Wetland Restoration

This legal briefing by Wetlands International Europe supports national authorities, river basin managers, and environmental practitioners in interpreting and implementing Article 9 of the EU Nature Restoration Law, which mandates the restoration of at least 25,000 km of free-flowing rivers by 2030. Europe’s rivers are fragmented by an estimated 1.2 million barriers, many obsolete, impacting water quality, biodiversity, and climate resilience.

IUCN NL, in collaboration with Wetlands Internationl and the University of Évora, has developed a REWET policy brief calling for an acceleration of wetland restoration despite existing knowledge gaps. Even with broad support, restoration is often hindered by perceived “knowledge gaps”, ranging from unclear definitions of wetlands to fragmented data on carbon emissions. Waiting for perfect data should not be an excuse for inaction and, in fact, restoration and knowledge generation must go hand in hand.

The Wetland-based Solutions Community of Practice is an inclusive network open to individuals, institutions, businesses, and associations committed to the restoration and sustainable management of wetlands. It serves as a collaborative space where members can connect, share experiences, and work together to advance wetland conservation efforts. Within this community, participants will have the opportunity to: 

Portal del Ministerio de España para La Transición Ecológica y Reto Demográfico, área de Humedales. Presenta información sobre las políticas públicas de España en la protección de humedales. 

This review article critically examines how contemporary practitioners approach river restoration and challenges for implementing restoration, which include clearly identified objectives, holistic understanding of rivers as ecosystems, and the role of restoration as a social process.

Linkedin Group with experts on wetlands restoration managed by sister projects REWET, Restore4Cs, WET HORIZONS, ALFAWetlands

The European Wetland Map (EWM) improves the current state of knowledge on wetlands across Europe by locating, assessing and merging the latest geospatial data, e.g., on the distribution and types of floodplains and wetlands – coastal, mineral and peatlands in a bottom-up approach. It brings together existing data into a comprehensive, easily accessible resource to make wide spread European wetlands visible and enhance their analysis, understanding and management. The approach is described in the attached report. The EWM is made up of individual datasets for each of the countries included.