Building momentum to accelerate adoption of source-to-sea management

Traditionally, governance frameworks such as policies and regulations are often fragmented and directed towards maximizing local benefits for individual segments or sectors with no or little consideration on the linkages between land, freshwater, coasts and the ocean. Such governance frameworks often result in actions and outcomes that may not be optimal in producing ecosystem services in interconnected systems.

Source-to-sea management can contribute to overcoming such fragmented land, water and marine management by introducing a more holistic approach that considers environmental, social, and economic linkages across the source-to-sea continuum thereby stimulating coordinated action across sectors and segments for sustainable development outcomes.

This report provides recommendations on source-to-sea implementation based on lessons learned from seven case studies. These recommendations are of value for actors interested in implementing the source-to-sea concept or for those actors that want to augment their ongoing practice with a more holistic management approach from source to sea.

The report is commissioned by the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM) and written by SIWI.

Source-to-sea studies and pilots

The six-step source-to-sea approach was applied in seven cases with a diverse set of contexts at various stages within their implementation. They ranged from desk studies to projects that included field assessments and regular interaction with local stakeholders.

The five studies commissioned by SwAM are:

• The Bohai and Baltic Seas from a Source-to-Sea Management Perspective (2020)
• Luga River and Bay in a Source-to-Sea Management Perspective (2020)
• Source-to-Sea Screening study of pollution and flows in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (HaV, 2019)
• Source-to-Sea Management of Göta River – Historical Perspective (2021)
• Source-to-Sea metoden applicerad på material (från båtliv) och biota (fisk) (in English: The Source-to-Sea method applied to materials (from boating) and biota (fish)) (Nordzell et al, 2020) referred to as ‘Three Archipelagos’ in this report.

The two pilots conducted by SIWI in the Foundations for Source-to-Sea Management project are:

• Piloting the Source-to-Sea Approach in the Lake Hawassa Sub-Basin (SIWI, 2020a)
• Piloting the Source-to-Sea Approach in the Vu Gia-Thu Bon River Basin (SIWI, 2020b