Linking Wetland Science to Policy: Meeting the challenge with special reference to water quality issues

Wetland ecosystems perform functions which give rise to goods and services for direct and indirect human use, environmental quality and biodiversity. Yet policies for wetland protection and management, especially in Europe and the developing world, have been based primarily on wildlife criteria and traditional nature conservation approaches. This chapter examines the wider functional significance of wetlands with particular reference to water quality benefits and the case for new policies to capture greater societal advantages from their protection. Examples are given at various scales of the effort to reduce the gap between scientific knowledge of how wetlands work and the new methods emerging to improve decision making and ensure stronger linkage to policies.