The Great Rivers Center for Conservation and Learning

At every great river in the world, learning is taking place. People restoring waters apply new techniques, policymakers create innovative approaches, and business and community leaders connect their work with rivers in new ways. Finding how to encourage greater and faster communication and collaboration among those working to conserve and manage great rivers is the thrust of the Great Rivers Center for Conservation and Learning.

Harnessing the knowledge and experience that exists at the partnership’s four main sites—the Mississippi, Paraguay-Parana, Yangtze and Zambezi rivers—is one of the center’s first objectives. For example, the China blueprint process will incorporate ecosystem services into the conservation planning process for the first time, providing a model for other large rivers to use in identifying future conservation priorities.

Ultimately, the center must engage ecologists, economists and sociologists in collaborative learning. Strategic guidance in how to facilitate this exchange of information comes from the center’s advisory council, composed of leading international scientists and thinkers.

“The partnership has the ability to really transform the way freshwater conservation takes place around the world and to protect critical freshwater systems and landscapes. But to do so we must take what we learn and share that with people working on other large, complex river systems,” said Peter Bryant, the partnership’s deputy director and the leading force behind the center. “We need to demonstrate the relevance of our work in terms of sustainable livelihoods, poverty alleviation and the long-term sustainability of communities, and we need to replicate strategies that have been successful.”

Advisors help the center identify strategic needs and goals for great river conservation, synthesize project experiences and information on key issues, integrate great river programs for broader impact and measure overall progress. By expediting the sharing of knowledge, the center hopes to accumulate and magnify the benefits of learning to river management.

Through this process, the center also is identifying key gaps — places where either technical leadership on key conservation issues or new tools are needed. In response to these needs, the center is working on a variety of projects as part of its “ecosystem services approach,” which are designed to fill this need.

Sampling stream bottom sediment, Nature Conservancy, and US Fish And Wildlife Personnel, Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas © Byron Jorjorian

What is nature worth?

This is a question scientists and economists are most often asked when they talk about ecosystem services, a fairly new field of study that seeks to quantify the financial benefits of natural systems. Learn more about ecosystem services.

The Advisory Board

The work of the Great Rivers Center is informed and guided by a group of highly respected scientists from around the world.

More on Peter Bryant, Deputy Director of the Great Rivers Partnership

Quick Links

The Rivers

Africa: The Zambezi

Brazil: The Paraguay-Parana

China: The Yangtze

United States: The Mississippi

River Science Main Page