Progress on Ecosystem Restoration of Tropical Inland Waters: On the Path of the Un Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

This book explores the current ecosystem status of tropical inland waters especially in Southeast Asia, the progress of ecosystem restoration in terms of current studies, technological interventions, policy recommendations, and stakeholder participation that gives due respect to traditional knowledge and cultural practices, and the challenges and opportunities of the restoration processes. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the UN Environment Assembly’s Resolution on Sustainable Lake Management were the motive force in the publication of the book.

Inland waters provide humans and a myriad of organisms with tremendous benefits. However, changing inland water environment due to external and internal pressures leads to unfortunate events such as water degradation, loss of biodiversity, and destruction of ecosystems with serious socio-economic consequences. This book serves as a good reference for students, academia, practitioners and other professionals, policy makers, and other stakeholders. The updated data and information on various aspects of ecosystem restoration, sustainable management, and utilization of inland waters contribute to understanding how ecosystem restoration of tropical inland water progresses in a changing environment. The book includes multidisciplinary and insightful information on tropical inland waters in line with the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration in 2021.

Adelina Santos Borja is the chairperson of the Southeast Asian Limnological Network (SEALNet), the vice chairperson of the Scientific Committee of the International Lake Environment Committee Foundation (ILEC), and a board member of the Philippine Society for Freshwater Science (PSFS).  She obtained her M.Sc. in Biology and M.Sc. in Environmental Science from the University of the Philippines and was trained overseas in various fields such as in limnology, lake and river water quality management, resource and environmental management, water leadership and public policy, and microplastics in marine and freshwater environment. She has a long-term experience in lake basin management, mostly with the Laguna Lake Development Authority (Philippines) where she spent more than four decades of engagement and leadership in water quality monitoring, environmental regulation, resource management, stakeholders’ participation, and collaborative research.

Luki Subehi has been the head of the Research Center for Limnology and Water Resources of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia, since August 2024. He is also the chairman of the Indonesian Society of Limnology (2021–present). He was awarded his Ph.D. by the University of Tsukuba, Japan, in 2010. He was affiliated with Asia Pacific Centre for Ecohydrology (APCE) as a research staff (2011–2016). He is also a member for Diversitas in the Western Pacific and Asia (DIWPA) and Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University. In addition, he was a steering committee member of the 16th World Lake Conference (WLC) in 2016 and the secretary general of SEALNet (2016–now). His research scopes include physical limnology, hydro-climatology, ecological processes, freshwater environment, and water quality.

Miratul Maghfiroh is a junior researcher (2010–present) and a government official at the Research Center for Limnology and Water Resources, National Research, and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia. She received her master’s degree in biology from Humboldt State University under US Government’s Fulbright Scholarship program (2013–2015). She obtained her doctoral degree in 2022 from the University of Science and Technology (KICT campus), South Korea. Her research interests include water treatment, environmental microbiology, and environmental engineering.

Ali Rahmat is a senior researcher at the Research Center for Limnology and Water Resources, National Research, and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia. He completed his Ph.D. program at Gifu University, Japan in 2019 through the Rearing Program for Basin Water Environmental Leaders. His research interests include soil science, sedimentation, hydrology, water quality, and limnology in Indonesia. He is currently the chief editor of the Indonesian Journal of Limnology and also the secretary of the UNSECO Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) in Indonesia.