Watersheds and the Bioeconomy
IISD’s bioeconomy work is linked to our focus on watersheds where under-utilized plant sources, such as agricultural residues and wetland plants, can be harvested sustainably and turned into sources of energy, plastics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
Our experts in land and water policy, watershed analysis, modelling, stakeholder consultations, ecosystem services and environmental economics work with public and private partners to develop bioeconomies around the world. We succeed through landscape analyses, by forming partnerships for harvesting and processing and by developing markets and policies for implementing sustainable processes.
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Tomorrow Needs Us Today: IISD’s 2020-2025 Strategic Direction
We are guided by five core priorities—Climate, Resources, Economies, Act Together and Engage—which form our CREATE strategy, presented in this document.
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Sustainable Watersheds for Carbon Offsets: Biomass harvesting for phosphorus capture, habitat renewal and carbon emissions reductions
We have been exploring new and innovative practices to reduce flood impacts and nutrient loading, as well as to reduce carbon emissions, in the Lake Winnipeg watershed through better water retention management, and the harvest and use of sustainable wetland biomass.
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Floating Treatment Wetlands and Plant Bioremediation: Nutrient treatment in eutrophic freshwater lakes
Allow us to explain why floating treatment wetlands are an innovative “natural infrastructure" option for effective biological treatment and removal of nutrients to help clean up algal blooms in surface waters.
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Canada could take inspiration from U.S. environmental policy preventing algal blooms
Recent US legislation to combat algal blooms and protect fresh water shows bipartisan environmental action is still possible—and sets an example for other countries.
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Case Study Research on Offsets for Water Quality Management
This case study research examines six water quality trading/offset programs from Canada, the United States and New Zealand and provides lessons relevant to offsetting nutrients, specifically phosphorus and nitrogen, in Manitoba.
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Canada Should Copy Europe When It Comes to the Bioeconomy
The recently announced EU Bioeconomy Strategy continues that continent’s legacy of advancing biological solutions to environmental questions and strategically highlights the economic benefits of the approach with a strong focus on jobs, growth and investment.
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Freshwater Lakes’ Pollution Problems Go Beyond Plastics
Focusing solely on plastic pollution ignores the myriad problems — from algae to pollution — that plague our lakes
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Floating Treatment Wetlands: Keeping our fresh water clean and healthy
We explain how, where and why floating treatment wetlands can be used to keep freshwater bodies clean around the world.
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Adaptive and Inclusive Watershed Management: Assessing policy and institutional support in Kenya
This report explores existing institutional linkages between gender, water and climate change in Kenya.
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The Multiple Benefits of Natural Infrastructure
We explain exactly what natural infrastructure is and all the multiple benefits that it brings to humans and to the environment.
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