Asnake Kalkidan, Worku Hailu, Argaw Mekuria
Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
Center for Environmental Science, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
Heliyon. 2021 Jul 1;7(7):e07446. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07446. eCollection 2021 Jul.
In the urban environment, rivers are most affected by development mismanagement to the extent that some of the essential services such as habitat for biodiversity conservation, recreation and domestic uses to communities are critically impaired. Consequently, river restoration is presented as practical solution to address urban river degradation issues and to revitalize urban rivers and river buffers. Goal setting along with clear and measurable goals in urban river restoration processes is one of the critical tools to guide restoration activities. This study aims to assess the qualitative effects of clearly defined river restoration goals and analyze their tangible effects on river restoration efforts in Kebena river watershed, Addis Ababa. Qualitative data from expert interviews, stakeholders' consultation, document review and institutional analysis are used to inform this research. The results show that the Environmental Protection Authority and Structural plan of the city have vaguely defined river restoration goal in the planning and implementation phases of river restoration projects. On the other hand, the goals of different institutions varied in context, while others were redundant and lacked synergy. As a result, urban rivers and river buffers accommodate various land uses that are negatively affecting the potential of rivers and river buffers in benefiting communities. Finally, the study forwarded critical methodological steps to guide the formulation of a well-defined goal and setting priorities for concrete actions to restore the river.
在城市环境中，河流受发展管理不善的影响极大，以至于一些诸如生物多样性保护栖息地、娱乐以及社区生活用水等基本功能严重受损。因此，河流修复被视为解决城市河流退化问题、振兴城市河流及河岸缓冲带的切实可行的办法。在城市河流修复过程中设定目标以及明确可衡量的目标是指导修复活动的关键工具之一。本研究旨在评估明确界定的河流修复目标的定性效果，并分析其对亚的斯亚贝巴凯贝纳河流域河流修复工作的实际影响。本研究采用了来自专家访谈、利益相关者协商、文件审查和机构分析的定性数据。结果表明，环境保护局和城市结构规划在河流修复项目的规划和实施阶段对河流修复目标的界定模糊。另一方面，不同机构的目标在背景上存在差异，有些目标相互冗余且缺乏协同效应。结果，城市河流及河岸缓冲带被用于各种土地用途，这对河流和河岸缓冲带给社区带来益处的潜力产生了负面影响。最后，该研究提出了关键的方法步骤，以指导制定明确的目标，并为恢复河流的具体行动确定优先事项。
