High Value Freshwater Ecosystems
Mapping opportunities to align ecological restoration & protection of freshwater ecosystems & adjacent areas with climate action
Our Approach
We adapted the High Conservation Value (HCV) framework to define High-Value Freshwater Ecosystems (HVFEs), aiming to support a more strategic and actionable approach for identifying freshwater ecosystems in need of conservation (including both protection and restoration).
HVFEs extend beyond conventional freshwater definitions by integrating freshwater and adjacent terrestrial ecosystems that collectively support the regulation of hydrological and carbon cycles within watersheds.
Mapping global freshwater ecosystems to guide national restoration targets and nature-based solutions
Hashemi, M., Shaad, K., Griffey, V., Mohammed, I., Bezerra, M., Sprenkle-Hyppolite, S. & Bolten, J. Nature Water (2026)
Explore the extent.
Explore the extent of the high-value freshwater ecosystems for minimum and maximum scenario.
Extract for region.
Extract the categorized HVFE for your region and view the distribution across the categories
Apply framework.
Assess the climate mitigation opportunity by applying the framework shown in our analysis
