A framework to categorise the cultural significance of freshwater fauna

Freshwater ecosystems support rich biological and cultural diversity, each enhanced through biocultural co-evolution. However freshwater species, and their relationships with people, face escalating pressures from global change, threatening ecosystem function and human wellbeing. Addressing this crisis effectively and ethically requires transdisciplinary approaches that recognise the complex, culturally embedded interactions between people and freshwater fauna. Existing frameworks for integrating the cultural and ecological dimensions of freshwater fauna are either too general or conceptually misaligned to support practical application, and are often based on binaries such as ‘tangible and intangible’ that artificially segregate meaning and practice. To bridge this gap, we developed a novel framework for systematically categorising the cultural significance of freshwater fauna, drawing on pre-existing frameworks and human-freshwater-fauna interactions (n = 612) from interdisciplinary literature. The resulting framework comprises seven overarching domains – Consumptive Use; Cultural Landscapes, Sites and Stewardship; Knowledge Systems; Worldviews, Beliefs and Identities; Cultural and Social Practices; Recreation, Leisure and Tourism; and Creative Expression – each subdivided into defined categories and subcategories. Applicable across diverse cultural, taxonomic and geographic contexts, our framework provides a pragmatic tool to support more holistic and inclusive approaches to freshwater ecosystem research, management, governance, and cross-cultural cooperation.