The History, Development, Role and Future of River Restoration Centres - River Conservation and Management - page 272

Table 23.2 International winners of the Thiess River prize , 1999-2010.

Year River Organization Prize (AUD)

2010 River Thames, England The Environment Agency for England and Wales 350 000

2009 Lake Simcoe, Canada Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority 350 000

2008 St Johns River, USA St Johns River Water Management District 350 000

2007 Danube River, Central-Eastern

Europe

International Commission for the Protection of the
Danube River

300 000

2006 Sha River, China Chengdu Sha River Restoration Project Incorporation 225 000

2005 Dr ome River, France Communaute de Communes du Val de Dr ome 150 000

2004 Siuslaw River Basin, USA The Siuslaw Institute 100 000

2003 Alexander River, Israel/Palestine The Alexander River Restoration Project 100 000

2002 Mekong River, S. E. Asia Mekong River Commission 100 000

2001 Blackwood River, Australia Blackwood Basin Group 100 000

2000 Grand River, Canada Grand River Conservation Authority 100 000

1999 River Mersey, England Mersey Basin Campaign 100 000

an annual week-long celebration of the city of
Brisbane's people, culture and environment, which
included a River festival and River symposium .The
festival had the clear intent of attracting people
from beyond Brisbane, involving those elsewhere
in Australia and throughout the world. The Thiess
River prize , valued at 100 000 Australian dollars
(AUD) was introduced at the second Brisbane
festival in 1999 for improving rivers and public
involvement with rivers anywhere in the world.
The prestige of the prize has steadily increased
its value which is now AUD 350 000. A national
prize, valued at AUD 25 000 was introduced in
2001

Thailand, Canada and Argentina, and the UK and
India.
The IRF is involved in identifying and rewarding
best practice in river management; informing,
empowering and building the technical capacity
of river managers worldwide; and educating
and inspiring governments, companies and
communities around the world to protect river
systems. The greatest influence in rewarding
achievements for river restoration is their
partnership with the International River symposium
and securing funding for the prestigious
International Thiess River prize (Table 23.2).

and is now worth AUD 200 000; since

2008 it has been funded by the Australian

Government.
In 2003, the River festival established a separate
foundation to ensure the continued funding
of the River prizes ; this created an international
organization for river protection and enhancement,
known as the International RiverFoundation
(http://www.riverfoundation.org.au). The IRF is
financed by donations from individuals, companies
and both local and national Australian Government
sources. The IRF runs a Twinning Programme
which means that River prize winners mentor river
restoration partnership projects around the globe.
Twinning partners so far have included Israel and
Burkina Faso, the US and Russia, Australia and

Prospects for the future

The 1990 York conference had a fundamental
influence on the development of river restoration
centres. Further development, expansion and use
of these centres should continue over the next 20
years, although how far and how fast this will
happen remains uncertain. In our view, improved
communication in sharing knowledge from river
restoration work, and in particular the wider
benefits to society ( Aberg and Tapsell; Everard,
this volume), will be best achieved through the
establishment of more national centres and links to