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2.1. Types of freshwater ecosystems and the properties used to monitor changes
from Global status on water-related ecosystems and acceleration needs to achieve SDG6 target 6 by 2030
2. Approach to globally monitoring freshwater ecosystems
2.1. Types of freshwater ecosystems and the properties used to monitor changes
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SDG indicator 6.6.1 includes the following different types of freshwater ecosystems: lakes, rivers, wetlands, mangroves, groundwater and reservoirs, all of which purely contain fresh water, except for mangroves, which contain brackish water. Despite not being natural freshwater ecosystems, reservoirs are included as they hold significant amounts of water. Understanding changes in available reservoir water relative to changes in the surface area of natural freshwater ecosystems is useful for freshwater ecosystem protection. Although mentioned in target 6.6, forests are not included in indicator 6.6.1 monitoring, with data instead captured under SDG 15. At present, the indicator does not capture data on the biological health or connectivity of freshwater ecosystems, even though the importance of such data is widely recognized.
Figure 1. Landscape containing various types of freshwater ecosystems
Source: DHI GRAS.
