate and model the
effects of human activities on ecosystems as well
as representing logical management units (Krysanova and Kaganovich, 1994; Everard and Powell,
2002). The productive capacity of renewable
resources, critically including water and nutrient
cycles as well as the state of the ecosystem, are
therefore of primary importance (Krysanova and
Kaganovich, 1994). This leads other authors to
recognise the strategic importance of investment
in ecosystem services within catchments as the
emergent properties of complex catchment systems (Everard and Powell, 2002), wherein sustainable development implies that the opportunities
associated with the stock of natural capital should
be widening over time (Ehrlich, 1994; Perrings,
1994). Indicators of global trends in natural capital
and catchment integrity suggest rapid degradation
and narrowing of opportunities (Boon et al., 2000;
Brown, 2001). Valuation and, perhaps more importantly, mechanisms to ensure that the Provider
Gets as well as the Polluter Pays principles are
applied to beneficiaries and users of ecosystem
services, confound the more widespread implementation of sustainable catchment stewardship (Pretty,
2002). The Ramsar Convention (2002) believes
that wetlands should be the starting point for
integrated water management strategies since they
are the source of fresh water, maintaining the
health of watercourses and water bodies, subsequent supply to meet human needs, and the key to
future water security. Yet, recognition of the potential benefits of ecosystem services to address
downstream water quality, quantity and ecologi-
cal problems, therefore, remains rare. Consequently, although ubiquitously acknowledged as

beneficial, catchment ecosystem functions remain
poorly quantified and almost completely excluded
from land use policies.
Set against this contrary picture of emerging
understanding yet frustration in terms of sustainable policy-making, a range of innovations in catchment and river-related management are taking
place at grassroots level in the UK. In the next
section of this paper, we will explore the attributes
of some of these initiatives to determine lessons
to be learned for policy development.
3. Initiatives and studies on UK rivers
This section reviews a range of initiatives on
UK rivers, some of which have been subject to
economic assessment. Principal purposes and conclusions of additional river-based initiatives are
also outlined where they provide insights into the
valuation of river functions. The locations of these
initiatives are indicated in Fig. 1 and, where
available, their intent, costs and benefits are summarised in Table 2.
3.1. The River Wye catchment
The work of the Wye and Usk Foundation
(WUF, formerly the Wye Foundation, a charity
established in 1996) is based on the premise that
restoration of the ecosystem of the River Wye is
the key to sustainable economic and social progress of the rural catchment in mid-Wales. The
WUF has engaged in a programme of habitat
restoration, sensitive use of riparian land and
amelioration of acidification impacts, which has
been demonstrated to contribute substantially in
excess of the economic costs of management to
the value of the fisheries, landscape and touristrelated economy (early work summarised by
Marsh-Smith and Everard, 2002). Much of the
latter phase of this work is supported by EU social
regeneration funding.
In 2003, the WUF introduced a Passport
scheme to promote recreational angling in upper
catchments (Wye and Usk Foundation, 2003). This
is intended to create a circular economic flow from
Table 2
Summary of intent, costs and benefits of major initiatives discussed in this paper
Background
Funding
Indicative benefits, and notes on ratio to costs
River Wye
Addressing decline in salmonid

fisheries, but broadening to address
wider ecosystem and regional
economy. (Foundations objectives
focus largely upon restoration of
salmon)
Individual project funding up

to 1.4 million from EU and
UK government, membership and
private donation
Benefits include improved river ecology, including

fishery potential. Stimulation of angling businesses and
associated tourism account for 15 and 85% respectively
of the projected benefits to the local economy, including
creation of in excess of 85 full time equivalent jobs.
A thriving River Wye will also generate substantial
inward and internal investment, estimated to exceed
200 000 although potentially as high as 500 000
depending upon success of restoration of the salmon
population. Further benefits include promotion of
rediscovered skills, economic by-products such as
charcoal production and additional revenue from
firewood. Benefitcost ratios strongly positive.
River Tamar
Fisheries (with a focus on salmonids),

tourism, local business and wider
ecosystem
Individual project funding up to

1.6 million from EU and UK
government, membership and
private donation
Total benefits projected from application of farm

plan recommendations were a little over 4.9 million
(just under 3.4 million with 6% discount) over 10 years.
Relative to total farm plan costs of 600 700
(550 678 with discounting), the total benefitycost ratio
is a highly favourable 8.2 (6.4 with discounting).
EU and UK government,
membership and private donation
Results suggest that average net direct benefit to

individual farm-businesses was approximately 2700
(nearly 2000 with discounting at 6%) per business per year,
(nearly with 80% of the benefits accruing to agricultural
activities and much of the remainder tourism-related. This
is a substantial figure in the light of depressed farm incomes.
The study estimates a highly cost-efficient catchmentwide total (direct and indirect) benefit:cost ratio of 8.6
over the 10-year planning horizon (6.4 with discounting
at 6%). This equates to )9 million (undiscounted)
quantified benefits across the catchment; if indirect
benefits could also be quantified, the expected
benefitcost ratio would demonstrate
even greater social efficiency.
Rivers Taw and Torridge Fisheries (with a focus on

salmonids), tourism, local business
and wider ecosystem

tourism, local business and
wider ecosystem
Individual project funding up to

1.8 million from EU and UK
government, membership and
private donation
This support confirms EU and UK government

recognition of the contribution of ecosystem functioning
to alleviating rural poverty, supporting agricultural
adjustment and changes within communities,
enhancing regional distinctiveness.
River Dart
EU and UK government, membership,
None yet published, but government support
Cornwall Rivers
River
10
Table 2 (Continued)
River
Funding

ecosystem
private donation, support

from the Atlantic Salmon Trust
indicates recognition of the contribution of

ecosystem functioning to rural sustainability.
River Tale

ecosystem
EU and UK government, Landfill

Tax credits, membership and
private donation
None yet published, but government support indicates

recognition of the contribution of ecosystem
functioning to rural sustainability.
Axe Valley catchment

ecosystem
EU, Environment Agency, English Nature,

East Devon District Council and Dorset
County Council, the Devon Farming and
Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), the
National Farmers Union and
private donations
There is as yet no published literature on this.

However, highly favourable benefitcost ratios can be
predicted on the basis of other WRT projects with a
similar approach and set of underpinning principles.
River Eden

ecosystem
Legal settlement, EU and UK

governments, private sources
Costs of approximately 3.3 million over four activities

(restoring habitat, restoring and protecting wetlands,
education to foster stewardship and a visitor centre)
have been identified to make substantive improvements
to the Eden catchment, with benefits estimated as
significantly greater. A Restoring Eden Socio Economic
Impact Assessment study was undertaken to assess the
value of the river Eden to the local community and the
socio-economic impacts of its restoration. Projected
benefits for quantifiable elements total 1 755 000 and
create 92 new jobs (in agriculture, tourism, angling and
unrealisable benefits) with wider unquantifiable benefits
to the environment and to the protection of water
resources. Whilst the overall benefit:cost ratio is 1:0.6,
the unquantified benefits (significantly including
protection and improvement of water resources) are
estimated to be substantial and to contribute to the
long-term sustainability of the region.
River Tweed
Primarily salmonid fisheries, with wider Private donations, public grants,

No published account of costs and benefits is available.
benefits for businesses in the
membership and shared partnership funding.
catchment
This includes a 0.25 million share for
riparian habitat enhancement as part
of a wider partnership-based 4 million
Tweed Rivers Heritage Project, aimed at
protecting and enhancing the natural,
built and cultural heritage of Tweed.
River Skerne
Urban regeneration, amenity and

recreation (including fishery) and
conservation
1.6 million between the Cole and

Skerne schemes, with 350 000 spent
on the ground and an additional
Annual benefits for the Skerne restoration (1997 values)

ranged from 29 688181 439 (excluding amenity). This
equates to 536 9883 704 357 discounted at 6%
Background
Table 2 (Continued)
River
River Cole (Wiltshire)
Background
High Hullockhowe Farm Protection of water resources,

addressing the decline in certain
species of farmland birds, and seeking
to influence policy-makers responsible
for reforming agricultural subsidies
in-kind contribution from the water

utility of 100 000 on the Darlington
site. EU LIFE funding with
matching from UK government,
some private contributions
over 25 years and 782 8735 629 752 discounted at

6% over 50 years. In broad terms, benefits on the Skerne
site were estimated to account for around the anticipated
3.2 million benefit figure predicted for half of the
cumulative benefits of the River Skerne and
Cole projects.
1.6 million between the Cole and

Skerne schemes, with 180 000 spent
on the ground on the Coleshill
site. EU LIFE funding with
matching from UK government,
with some agricultural subsidy
Annual benefits for the Cole restoration (1997 values)

ranged from 38 732347 329. (This equates to
495 1264 440 046 discounted at 6% over 25 years
and 610 4905 474 562 discounted at 6% over 50
years.) In broad terms, benefits on the Cole site were
estimated to account for around the anticipated 3.2
million benefit figure predicted for half of the
cumulative benefits of the River Skerne and Cole projects.
Utilityylandowner funding,
agricultural subsidy, conservation
grants, volunteer labour
Definitive economic figures are elusive owing to the

intangible nature of many of the cost and benefits.
However, the changed farming practice enabled reopening
of the abstraction point, yielding an economic value in
excess of six times the rental value of the farm. This was
achieved in return for relatively modest costs for
modification of the farm plan. Bird count data on the
farm also demonstrated improved conservation value.
Catchment-scale benefits stemming from improved
headwater management were not quantified, but were
potentially significant and contribute to the
long-term sustainability of the region.
Amenity (including the fishery),

conservation, regional character
Funding
11
12
beneficiaries of habitat maintenance and enhancement to those that provide it, ensuring that measures to improve the river ecosystem are
sustainable. Anglers pay for access to fishing,
farmers receive revenues for their fisheries (often
where fishing had not taken place previously), and
hotels and tackle shops supply advertising and
benefit from trade. Recognising the wider biogeographical dependencies of anadromus fishes, in
2003 the WUF lodged with the EU a formal
complaint against the Irish government over permitting overexploitation of salmon through high
seas netting (WUF, personal communication).
3.2. The River Tamar catchment
The Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT) is an
environmental charity established in 1995 to secure
the preservation, protection, development and
improvement of the rivers, streams, watercourses
and water impoundments in the Westcountry and
to advance the education of the public in the
management of water. WRT coordinated a 4-year
Tamar 2000 SUPPORT (SUstainable Practices
Project On the River Tamar) project as a partnership of local organisations to improve the ecology
of the River Tamar catchment (Cornwall and
Devon, UK) (Tusa, 2000; Westcountry Rivers
Trust, 2002a). The emphasis was upon tackling
the causes of problems, ownership of sustainable
improvements by land owners (many related to
reducing inputs and improving habitat), demonstration and delivery of economic savings and
gains to farmers, diversification to deliver tourist
facilities, and development of integrated farm
plans. Five hundred farm businesses in the catchment were visited, and 300q integrated farm plans
completed covering an area of over 20 000 ha
(22% of the catchment area). Targeted advice was
supported by an evaluation of catchment wetlands
(Hogan et al., 2000), identifying substantive historic losses and the functional importance of extant
wetlands. The results of the Tamar 2000 project
include restoration of 615 ha of river corridor,
with 25 km of riverside fencing, and the identification and control of 67 areas of accelerated
erosion through measures agreed with farmers.
Annual average cost and benefit values were

derived for recommendations on 30 farms randomly selected for economic study and assumed to be
representative of the catchment as a whole. Some
benefits were evaluated at actual cost (such as
fertiliser savings) but longer-term gains accruing
beyond the study period (such as improvement in
water quality) had to be estimated. Cost and
benefit values were extrapolated to catchment
scale, based on conservative assessments of the
likely rate of implementation, with benefits calculated as either direct (to participant farmers) or
indirect (to the local community, increased
employment, tourism, angling, and the value of
the river system as a national and international
resource). WRT also set up an Angling 2000
scheme (upon which the WUFs Passport scheme
is modelled) to provide the economic incentives
to farmers and other land-owners for sustaining
improvements to habitat and land use practice
(Westcountry Rivers Trust, 2003).
3.3. The Taw and Torridge catchments
A broadly similar partnership-based project was
undertaken by the WRT on the Taw and Torridge
catchments (Devon, UK), documented by Manning (2001). WRT officers assisted in the production of integrated farm plans for 330q farm
businesses, selected to reflect demographics across
the catchment (total land coverage of 22 768 ha),
supported by recommendations yielding both direct
and indirect economic benefits. As for the Tamar
2000 project, targeted advice was supported by
evaluation of the contribution of wetlands to ecosystem functioning (Hogan et al., 2001).
Cost and benefit calculations combined actual
and estimated data based on a conservative assessment of implementation, extrapolated to catchment
scale from the representative sample of farmbusinesses. WRT operated the Angling 2000
scheme on these catchments to create vested interests for sustainable improvements. Two key recommendations are that implementation of farm
business plans should be closely monitored and
reviewed, and that detailed appraisal be undertaken
to verify conclusions.
3.4. Additional Westcountry Rivers Trust projects

WRT is currently undertaking projects on other
river catchments in South West England, including
the Cornwall Rivers Project, the Dart, the Tale and
the Axe Valley catchment (reported in Westcountry
Rivers Trust, 2002b, 2003). The Angling 2000
scheme has been extended to some of these rivers.
The Cornwall Rivers Project spans ten of Cornwalls most important fishery catchments: the
Rivers Lynher, lnny, Ottery, East and West Looe,
Seaton, Fowey, Camel, Neet and Strat (Bude), Fal
and Cober. WRT scientists are working closely
with the farming community and riparian owners
to deliver land- and river-based management plans,
riverbank protection measures, educational presentations, demonstration sites, and create a geographical information system and catchment
models to help target fishery improvements. The
Cornwall Rivers Project offers landowners or users
the opportunity to receive a bespoke integrated
farm management plan, identifying opportunities
for saving money or raising additional revenues,
and provide targeted, cost-effective suggestions to
improve water quality.
In the Dart catchment, WRT are initiating several new partnership projects to implement land
management sympathetic to the natural beauty of
Dartmoor. Work includes mapping physical habitat, vital to the strategic management of the Darts
salmon stocks. Supported by the Atlantic Salmon
Trust, WRT is also investigating the extent of high
sea exploitation of Westcountry salmon stocks
through research involving genetically typing
salmon from different river systems, and examining samples from net catches to assess the relative
proportions of stock from each river. WRT is also
managing research into the genetic population
structure of Dart trout, and working in partnership
to assess the acidity of Dartmoor streams.
The Tale Valley Project has involved 3 km of
protective fencing to exclude cattle, with alternative drinking sources provided, and over 500 m of
selective coppicing and pollarding. Most of the
physical work addressed the middle and lower
reaches, which showed the worst effects of degradation. Significant improvements to river habitat
are anticipated with the rapid regeneration of
13
vegetation, which will provide habitat for a wide

array of wildlife (including fish recruitment),
defence against erosion, and sites for silt trapping
and in-river purification processes. Further management work is planned, addressing access for
migratory salmonids.
The WRT set up the Axe Valley Enhancement
Project in 2002 with the primary aim of working
with the community and tackling the problems of
poor habitat and water quality (particularly diffuse
pollution) in the Axe Valley catchment (Dorset,
Somerset and Devon). Initial project funding has
been provided by the EU, statutory UK agencies,
local authorities, agricultural organisations and private sources. Project work includes surveying the
river, assisting and advising riparian owners and
fishing clubs on river corridor improvements. In
common with other successful WRT projects, the
emphasis is upon engagement with local farmers,
local communities and other key local stakeholders, and addressing the protection and improvement of habitats, species, landscape, archaeology
and the historic environment. Practical work
includes undertaking free advisory visits, helping
land-owners to secure future economic benefit,
setting up of farm demonstration sites and securing
of funding for capital grants, developing training
for farmers and advisors, identifying priority areas
particularly in relation to river corridor works, and
involving landowners in river protection schemes.
There are promotions on waste minimisation and
management of bankside erosion, and exploration
of ecologically-based methods for reducing flood
risk (for example through promoting water infiltration). Early results stemming from a targeted local
approach include on-farm workshops to address
soil management, to explore manure and nutrient
management issues, and the setting up of Soil
Conservation and Nutrient Plans. Forthcoming
work will address different aspects of farming best
practice and riverside management.
3.5. The River Eden catchment
The Eden Rivers Trust (ERT), a charity formed
in 1996, is undertaking the Restoring Eden Project
(Eden Rivers Trust, 2002), supported by a socioeconomic study (Eden Rivers Trust, 2003), to
14
restore the ecology of the River Eden catchment

(Cumbria, UK). The project is based on wholefarm audits, tackling water quantity, water quality,
drainage, obstructions, agriculture, tree shading,
forestry, roads and urbanisation, as well as
enhancement of habitat. The ERT project integrates four related themes of: biodiversityyhabitaty
land management; waterywetland; education; and
tourism, recreation and the rural community. Each
inter-related theme is part of the fabric of a
sustainable rural community, with land use at its
heart. The ERT recognises tourism as the foundation of a fragile local economy, stating that,
Whether walking, angling, bird watching or sightseeing, it is dependent on the countryside looking
beautiful, being managed in an environmentally
friendly way and preserving our wildlife heritage.
This assumption was verified by impacts of the
2001 Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic on the
Cumbrian economy. Research is being undertaken
to underpin the project, including electrofishing,
aerial habitat and wetland surveys, and mitigation
of socio-economic factors to help cope with the
pressures arising from abstraction, pollution, overgrazing, habitat loss and land drainage.
3.6. The Tweed catchment
The River Tweed catchment (ScotlandyEngland
border) covers 5200 km2, with a topography ranging from high uplands to intensive arable land in
the East. Its rivers and streams support different
fish populations and display differing problems.
The Tweed Foundation, a charitable trust, was set
up by the River Tweed Commissioners in 1983 to
protect and promote the development of valuable
fish stocks (particularly salmon, sea trout and
brown trout) and the rivers natural productivity
through a programme of biological research, monitoring and habitat enhancement (www.tweedfoundation.org.uk). The Tweed Foundations work,
in conjunction with farmers and landowners,
emphasises enhancing headwater spawning
streams. The Ettrick and Yarrow tributaries provided a particular focus for habitat restoration, with
several miles of bank-side fencing and in-stream
works to provide improved structure.
3.7. Restoration on the rivers Cole and Skerne

The UKs River Restoration Project (since 1998
subsumed by the River Restoration Centre
www.therrc.co.uk) ran two projects from 1994 to
1996, funded under the EU LIFE programme, to
demonstrate the value of re-establishing more natural river corridors (Risk and Policy Analysts
Limited, 1997). In addition to conservation, aesthetic and other assessments, an economic evaluation of the projects was undertaken a year after
completion (Risk and Policy Analysts Limited,
1997).
The River Skerne site (Darlington, County Durham) provides an indication of the likely benefits
in an urban setting. Site characteristics and restoration techniques on the River Skerne are documented in River Restoration Centre (1999). The
aim was to achieve a riverside revival, reversing
habitat destruction due to long-term historic flood
defence works, restoring amenity, recreation and
water quality improvements. Benefit assessment
was supported by a public perception survey of
residents.
The River Cole (Colesbourne, Wiltshire) stretch
was chosen to reflect likely benefits in a rural
setting. Site characteristics and restoration techniques are documented in River Restoration Centre
(1999). The rehabilitation exercise was based on
a 2-km stretch that had formerly been straightened,
deepened, widened and impounded.
For both projects, the range of estimates of
benefits spans an order of magnitude (Table 2),
reflecting uncertainties in willingness to pay and
other estimation methods, but demonstrates that
benefits can be significant. Fishery monitoring data
indicate a particularly significant increase in fish
biomass immediately below the restored section,
suggesting benefits accruing from the restoration
across the wider catchment, although benefit
assessment was conducted only within restored
sections.
3.8. High Hullockhowe Farm
Some diffuse pollutants to both watercourses
and groundwater arise predominantly from agriculture. Diffuse phosphorus (DArcy et al., 2000),
pesticide (Skinner et al., 1997; Environment Agency, 1999) and nitrate (Pretty, 1998) pollution are
known to be economically significant. Protective
measures and incentives are lacking for the upper
reaches of catchments. Headwaters are particularly
vulnerable and of disproportionate importance for
hydrological, chemical, ecological and landscape
functions, so appropriate land use is of great
significance. Everard et al. (in press) document a
case study relating to a successful partnership at
High Hullockhowe Farm (Cumbria, UK), involving the regional water utility (who is also the landowner), the Royal Society for the Protection of
Birds (RSPB) and the tenant farmer. The utilitys
interest in water services focused attention on the
downstream effects of interactions between land
management and the quality and quantity of water.
Springs on the farm are headwaters for a stream
important for abstraction, and practices on the
farm had previously contributed to pollution problems that resulted in the economically-significant
closure of the abstraction point.
Agricultural change at the farm was undertaken
by this partnership, with the objectives of protection of water resources, addressing the decline in
certain species of farmland birds, and seeking to
influence policy-makers responsible for reforming
agricultural subsidies. The collaboration and good
intent of all parties was essential, as statutory
requirements and economic signals alone incentivised continued polluting practices. A revised farm
plan addressed the potential for direct and diffuse
inputs to springs and watercourses, created arable
pockets in the pastoral landscape, and introduced
traditional hay meadow management.
The most significant economic return was protection, leading to the eventual reopening and
safeguarding, of the water abstraction. More sustainable land use was only made economically
tenable through support from the landowner (the
water utility), conservation grants, and volunteer
labour. Benefits were minimal from fertiliser savings, re-utilisation of grain for sheep and changing
practice. However, this study illustrates the importance of planning for multiple benefits simultaneously,
making
benefit
assessments
in
multi-disciplinary ways, and focusing effort and
investment into elements of habitat critical to
15
ecosystem (potentially catchment-scale) functioning. It also demonstrates that substantial revision

of regulatory and incentive systems is essential to
promote beneficial ecosystem functioning as
important outputs of land, in addition to food
production.
3.9. Other river-related initiatives
In 2001, the WUF, WRT, ERT and the Tweed
Foundation established the Association of River
Trusts (ART), a coordinating body to facilitate
exchange of information and promote their collective interests on a national stage. A range of other
initiatives for the protection and enhancement of
rivers, or attributes of rivers, may be found across
the UK. Some are outlined in Table 3 to illustrate
the breadth of interests, although many more local
and regional schemes are active in the UK. Many
of these schemes have delivered impressive results,
although constraints of space necessitate highlighting only the previous schemes, from which important principles may be drawn.
4. Discussion
Several themes and principles emerge from the
preceding review of developments in thinking
about catchment processes and ecological economics, and of river-related schemes and initiatives.
This discussion considers their relevance for shaping future policies to support sustainability.
The central importance of ecosystem functions
to sustainable social and economic progress emerges from consideration of developing scientific
understanding, economic methods and successful
grassroots schemes. Emerging understanding
about the functional value of catchments challenges inherited assumptions about favourable economic and social development. The growing use of
certain catchment functions for flood risk management, urban regeneration and other purposes indicates progress with the reshaping of public policy,
but there evidently remains a shortfall in pragmatic
tools to accelerate the conversion of that understanding into wider sustainable policy-making and
practice. This shortfall, particularly in its influence
upon land use, perpetuates statutory mechanisms
16
Table 3
Outline of selected catchment and regional initiatives (locations indicated in Fig. 1)
Petts et al. (2002) presents a case study of Project Kingfisher on the River Cole in Birmingham, where 7 km of urban river
served as a focus for urban regeneration, commencing in 1985, led by a partnership of the council, the water authority and local
volunteer groups. Engineered river structures and channels were removed, and pools and wetlands were constructed. No benefits
or costs are published, but the project helped regenerated wildlife habitat and rebuild rebuilt social cohesion through pride it the
riverine environment and its returning wildlife.
Petts et al. (2002) provide brief case studies of various similar river-focused urban regeneration schemes, including ones on Tyneside, Wearside, the City of Stoke-on-Trent River Strategy and the Medway riverside (see Fig. 1 for locations).
The Pembrokeshire Rivers Trust covers the South Western counties of Wales, and has raised funds for projects (including EU
regional development funding). The Trust is strongly represented by anglers and fishery owners. This has been the case with
other more established Trusts, with membership tending to broaden significantly as the Trusts grew.
The Lune and Wyre Fishery Association has undertaken significant fencing projects, funded mainly by EU regeneration funding,
with some mitigation payments from private companies. The Association is seeking funding to further river restoration work.
The Ribble Catchment Conservation Trust was established on a charitable basis in 1998. It has undertaken some fencing work.
Some charitable funds have been secured. Fund-raising remains a priority to enable further work to proceed.
The Wessex Salmon and Rivers Trust (WS&RT) is a charity formed in 1992, with a focus to date predominantly upon the
Hampshire Avon. As the title suggests, the target is recovery of salmon stocks, which wider associated economic and ecological
due largely to the breadth of habitat requirements of salmon throughout their life cycle.
The South West Land Use and Integrated Resource Management project commenced in 2003 as a partnership between the South
West Regional Development Agency, Wessex Water and Forum for the Future. It addresses the need to make tangible progress
with eight interconnected sustainable development themes (food production, forestry, renewable energy, conservation and biodiversity, carbon management, flood control, waste and composting and tourism, recreation and education), achieving practical
results by tackling them in an integrated way. Land use is at the core of the project, providing a focus for sustainable management of natural resources to generate lasting social, economic and environmental benefits.
EYE on the Aire (EYE) has worked since 1987 to improve the 21 mile stretch of the river Aire which flows through the city of
Leeds (Yorkshire, see Fig. 1 for location). EYE now has over 40 affiliated voluntary organisations, and representatives from
Leeds University, as well as major companies trading locally. Notable achievements include completion of two new nature
reserves, annual State Of The River meetings held in Leeds, collaboration with Leeds City Council, the Environment Agency,
British Waterways, Yorkshire Water (the regional water utility) and Ofwat (the economic regulator of the water industry). Targets
include improvement of water quality in the River Aire, promotion of sustainable urban drainage, leisure access to the river and
promotion of community clean-up of becks and streams feeding into the River Aire.
The Mersey Basin Campaign is a government-sponsored 25 year campaign, established in 1985 to improve, promote and regenerate the rivers, streams, canals and coasts of North West England (see location of the Mersey in Fig. 1). It is today a partnership
that brings together government, government agencies, local authorities, businesses, voluntary and community interests, education
and research within a common mission. The partnership has specific objectives addressing water quality (to restore and support
fish populations across the entire Mersey catchment), waterside regeneration, public awareness, education and communications.
The Mersey Basin Campaign is widely-respected, and seeks to be a leader in integrated management and sustainable development
focused on the river basin as well as the wider North West region of the UK. (Available from: www.merseybasin.org.uk.)
Many local initiatives are in place across the UK, including the Malmesbury River Valleys Trust (on the Bristol Avon in Malmesbury in Wiltshire), planned restoration of the River Foss (Yorkshire), the Tyne Improvement Association, the South West Rivers
Association, the Avon and Stour Rivers Association, and many more of varying scale.
At a far larger scale, the North Atlantic Salmon Trust was established to promote the interests of salmon stocks across the wide
bioregion, taking account not only of freshwater habitat needs but also overexploitation in estuaries and on the high seas. Opposing forms of intensive exploitation that threaten salmon returning to rivers, the Trust has supported legal action by the WUF and
other bodies contesting rights over drift netting. The Trust is also a sponsor of monitoring of returns from high seas capture, mark
and release in the WRT project on the River Dart.
fragmented across narrow scales of space, time

and discipline, and also perverse subsidies that
degrade environmental quality and its supportive
capacities. Future policies to support sustainability,
therefore, need to address protection and restoration of ecosystem functions, which will tend to
operate at scales greater than the locality of development or agricultural practice. Various practical
schemes reviewed in this paper, particularly those
led by river trusts, have successfully placed restoration of riverine habitats and functions at the heart
of sustainable social and economic progress.
The perceived slow evolution of statutory methods to protect and enhance catchment functions,
and their associated social, environmental and
economic benefits, has stimulated the leadership
demonstrated by voluntary organisations in a wide
range of initiatives across the UK. The extent of
initiatives, both geographical and in terms of scale
of operation, demonstrates the breadth of public
concern for rivers and various of their attributes.
Lead bodies are of varying sizes and geographical
horizons, reflecting a diversity of local concerns.
The benefits of various of these schemes have
been evaluated in economic terms, particularly in
the EU-funded studies undertaken by river trusts
and the work of the River Restoration Centre. In
virtually all initiatives reviewed, a pronounced
groundswell of public aspiration is articulated
even where potential and actual benefits have not
been quantified. The efficacy of these approaches,
demonstrated by responsible voluntary groups and
partnerships, has subsequently attracted support, in
many instances of a substantial nature, from EU
and UK government. Frequently, these government
funds were released for the purpose of social and
economic regeneration, quite apart from environmental improvement, reflecting the central role of
riverine ecosystems in the sustainable development
of regions and localities. Voluntary organisations
have effectively addressed gaps in statutory initiatives, from which policy-makers have much to
learn about instigation of measures that gain popular support and deliver optimal, integrated and
sustained social, economic and environmental outcomes. This pattern of innovative thinking and
policies towards river conservation emerging from
the voluntary sector, subsequently embodied in
17
national legislation once societal value has been

proven, is a phenomenon observed world-wide
(Boon et al., 2000).
Though often instigated to promote specific
interests, voluntary initiatives have tended to diversify rapidly to reflect and work towards beneficial
outcomes for a broad range of interests that are
mutually dependent upon a thriving river environment. A partnership approach to integration of
wildlife, tourism, traditional crafts, regional character and other interests has been a consistent key
to success, harnessing wider support, a broader
basis for project funding and maximising the total
benefits of restoration works. Most users of
riverine environments benefit from protection or
recovery of the natural functions of catchments,
be that benefit realised through management of
inputs of silt, nutrients or other substances, or the
enhancement of habitats, ecosystems, fisheries,
water quality and natural beauty. A focus upon
ecosystem functions is, therefore, a unifying theme
for the disparate beneficiaries of healthy river
environments. Headwater streams appear to be of
disproportionately high importance to the functioning of rivers, including supplies of water and the
vitality of their fish stocks. They can provide
highly cost-effective methods to restore water quality for abstraction downstream, and the same
principle also seems to apply to the cost-effective
ecological recovery of catchments. Some riverrelated issues must, however, be addressed at wider
scales, such as agricultural pollution, acidification,
or high-seas over-exploitation of salmon. Some of
the voluntary-led initiatives reviewed in this paper
have begun successfully to address these broader
challenges, establishing ecological outcomes from
which appropriate measures can then be identified.
In a number of these schemes, ecological improvements are also aimed at providing quantified social
and economic benefits, consistent with the intent
of good ecological status targets for sustainable
management of water specified in the Water
Framework Directive (WFD). Collaboration with
trans-boundary organisations such as the North
Atlantic Salmon Trust, and federations such as the
ART, offer leverage to tackle issues at political
and legal levels.
18
Instigating interests have commonly been fisheries, perhaps reflecting the economic and social
value of fisheries and the dependency of fish
stocks upon a diverse and healthy environment for
the sustenance of different species and life stages.
Salmonid fisheries, particularly migratory salmonids, have been at the root of many of these
initiatives. This may reflect their vulnerability
across a broader range of habitat needs, not only
throughout the river corridor but also in headwater
spawning redds and, for anadromus fish species,
including marine and estuarine environments.
Sometimes, these fishery-initiated schemes have
been unjustly criticised for representing a narrow
sector of private UK interests. However, economically and recreationally exploitable fish populations serve as valuable flagships indicative of the
vitality of the whole supportive aquatic ecosystem,
the longer-term success of restoration, and the
ecosystems economic and social potential.
Economic analysis has in many cases proven
persuasive, although the quality of economic
appraisal varied considerably between schemes.
Some of the more robust analyses, often where
projected benefits were an essential component of
the bid for funding, demonstrate strongly positive
benefitcost ratios. Generally, they achieve this on
the basis of hard economic criteria without undue
dependence upon non-market attributes which,
though indicative of real benefits, are more hotlycontested and consequently carry less weight with
decision-makers. Subsequent inclusion of non-market values over and above use-related benefits can
only, therefore, increase total benefits accruing,
although the extent to which non-market costs are
also externalised calls into question the net impact
upon benefitcost ratios. Economic appraisal can,
therefore, be helpful in demonstrating the value
for money of restoration initiatives, though in
many instances initiatives were less robustly tested
in economic terms or else cursory analyses proved
adequate to justify investment where public support was strong. Given the widespread acceptance
of the principle of ecological enhancement or
protection to support social and economic progress,
it is essential not to lose sight of the enabling role
of economic appraisal rather than to follow it
slavishly as an end in itself.
The importance of accounting simultaneously

for multiple benefits emerges as a common lesson,
supporting integrated approaches to catchment
development that simultaneously yield a range of
benefits. Some poorly-understood but potentially
critical ecosystem services (such as pollination)
may not be quantifiable, yet valuation of a range
of known higher-value and better-understood ecosystem services can serve to some extent as a
surrogate (Kremen et al., 2000).
The present economic and regulatory paradigm
in the UK currently appears ill-adapted to protect
or enhance catchment integrity and functioning.
This traditional economic model drives land use
and other decisions of direct relevance to ecosystem functioning within catchments, and the knock
on economic and social costs arising from their
systematic degradation. The economic and social
impacts of lost and degraded riverine systems and
biodiversity are severe yet almost never documented, with every segment of society paying
heavily for a range of detrimental effects (Doppett
et al., 1993; Boon et al., 2000). Indeed, they tend
to result in the public paying twice for damaged
ecosystems, firstly in the form of subsidies for
activities that degrade catchment functioning and
secondly through compensatory investment in
water treatment, flood defence, silt clearance, fishery support and other measures downstream
(Everard, 2002b; Everard and Powell, 2002). A
stark example is provided by current conservationrelated payments within the EUs Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which account for only 6%
of the total CAP budget leaving 94% of the
economic incentives for farming focused on production regardless of method. (The European Environment Agency (2003) report that the total CAP
budget is approximately equivalent to 30 billion
a year, or half the EUs 60 billion annual budget.)
Strategic management of water resources inevitably needs to focus on the land resource of the
catchment, from where many problems stem and
upon which many of the beneficial functions of
river systems depend. Wetlands are of particular
significance, yet are not greatly valued by farmers
(Rispoli and Hambler, 1999). More sustainable
forms of agriculture appear to be a key dependency
of more sustainable rivers. Innovative economic
instruments are required to support appropriate

land management, including explicit measures
such as farming for water quality, flood defence,
or other catchment functions. Indeed, there is an
urgent need for the integration of sustainability
into all policies and incentives. The Curry Report
to the UK Government, Farming and Food: A
Sustainable Future (Curry, 2002), challenges old
beliefs that land use should solely be directed at
food production, proposing that wider ecological
benefits should be factored into remuneration and
decision-making systems. This is consistent with
the view of Porritt and Redwood (2002) and Pretty
(2002) that sustainable farming must be both
adapted to locality as well as being multifunctional, recognising both food and ecosystem service
outputs with appropriate remuneration for each. As
Pretty (2002) puts it, The challenge is to find
ways of substantially greening the middle of farmingin the field rather than around the edges.
Revisions to agricultural subsidy schemes create
opportunities for more sustainable land use, provided the right messages are conveyed to and
understood by decisions-makers. Pretty (2002) sets
the provider gets as a principle of equal weighting to the polluter pays in the achievement of
sustainable land use. In the absence of strong
statutory methods for hypothecating revenues from
beneficiaries back to providers, creative community-level initiatives have been innovated.
Whilst big picture structural adjustments are
important to drive forward more sustainable catchment use, these must be balanced by local solutions
that address local needs and issues. The successful
schemes reviewed in this paper have indeed been
instigated by and have addressed local causes of
problems, and local involvement and ownership of
both problems and solutions. Advice has been
tailored both to the needs of river systems and the
self-interest of farmers and other land-owners to
ensure improvements are sustained, including for
example the tailoring of advice on changing agricultural practice that yields self-benefit as well as
ecological gains, fishery development and novel
marketing to yield economic returns and the harnessing of public concern to deliver beneficial
community-wide outcomes. To be truly sustainable
and therefore to persist once interventions have
19
ceased, all policies must be pragmatic and yield

clear local benefit andyor clearly-articulated common good. These methods are consistent with the
observations of Pretty and Frank (2000) that
equitable sharing of costs and benefits of better
environmental management, that are not simply
market-driven and can best be achieved by
the emergence of progressive community organisations with the legislative support to develop
strategies.
Management plans should be inclusive of all
interests in rivers as this leads to more costeffective and sustainable improvements, is better
attuned to recognising the pivotal importance of
ecosystem functions, and maximises total benefits
(and potentially though not automatically benefit
cost ratios). Systemic and sustainable approaches
to catchment management, consistent with the
purposes and articles of the EU WFD, are urgently
required. Novel approaches to CFMP begin the
regulatory transition towards local decision-making
within the context of the catchment as a whole,
promising wider spatial, temporal and cross-disciplinary scales of thinking. The WUF, WRT and
ERT projects already take a whole-systems
approach, recognising ecosystem functioning in
river systems and wetlands as central to social and
economic regeneration. By a coincidence of interests, the water utility at High Hullockhowe Farm
fulfills the role of enlightened benefactor as well
as beneficiary of enhanced ecosystem functioning,
providing a model for wider cross-society regulatory approaches appropriate for sustainable catchment management. Such systemic thinking,
currently absent from most regulatory and economic instruments, is essential to deliver step-changes
in water and environmental quality.
Ecosystem processes may be particularly significant in addressing diffuse pollution pressures
across catchments, long thought of as intractable.
The net costs of diffuse pollution from agriculture,
where evaluated, are significant. There is also
substantial evidence that cleaning up the effects of
diffuse pollution outweighs the costs of prevention
(DArcy et al., 2000), demonstrating the catchment-scale benefits of improved land stewardship.
Practical examples in this review, including those
at High Hullockhowe Farm as well as the broad
20
spectrum of projects undertaken by river trusts,

demonstrate that targeted protection or restoration
of priority habitats can restore aspects for ecosystem functioning to manage diffuse pollution, with
significant economic as well as ecological efficiency. Requirements of the EU nitrates and WFDs
provide further persuasive policy drivers for diffuse pollution control to address the protection or
restoration of riverine ecosystems for catchmentscale and multifunctional benefit.
An important change necessary to deliver the
benefits associated with improved ecosystem functions is in the attitude to biodiversity held by the
public and by policy-makers, whose expertise may
not be primarily ecological. All too commonly,
biodiversity is perceived in practical terms as a
net cost or a constraint upon development for
conservation reasons (Everard and Powell,
2002). The change in mindset is a recognition,
and a working understanding, that natural capital
is the primary resource underpinning social and
economic progress. There is urgent need for further
research in this area as, for example, major decisions relating to sustainable land management
require information on how the delivery of ecosystem services might change under a series of
alternative scenarios (Salzman, 1997). However,
whilst scientific opinion about the exact relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function
is equivocal, and understanding about how nature
produces those functions is substantially lacking,
it is at least beyond question that the living
component of catchments and other habitats is one
of the primary agents of those productive and
regulatory processes as well as the primary indicator of system integrity.
If we aspire towards sustainability, the necessary
changes in attitude, policy, economic incentives
and practice are substantial. However, they are
achievable, provided leadership and decision-making occurs at the right scale. Cost is a perceived
barrier, although the defensive costs downstream
to mitigate degraded ecosystem functions of current unsustainable land use (such as hard flood
defences, costs of water treatment, fishery and
conservation enhancement or lost amenity) are
largely externalised from economic instruments
and management considerations. Furthermore, evi-
dence in this review suggests that sensitive catchment management could have a significantly
positive benefitcost ratio when assessed across
appropriate scales of time, space and discipline.
The benefits of conservative management of ecosystems often outweigh the costs when the true
value of natural capital (including ecosystem services) is properly calculated. However, the comparatively low cost of maintaining the biodiversity
that underpins the ecological services upon which
society and the economy depends is frequently
ignored (James et al., 1999). James et al. (1999)
calculate that, If subsidy reform were linked to
investment in environmental protection, a small
shift in government spending patterns would
accomplish major conservation objectives, estimating that major gains could be achieved by
redirecting as little as 2% of the $1 trillion annual
government expenditure on perverse subsidies
that harm biological diversity. Utilisation of habitat
of disproportionate functional significance, such as
headwaters or riparian wetlands, may make an
equally disproportionate contribution to the total
hydrological, physico-chemical andyor ecological
functioning of catchments, providing hotspots
upon which to target cost-effective management
intervention. The obstacle to progress is political
will to change patterns of government expenditure,
and the key challenge lies in distributing the
payments fairly. The case made by Cotton and
Ekins (1998) for the transition of the UK economy
towards renewable energy applies equally to catchment management: there are no good grounds
for thinking that the transition over the course of
the twenty-first century to a low or no carbon
energy system will be expensive, or even incur any
costs at all, apart from those of proactive government policy. The transition is better perceived as
a guided, fundamental structural change in a
world where such change, guided or not, is occurring the whole time. This comment is particularly
pertinent for UK and EU farming, which all
acknowledge as undergoing profound transition.
As developed society increasingly faces sustainability challenges, we are at last beginning to
develop the knowledge necessary to manage catchments sustainably. The preceding paragraphs identify a range of principles for transition towards
sustainable catchments. These include placing ecosystem functions at the heart of sustainable development, the scales at which thinking needs to
occur, appropriate economic and regulatory signals, and the leadership of the voluntary and
private sectors. Partnership emerges as of vital
importance, with participants contributing to and
benefiting from a shared vision. Pragmatism is
also a watch-word for success, recognising that
big successes are possible where small but welltargeted changes can be put into effect and are
appropriately rewarded. Strategic improvements to
river systems reinforce their capacity to support
social and economic progress, representing sound
and sustainable investment.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks are due to Dr Anne Powell
(Freshwater Life), Dr Stephen Marsh-Smith (Wye
and Usk Foundation), Arlin Rickard (Association
of Rivers Trusts and Westcountry Rivers Trust),
Alastair Maltby (Eden Rivers Trust), Nick Yonge
(Tweed Foundation), Dr Martin Janes (River Restoration Centre), Dr Roger Sweeting (Freshwater
Biological Association), Dr Paul Raven (Environment Agency), Rob Jarman (National Trust) and
Bob James (Anglers Conservation Association).
Many thanks to Ann Skinner and Dr Jackie Vale
(Environment Agency) for their patience with
editing late drafts. Whilst the author acknowledges
help from many of the organisations listed in this
paper, the views expressed here are entirely his
own.
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Science of the Total Environment 324 (2004) 124

Investing in sustainable catchments

M. Everard / Science of the Total Environment 324 (2004) 124

manifestations of the complex interactions within

M. Everard / Science of the Total Environment 324 (2004) 124

mental resources, and introduces a selection of

Fig. 1. Indicative location map of UK schemes, rivers and sites

systems. Citing historic investment in the Humber

M. Everard / Science of the Total Environment 324 (2004) 124

about investment since the Council of Europe

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency

North-East region of England

National Trust (2001b)

One in 18 jobs in the North-East is environment-linked,

National Trust (2001c)

6 billion of Welsh GDP is directly dependent on the

River Wye valley in Powys, Wales

Reported in Marsh-Smith and Everard (2002)

One of the effects of Foot and Mouth Disease in the region

National Trust (2001d)

The economic impacts of the National Trust in Cumbria

Reported in Eden Rivers Trust (2003)

Cumbria Tourist Board statistics show that tourism accounts

River Eden Catchment

Eden Rivers Trust (2003)

The estimated revenue from tourism in 2001 was 111.9

North West region of England

Environment Agency and RSPB (2002)

At least 101 200 jobs are sustained by industries that protect,

Westcountry Rivers Trust (2002b)

One in three jobs in regions of Cornwall with important

M. Everard / Science of the Total Environment 324 (2004) 124

M. Everard / Science of the Total Environment 324 (2004) 124

to society (Everard and Powell, 2002). However,

(Bowers, 1997), yet environmental economists

M. Everard / Science of the Total Environment 324 (2004) 124

most spectacular examples is the decision by the

M. Everard / Science of the Total Environment 324 (2004) 124

regional development plans. Turning this vision

cal problems, therefore, remains rare. Consequently, although ubiquitously acknowledged as

Indicative benefits, and notes on ratio to costs

Addressing decline in salmonid

Individual project funding up

Benefits include improved river ecology, including

Fisheries (with a focus on salmonids),

Individual project funding up to

Total benefits projected from application of farm

Results suggest that average net direct benefit to

Rivers Taw and Torridge Fisheries (with a focus on

Fisheries (with a focus on salmonids),

Individual project funding up to

This support confirms EU and UK government

Fisheries (with a focus on salmonids),

EU and UK government, membership,

None yet published, but government support

M. Everard / Science of the Total Environment 324 (2004) 124

Indicative benefits, and notes on ratio to costs

tourism, local business and wider

private donation, support

indicates recognition of the contribution of

Fisheries (with a focus on salmonids),

EU and UK government, Landfill