While almost every aspect of society-nature interactions can be treated as an environmental security issue, the threats to human societies originating from inadequate freshwater management constitute one of the most wi- spread and pressing problems. For thousands of years rivers and river valleys have been the cradle of human civilizations. Rivers have provided not only food and freshwater, but also shelter and means of transportation, and they are still an essential component in every national and regional economy. In turn, growing needs of human societies, accompanied by growing abilities, have caused significant river alterations and ecosystem changes that have resulted in river contamination, biodiversity loss and general riverine ecosystem degradation. The extinction of sturgeon species is one of the most eloquent examples of the negative and irreversible influence of human society on river e- systems. The sturgeon, sometimes called the living fossil or living dinosaur of the fish world, is known to have lived since the time of the dinosaurs, for at least 250 million years, and is currently on the verge of extinction solely due to anthropogenic impacts.

The Ural River is the last hope for sturgeon conservation and rehabilitation Unique ecosystem with preserved hydrological regime and undisturbed habitats Despite its importance little information is available in the literature Historical traditions in community-based water and biological resources conservation and sustainable use Presents strategies for sustainable watershed development

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International Experience in Transboundary Watershed Management and Sturgeon Restoration.- Environmental Security and the Role of River Regimes in Fostering (Environmental) Cooperation: Case of the International Sava River Basin Commission.- Challenges and Prospects of Transboundary Water Management in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia.- Successful Transboundary River Basin and Estuary Cooperation: Benchmarks for the Ural River Basin?.- The Issues of Transboundary Rivers in South Caucasus at the End of the 20th and Beginning of the 21st Centuries.- Migratory Fish Stocks in Transboundary Basins Implications for Governance, Management and Research.- The Key Threats to Sturgeons and Measures for Their Protection in the Lower Danube Region.- Rescue Efforts to Save Sturgeons in America.- River Rehabilitation: A New Approach to the Design of Fish Passes through Dams.- The Ural River Basin.- The Ural River Basin: Hydrology, Characteristics and Water Use.- River Flow Formation in the Russian South Urals.- Climate Change and Water Resources in North Caucasus and South Urals.- The Ural River Sturgeons: Population Dynamics, Catch, Reasons for Decline and Restoration Strategies.- Field and Genetic Approaches to Enhance Knowledge of Ural River Sturgeon Biology.- Fish Biodiversity of the Orenburg Region and Their Parasitic Diseases.- Establishment of the International Ural Sturgeon Park to Secure Sturgeon Conservation and to Facilitate Sustainable Integrated Water Management.- Results of the First International Ural River Basin Workshop (NATO-ARW).