Researchers

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.

The Ramsar Youth Working Group Community (RYWGC) is an initiative associated with the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an international treaty aimed at the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. The RYWGC focuses on engaging young people in efforts to protect, restore, and raise awareness about wetlands and their critical importance to ecosystems, biodiversity, and communities. Youth aged 18-35 years can request to join the community.

The EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) is platform that aims to support policymaking by providing the Commission Services and the broader soil user community with the soil knowledge and data flows needed to safeguard soils; supporting EU Research & Innovation on soils; raising societal awareness of the value of soils.

Datasets and map on soil moisture, including Surface Soil Moisture, which provides information on the relative water content of the top few centimetres soil, and the Soil Water Index, which quantifies the moisture condition at various depths in the soil.

Maps about soil erosion, pollution nutrients and soil organic carbon, including a peatland degradation risk as soil degradation indicator.

Provides maps and data on soil organic carbon content, nitrogen, pH, etc., as well as different soil types and properties at different depths.

European Soil Database contains raster (grid) data files with cell sizes of both 1km x 1km and 10km x 10km for a large number of soil related parameters under request. It is provided by the EU Joint Research Centre and the European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC).

High Resolution Layer Water and Wetness provides detailed information about the presence and condition of water and wet surfaces across Europe. This product leverages both Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 images to enable effective mapping of land cover characteristics such as permanent water bodies, transitional water bodies, and soil wetness.

Hydrological data from European rivers and streams under request.

Soil and hydrological data under request, including soil hydraulic properties like water retention.

Geological and hydrological data, especially groundwater properties.

A dataset that includes: -Lake Surface Water Temperature, providing real-time and historical data. -Lake Water Quality in various resolutions. -Water Bodies datasets for surface extent. -Lake and River Water Level information. -the River and Lake Ice Extent product for ice presence. Aggregated River and Lake Ice Extent product, showing percent ice coverage.

A dataset, which includes a photo-interpreted river network consistent with surface interpretation of water bodies (lakes and wide rivers) as well as a drainage model (also called Drainage Network) derived from EU-DEM.

This map shows the quality element status or potential for the European surface water bodies. The Quality Element status layer contains the ecological status or potential based on the quality element status value (i.e., the lowest of the known quality element status values per waterbody). It also includes nutrient, nitrogen, phosphorus conditions.

This map includes the River Basin Districts (RBDs) and their sub-units, the surface water bodies (water body category, ecological status or potential and chemical status), the groundwater bodies (aquifer type, quantitative status and chemical status) and the monitoring sites.

Data on wetlands of international importance, including peatlands, across Europe. Includes ecological character, threats, and management information.

Map of the Natura 2000 network (the sites' borders and the sites' Standard Data Forms) for the year 2022, as provided by the EU Member States. For Denmark, the viewer shows the data from the year 2017, for Germany the data is from the year 2019.

Information on the status and location of Annex I Directive habitats. This content provides a hierarchical classification of habitats based on the Annex I of the EU Habitats Directive, which identifies and protects natural habitat types of community interest. The classification groups habitats into broader categories for organization while allowing users to explore specific sublevel habitat types.

The Ramsar List was established in response to Article 2.1 of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971), which reads: “Each Contracting Party shall designate suitable wetlands within its territory for inclusion in a List of Wetlands of International Importance, hereinafter referred to as ‘the List’ which is maintained by the bureau [secretariat of the Convention] established under Article 8.” Wetlands included in the List acquire a new status at the national level and are recognized by the international community as being of significant value not only for the country, or the countries

Alcanzar un grado de conocimiento adecuado de la ubicación y delimitación de un espacio y de su estado de conservación es la única manera de detectar posibles cambios en el mismo. Los inventarios nacionales de humedales facilitan la información esencial requerida en la que fundamentar la formulación de políticas de conservación, gestión y restauración, y por lo tanto deben ser una prioridad. En este contexto, la legislación española prevé, en dos de sus leyes básicas (Ley del Patrimonio Natural y la Biodiversidad y Ley de Aguas), la elaboración de un inventario nacional de zonas húmedas.

El Informe “Recopilación e identificación de acciones de restauración ecológica en humedales españoles”, cuya elaboración ha sido promovida por este Ministerio, refiere proyectos de restauración, mejora y/o adecuación de humedales efectuados en España durante los últimos 20 años, impulsados tanto por Administraciones públicas como por organizaciones de la sociedad civil. Se han localizado y consultado casi 700 proyectos, de los que en esta primera fase han sido seleccionados 78 para su consideración y descripción detallada en el Informe.

Con motivo del Día Internacional de los Humedales y 50 aniversario del Convenio Ramsar, se ha publicado el informe "Situación actual y perspectivas de conservación y restauración de los humedales españoles hasta 2030".

El “Plan Estratégico de Humedales a 2030” establece la carta de navegación necesaria para llegar a buen puerto, con todas las acciones que se precisan para detener e invertir en España la pérdida y degradación de más humedales y para mejorar sus servicios ecosistémicos. El auténtico reto es lograr su plena aplicación, y es un desafío que afecta al conjunto de la sociedad.

Asociación Española de Climatología (A.E.C.) se fundó el 17 de diciembre de 1997 en el Departamento de Geografía de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, donde se redactaron sus estatutos provisionales y se eligió una Junta Gestora. La A.E.C. es una asociación de carácter científico cuyo objetivo es fomentar el estudio del clima y el progreso de las ciencias de la atmósfera en España. Se encuentra abierta a científicos y profesionales procedentes de todos los campos del saber directamente implicados o interesados en el estudio del clima.

Thi article highlights the practice and research needs in soil and water bioengineering for reconciling natural hazard control and ecological restoration. Firstly, authors review the definition and development of bioengineering technology, while stressing issues concerning the design, implementation, and monitoring of bioengineering actions. Secondly, they highlight the need to reconcile natural hazard control and ecological restoration by posing novel practice and research questions.

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.

This article aims to introduce new arguments for bioengineering along riverbanks by applying the ecosystem service approach. We focus on major regulating services usually provided by floodplains. Denitrification and phosphorous retention were estimated by applying proxy-based models. Carbon sequestration within vegetation was calculated using biomass equations. The study clearly indicates an increase of ecosystem services by bioengineering measures compared to conventionally fixed riverbanks.

This illustrated Construction Type Manual in 5 European languages compiles 170 construction methods describing techniques which use plants as building materials. This includes preparations necessary before they can be planted and become effective. This is followed by work which allows the plants alone to take over technical, ecological and aesthetic functions. Chapter 7, which is the largest one, contains methods of stabili-zing structures by combining living with non-living materials.

Das Buch „Pflanzen statt Beton“ zeigt auf der Grundlage der Ingenieurbiologie und der Vegetationstechnik die vielfältigen Möglichkeiten der Pflanzenverwendung in den Bereichen „sichern und gestalten.“ Die wesentliche Änderung in der 2. völlig überarbeiteten und erweiterten Auflage ist die Trennung der Sicherungs- und Gestaltungsarbeiten mit Pflanzen in einen Teil A und einen Teil B, die nach vier allgemeinen und anwendungsübergreifenden Kapiteln neu geordnet wurden. Hervorgehoben werden Themen wie z. B. Wirksamkeit von Dachbegrünung, von neuen Arten der Fassaden- und Innenraumbegrünung.

The Lobau, the "water world", lies to the east of Vienna, has an area of 2,300 hectares, and makes up almost a quarter of the entire area of the Donau-Auen National Park. It is one of six Austrian national parks and protects one of the last major floodplain landscapes in Central Europe.

WWF works to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and wildlife, collaborating with partners from local to global levels in nearly 100 countries. WWF seeks to change how water is managed around the world. They encourage states relying on the same river to better coordinate their shared freshwater resources, and they advocate for water security in sustainable development. They also help strengthen the effectiveness of river basin management organizations so they are empowered to protect the natural capital of river basins and ensure climate-smart governance.

Via Donau is a subsidiary of the Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation, and Technology (BMVIT) tasked with the preservation and development of the Danube waterway. It was established in 2005. Via Donau executes federal tasks in waterway and shipping. It has about 270 employees based at five locations, one main office, two field offices, and nine locks on the Danube.

Urban Waters is a network of researchers, planners and practitioners that looks at the ecological potentials of streams, ponds, rivers and lakes in cities. Based at IGB Berlin, it connects local, national and international stakeholders as an interdisciplinary network with a focus on applied research.

Global Change Biology is an environmental change journal dedicated to shaping the future and solving the world's most challenging problems by tackling sustainability, climate change and environmental protection, food and water safety and provision, as well as global health. The journal exists to promote the understanding of the impacts of global change on biological systems and solutions.

Ecological Engineering - The Journal of Ecosystem Restoration is a specialized publication bridging the fields of ecology and engineering, focusing on the design, monitoring, and restoration of ecosystems for the benefit of both humans and nature. Covering topcs such as habitat reconstruction, ecotechnology, bioengineering, and stream restoration, the journal emphasizes innovative research in ecosystem rehabilitation.

EBU, the European Bioeconomy University, is a collaboration of leading universities across Europe, founded with the mission to address the environmental, economic, and societal challenges of the 21st century. This alliance, established in July 2019, connects eight institutions, all leaders in the field of bioeconomy, to foster a knowledge-based transformation towards sustainability.

Finnish Water Forum (FWF) represents through its members the whole variety of expertise in the Finnish water sector. FWF is a platform for cooperation of commercial enterprises, governmental and non-governmental organizations, scientific institutes and water-related associations. FWF was established in 2009 by 39 different organizations with a common goal – creating an umbrella organization for Finnish water knowhow. Today, FWF has over 130 member organizations in Finland and local partners around the world.

PeatSense is a collaborative platform aimed at contributing to the monitoring, restoration and conservations at peatlands at scale. It is developed by the AI2Peat project, a project funded by Science Foundation Ireland under its Future Digital Challenge call. The AI2Peat consortium is composed of CeADAR - Ireland's centre for applied AI -, iCRAG - the SFI centre for applied geosciences - and NPWS - Ireland's National Parks and Wildlife Services.

The RRR conference on Renewable Resources from Wet and Rewetted Peatlands in Greifswald offers a platform to explore these questions and many others, fostering dialogue between science and practice. By bringing together diverse stakeholders, the event aims to encourage knowledge exchange, build networks, and develop and strengthen practical, forward-looking solutions.

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

This report presents the state of Europe's water. It outlines three overarching challenges facing future European water management: 1. protecting and restoring aquatic ecosystems; 2. achieving the zero pollution ambition; 3. adapting to water scarcity, drought and flood risks. Europe's citizens, environment and economy are intrinsically dependent on water, yet the continuing availability of sufficient, good quality water cannot presently be assured.

Wetlands is an international journal presenting pioneering work across all aspects of wetlands research. Official journal of the Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS), a leading authority in wetland science, education and management. Publishes high-quality, peer-reviewed articles from leading authors in the field. Explores all aspects of wetlands biology, ecology, hydrology, water chemistry, and soil and sediment characteristics. Extends coverage to management, education, legislative, sociological, and regulatory topics. Publishes a wide range of Topical Collections.

The Global Wetlands Map covers the tropics and subtropics regions (40° N to 60° S; 180° E to -180° W), excluding small islands. This mapping is a hydro-geomorphological model based on an Expert System approach to estimate wetland areas, which relies on three biophysical indices related to wetland and peat formation: (1) long-term water supply exceeding atmospheric water demand; (2) annually or seasonally waterlogged soils; and (3) a geomorphological position where water is supplied and retained. 

Wetlands International is an independent, not-for-profit organization with 11 members from 7 European countries. They work to raise awareness about wetland ecosystems and to advocate for the sustainable use of wetlands for people and nature, in particular by linking science, policy and practice.

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.