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The conservation and restoration of freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity can be enhanced with ecopracticology

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Abstract

Freshwater ecosystems are among the most degraded on the planet and there is strong evidence that freshwater biodiversity is in precipitous decline. To that end, there is urgent need to conserve and restore freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity in order to ensure that freshwaters continue to yield diverse ecosystem services. Although there is some scientific uncertainty about how to do so, there is recognition that practitioners play a particularly important role. Practitioners work on the front line with a focus on implementing various environmental interventions and therefore can bridge the gap between knowledge and action in a unique way given their extensive experience in the field. Yet, practitioners do not know it all, nor do they have access or time to keep up-to-date on the growing scientific evidence base. Ecopracticology (i.e., the study of socio-ecological practice and the ensuing body of knowledge) is, therefore, a useful construct for thinking about the ways in which different disciplinary domains and ways of knowing to intersect to generate or refine knowledge and evidence needed to implement actions that benefit people and the environment. Ecopracticology is inherently grounded in that most practitioners are environmental stewards who deliver solutions alone and/or in partnership with diverse stakeholders and rightsholders. Ecopracticology, therefore, represents both the challenge and opportunity for addressing the freshwater biodiversity crisis. Here we consider what ecopracticology has to offer, and strategies for realizing the pathways that enable knowledge exchange and implementation for on-the-ground/in-the-water practitioner actions benefitting conservation and restoration of freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity. If this concept is embraced and practitioners are supported and championed, there is potential for rapid advances that are desperately needed to conserve and restore freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity.

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Notes

  1. We acknowledge that practitioners may themselves be Indigenous and holders of Indigenous knowledge. As two settler authors it is not our place to elaborate on the role of Indigenous peoples in the space of ecopracticology but hope that others with relevant positionality undertake such scholarship.

  2. The “we” in this context is the community of knowledge generators (academics, researchers), evidence synthesizers, and institutions that employ and support practitioners (e.g., government bodies, NGOs, industry).

  3. We acknowledge that practitioners come from different backgrounds. Some individuals hold positions where they are both scientists and practitioner. For the purpose of this essay we have focused on the many practitioners that truly focus on the practical implementation of actions and interventions related to freshwater ecosystems.

  4. Two-eyed seeing is the concept that Western science and Indigenous knowledge lenses can both be used to simultaneously understand or view any given issue, problem, or solution. Neither is superior to the other—they are both equally valid and when considered together they can yield novel insights.

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Acknowledgements

Cooke is supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology and Institute of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Science, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Dr., Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Steven J. Cooke

  2. Section for Freshwater Fisheries and Ecology, Technical University of Denmark, Vejlsøvej 39, 8600, Silkeborg, Denmark

    Kim Birnie-Gauvin

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Cooke and Birnie-Gauvin conceived the article, wrote it, and worked collaboratively on the revisions.

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Correspondence to Steven J. Cooke.

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Cooke is on the editorial board of the journal Socio-Ecological Practice Research but was not involved in handling this manuscript. No other competing interests are reported.

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Cooke, S.J., Birnie-Gauvin, K. The conservation and restoration of freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity can be enhanced with ecopracticology. Socio Ecol Pract Res 4, 409–416 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-022-00129-3

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